Sain Baina yy,
I have made it to Mongolia! It is pretty unique and crazy! The apartment we are in is kinda nice. I have yet to have a warm shower. I guess there is maintenance going on so they turn the hot water off and on. The toilet is WEIRD... I am still trying to figure out how to flush it.... It is chilly and windy today.... Munk got some awesome stuff here shopping for dang good prices. I am excited to go shopping! Munk's mom said I have lost weight so she is trying to stuff me full of things, but my appetite is a little smaller here... maybe because it is mutton and I am just not used to that taste. I ate Tsuivan for breakfast and that was really yummy. They bought beef/steak for me hahaha. Munk and I have a nice room and a bed, but no pillows hahaha. All of our electronics work here so that is nice. We are at a crazy internet cafe right now. They are playing what sounds like Hindi music, but Mongolian language. The part of the city we are in is still developing, but nothing like Korea. We have two doors for the entrance with about 7 locks so I think we are safe. Anyways, I don't have much else to say except the airport was tiny. You practically walk off the plane and there is customs and then go down some stairs and there is the baggage claim. That is it~ anyways, I will update you more as I experience it. Munk has to get some registration paperwork here or he can't leave the country... so we are trying to do it. We leave for the country side tomorrow so we will not have any contact for about 5 days. We will travel 500km over about 2 days in a land cruiser to get up North. I am sure it will be even colder up there.
Day 1
We left Ulaanbaatar early in the morning and on our way we visited some states that were already celebrating Naadam. They were horse racing, which was fun to see. We drove a lot all day. We were on paved road some of the time, but mostly dirt roads that have made me sore. We went to a Buddhist temple called Amarbayasgalan, what a mouth full. On our way there, we saw some Swiss hitch hikers that were stinky and we gave them a ride to the temple. I had to sit by them on this bumpy road... The temple was really cool. It is not like the temples you see in Korea or other parts of Asia. This temple is very old and there are munks still practicing in them. We got to go inside and listen to them read prayer roles. I saw two lil rebel munk boys that were playing on a smart phone... I dunno how they got it since they are in the middle of no where. At the temple there is a mini stupa that you crawl into, stand up in, look through a tiny whole, and make a wish. We did that and boy - it was a tight fit. After visiting the temple we drove on ward to lake hovsgol. We stayed in Moron, the city close to lake hovsgol. Munk and I stayed in a Motel called "Grand Motel". It was not grand by any means. There was no shower or hot water from the bathroom that was public. Our room was a closet and the bed was a slab of wood. This bed was also smaller than a twin size bed. So as you can imagine, it was somewhat of a sleepless night and having a couple of drunks yelling, fighting, and throwing things at each other outside our room didn't make matters any better; however, it did provide some entertainment.
Day 2
We woke up and headed from the lake. It took us about 3 more hours of bumpy driving to get there, but it was beautiful once we did. The first thing we did was visit the reindeer ppl. We went into their tepee and talked. They gave us boortsog, which is a hard bread thing and then they gave us a reindeer butter kind of thing to put on it.
Reindeer butter/cream doesn't taste very different from cow butter. We also were given reindeer milk tea. Not so yummy. Pretty bitter. In their tepee we sat on reindeer skins and played with the fuzzy antlers. It was interesting to talk with the reindeer shaman lady. She told me I should not wear gold and sliver together, but only wear one at a time or else Munk and I will get a divorce in 2 years and never progress. Mom (munk's mom) who is a shaman said she is full of it. After talking to them we checked out the reindeers. They were cool~ Yaks, horses, cows, and goats were everywhere just grazing around the lake. It was really cold there. We then ate lunch which was too salty, but okay. After the lake we headed onward to the volcano and found a yurt camp to sleep in for the night. Again, munk and I shared a tiny twin size bed. The yurt got very warm and was good at keeping the rain out.
Day 3
After waking up in the yurt I tried to take a shower, but the hot water lasted 2 minutes and they charge about 5 dollars for showers, but because mine was cold, we didn't have to pay. We had breakfast and checked out the lake we slept by and all the ovos (rock shrines). It was really cool. We then went on to the volcano and hiked up. It was really huge and cool to see. The view was amazing from up there. On the top were some Kazak Mongols that had an eagle. We took pics with the eagle and let the eagle perch on our arms for about .80 cents. Pretty cool. It was pretty heavy and had a deadly grip. After the volcano, we stopped by some random yurt in the country side and talked to the family. They let us in, fed us curd, which wasn't too bad, mares milk, and yak butter/cream. The Yak butter/cream was DELICIOUS! I didn't know at the time, but the mares milk we were given was fermented. I only took a sip and after tasting did not want anymore. It is like SOUR and bitter milk.Then we went down and headed for the famous rock in the country side. It is a huge rock that is located in the middle of a flat field of grass so it is random that it is there. Legend tells that a great Mongol wrestler put it there. Once we got there we found a guy with a Yak that was giving tourists rides. So, I rode a yak around the big rock. It was cool, but the Yak kept making noises as if he thought differently. After the big stone we went to Khara Koram, the old capital of the ancient Mongol empire. It was really cool. We saw a rock turtle from the 13th century. Then the drive took us up the mountain and we saw a "penis" stone that is popular in Mongolia and legend has it that if you ride it, you will become pregnant. I didn't ride it. Anyways, we then headed off to an area in Mongolia that the wind brings sand from the Gobi to. It is a thin strip in the middle of a grassy land that is dessert. We rode camels around in the sand and had a great time. Then we drive home.
The country is beautiful. Most beautiful I have seen. Green rolling hills, rocky mountains, a mixture of the two. Overall I was just amazed with how green it all is and all the life there is. Everywhere I looked, I saw goats, sheep, horses, yaks, and cows grazing where ever they pleased. The car ride was crazy, the driver was going 60 mph on dirt roads and I was being thrown around since there weren't any seat belts. His car broke down once and his lights went out, but we were able to fix it.
I hated the driver culture here though. You are expected to pay the drive a set fee and then all of his food, housing and whatever else he wants. I got frustrated when he bought more gas than he had money for and asked us to pay an extra $65 than we had already given him.
Anyways, I didn't like the driver much at all, but we got to see a lot. I also got sick while I was out there. I am recovering now. I have a sore throat, runny nose, and am fatigue. I have been resting a lot today.
:)
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