Just Another Day Outside UB

Pot Hat

The New Guy. Awestruck.

Beardcicles

Goofy Man

The Valley Where We Started

Winter Wonder

A Break In The Trees

The Immense Flats

Humble Shrine

About A Mile Of Flats We Passed To Get Here

Sundown

Sunup to Sundown

Goddam but isn't it cold in Mongolia. Over the summer people kept telling me that it gets down to -40F in the winter. Sure enough, we've had multiple weeks of extra sub-zero temperatures. Owning a del has certainly made a difference but I truly am mentally prepared for spring.

In true Mongolian spirit we decided to take a hike out in the vicious frigid air. Although it was again quite cold I was glad to get away from the city. A man can go stir crazy in a place like this. The plan involved hiking Bogd mountain, the range south of UB. We were to take a microbus around to the south face and begin our trek from the monastery, which, coincidentally, was where we spent our company picnic last October (read about it in the post titled Social Call.) The journey up was said to take three hours, after which we planned to take an hour lunch before descending. Essentially this amounted to an early start to a full day. In the cold.

I rejected the del in favor of more versatile clothing. Long johns and a camel wool sweater with two scarves and two pairs of gloves. Leaving at 7 in the morning I got to the meeting place well before sunup. We didn't leave UB until around 8am. I didn't check my clock but I believe the drive to our starting point took about 2 hours. So, at about 10am, with the sun cresting over the mountains, we began our journey.

There were four Americans: Myself, my homey Jason, Joe (who y'all met on the last hike) and Phillip, the newest addition to our Santis staff. We were out numbered by the Association of Mongolian Calligraphers, our hosts for the mission. Undrakh, our fellow employee, acted as our interpreter and I forgot the names of the others. There were five (or six? shit) of them and they were all involved in Mongolian calligraphic script writing in one capacity or the other. This was to be the first annual outing of this nature, so we were honored to take part.

Off we went through the pine forest, at a gentle grade. In terms of difficulty it was a bit lacking, but the sky was blue and the pines were alive and it was good to be away from noise and smog. Very peaceful. By and by we came upon a funky rock formation that formed a sort of look out point. We stopped here to rest, though I could've easily continued, and us Americans made an adventure of scaling the rock tower. It was so cold out. The batteries in my camera were near frozen, I could only get a few shots off before the camera would automatically shut down. With frozen fingers I attempted to adjust settings, but my gloves were too clumsy to affect the sensitive controls. I ended up taking some photos in a lower quality format due to this error. Not willing to compromise my artistic integrity I later scrapped them.

After stashing some cooking supplies we made off again. The path wound its way alongside a watershed, which provided a scenic break from the dense forest canopy. Boulders strewn here appeared as clumps of giant marsh mellows frozen in their descent towards the valley below. We stopped to rest yet again (unnecessarily in my opinion) and passed shots of vodka as we shared sausage and various sweets. I was in the mood to keep moving. Standing still was only sapping the heat from my extremities.

Off again, for the final leg of the journey. As we climbed higher the temperature dropped noticeably. I had to pull my scarf, now frozen from condensed water vapor, over my face. Unfortunately this caused my beardcicles to melt, ruining a perfectly good image. We crested a ridge leading to an enormous flat. We were in a winter wonderland. I felt like we were on some christmas tree farm, snow covered pines abounded sporadically in an expanded environment. Suddenly the trees gave way affording a view of the surrounding mountains. We were certainly in a magnificent and sacred place.

Up ahead our destination loomed. A fortress of rock formations defiant against a pure blue sky. Awesome in this stark wilderness, with winds wiping the cold air mercilessly against our poorly protected hides. It was only our small group in this wild place. At the peak, a natural wall of rock formed a half crescent around a humble flag adorned shrine. I wanted some alone time. I scrambled up a snowy outcropping and made my perch. Atop the world the wind blew even more fiercely. The slippery snow on my climbing hands sent waves of ice through my veins. Nothing like near death to make you feel alive! I couldn't remain at that height for long. My limbs were beginning to freeze. Below the Mongolian contingent was taking photographs and honoring the nature spirits. Again we shared vodka and munchies, but I was ready to move on.

Back to the watch tower and our stash of cooking gear. We built a fire and boiled tea in a large round pan. The hot tea did little to revitalize the rapidly sapping body heat. Someone was thawing out meat in a large glass jar. The glass shattered under the stress of rapid temperature change, slicing the web of said man's hand. Jason cut his glove open to form a make shaft bandage, and I lent the man one of my own to keep the injury warm. A cold hike, winter cooking and outdoor first aid. All in a days work. The meat tasted especially delicious.

