Arrive in Ulaan Baatar at 7 am after an exhausting journey. We are met by our guide who immediately launches into a tour of the city – just what we need after 24 hours on the train. We want a shower and some breakfast! We are taken to the war memorial which is the highest point in the city and from which we get a fantastic view of a rather smoggy Ulaan Baatar, and the sight of two huge power stations belching out smoke. On to the main square where there is a massive statue of Chinggiskhan. The tour is followed by a shower – in the Japanese bath house of a local hotel – and breakfast. We then set off on the 7-hour trip to the Nomad camp in the Bayangobi region, most of which is off road across the Steppe as the tarmac road is still under construction. On the way we visit the Gandan Buddhist Monastery which houses the largest statue of Buddha in Mongolia, Migjid Janraisig. It stands 28m high, weighs 90 tons and is made of copper, silver and gold. Very impressive!
Ulaan Baatar is famed for being the coldest capital city in the world, but today the sun is shining and it’s quite warm. There are a few sights to see which we will have the opportunity to explore when we return from our stay with with the Nomads and at the tourist ger camp. But for now our view of the city is limited to rush hour traffic as we head off to the Nomads living on the edge of the Gobi desert. The Gobi stretches 4000km along the border with China and we will be staying within walking distance of it. The ride is mostly bumpy and uncomfortable as we cross the Steppe (literally) in a conventional minibus (no four wheel drive for us). There is a surprising number of cars, lorries, motorbikes and other assorted vehicles kicking up dust trails as they criss-cross the countryside, either on rough tracks or just cross country. We see several birds of prey circling on the thermals, as well as two vultures stripping a carcass by the roadside.
It is another glorious day and the scenery is truly spectacular with wide open landscapes and mountains rising on all sides. Every so often we come across two or three gers standing on the plain surrounded by their cattle, sheep, goats and horses. Even here on the remote Steppe there are petrol stations, satellite dishes and, remarkably, mobile reception.
The Nomads we are staying with have three large gers which are used as living accommodation and two smaller ones for cooking. There is no running water – in fact no washing facilities – and the toilet is two planks of wood over a hole in the ground. Water is from a nearby stream. We are welcomed by our hosts – a young couple with two children of 5 and 1 – with fermented mare’s milk which is the colour of milk and tastes like rather sour beer. We are also offered homemade cheese which is very hard and very sour – definitely an acquired taste and after a couple of nibbles is surreptitiously tucked away in our pockets!
Also living here are the paternal and maternal grandmothers and the latter’s son. All the family have moved out of their living accommodation and are sleepong in the kitchen tents to make room for the six of us (Bryce, Jennifer, Craig and Monica have travelled here separately). The Nomads have large herds of cows, sheep, goats and horses which roam around the camp.
Our ger is comfortable and colourful inside – we even have electric light courtesy of solar panels and the family have satellite television (not in our ger though so no football commentary for Andy). There is a stove in the middle of the tent which burns a mixture of wood and cow’s dung, a large box of which stands by the stove. The stove is used for both heating the tent and cooking. There are four very hard beds, some storage cupboards and a vanity mirror in the ger as well as a small table. This will be our home for three nights.
We were expecting to be eating with the family but it turns out that the guides will be cooking for us which is something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand we are not going to have the interaction with the Nomads, but we will be able to eat! We’ve heard from two departing Scots (Marion and Alan) who we met on the journey out here that the Mongolian food is not very palatable.