A brief jaunt and we were back to the van just as night chased the sun over the western peaks. The microbus afforded no comfort. I felt like my feet were strapped to an icebox. We sang songs to ward off the chill and kill the travel time. To no avail. It was a long, cold, uncomfortable ride. Back home, I took a hot shower and proceeded to bed. The next day (a work day no less) I was exhausted. I spent the entire day in bed, only to venture forth for work. A great hike that will not be soon repeated.

Some Scenery

He's Pondering Life

At "Supermarket" we found a chocolate bar the size of a small baby.

Nasty UB

C'mon Brent!

Joe is Thinking

The Hikers

Gawd. Who's That Asshole?

Too Cool To Get Cold

Officially The Illest Face Mask On Record

First Hike of the Decade

Despite my hibernation tendencies I still like to get out and be active. We never did make it out to the country but just before winter break came to a close our crew managed to make a wee hike. It was nice to be out of the city, trekking with friends. It was cold as hell but I wanted to see how my del would hike. It certainly kept me warm but that thing is damn near twelve pounds! Don't notice it out and about in the city but goddam! Trying to climb a mountain (read bluff) with that thing is hard work. Burnt some calories that day, sho'nuf.

Brent, the kid who just got out of the hospital because of pneumonia came along. Stupid hipster weakling didn't wear a hat, the tip of his nose turned white. We forced him to zip up (it's fuckin' -15F out there, mind you) and cover his damn face. For fucks sake. We're Not In L.A. Anymore Dorothy! I couldn't believe it. Without our help dude would be lifeless by now. Unbelievable.

Outside the city the air was noticeably clearer. There was an unholy looking cloud of dense smog hanging over the valley and obscuring the hills beyond UB. Rather disturbing that was. We weren't out for long. We got there kind of late so the sun sank fast. After our excursion we stopped at a place called "Irish Pub", which is right next door to "Supermarket", for some hot drinks. The place was swank and completely empty. Nice pub. I can't imagine why they got no business on a Saturday night. What a pity.

Smoking Section

Out my window on a summer evening.

Same scene at about 10am on a frigid winters day. Gross.

New Years Blaaghh

After the Christmas party I hibernated. It felt great. I don't understand you "seize the day" people. I'm like a lion. I'm comfortable with functioning for about 7 hours a day. Preferably 3 hours in the late morning and 4 hours in the evening. That's livin'! Seriously, I get my best sleep between the morning hours of 5 and 10. This last week I spent more hours in bed than out. There were a couple of days there where I didn't even leave my apartment. Some days I didn't even bother to get dressed.

Our original plan was to get out to the country for new years but that failed to materialize. Nevertheless, we still managed to get 'er done right. A small group of us intrepid whities gathered at my boy Jason's apartment for some alcohol and conversation. I ended up selecting a warm Tsingtao from his fridge. This could only end poorly. Some beers (mostly European) are actually decent at warm temperatures. Tsingtao is not one. Blaagh.

Suddenly it was 11:30. We must make haste! Fireworks at Sukhbaatar Square at midnight. About a mile away. We ran through the frigid night. I was hindered by me del and quite likely out of shape. I felt like I was made of lead. Water vapor from my breath condensed into my beard and surrounding dreads giving me a true father christmas look.

We made it with ten minutes to spare. People in the square had already begun to light of fireworks. The government decreed that there should be none set off by the populace, a completely unenforceable law. I believe Uncle Chinggis simply didn't wish to partake in the expense of a public display this year. Since Mongol gov't knew that the people would light their own a ban on personal displays could "legitimately" be "punished" by a "cancellation" of gov't fireworks. Just speculatin', but...c'mon.

So we witnessed a bunch of crap fireworks with no government participation. Jason popped the cork on his oversized champagne bottle which dribbled off the lip unimpressively. His girlfriend lit a bottle rocket and threw it too early. It landed on the ground near a group of bystanders and fizzled until taking flight once more and crashing into the side of the parliament building. Bizarre echos bounced off the glass windows. It was all so surreal. And fuckin' frigid. We taxied back to Jason's where he proceeded to get way too drunk. I myself was no longer partaking as the warm beer and cheap champagne was giving me a headache. God I wasn't even drunk.

Headache all day the next day. We all just stayed in and watched tv. Welcome 2010. Hope you prove better than last decade. Somehow I doubt it.