Sight For Sore Eyes

Mongolia The Beautiful

These Guys Rule!

Steppe Ridas!

Once again, at the eleventh hour last weekend I was invited to join a group of westerners sojourning to the outskirts of UB for some fresh air and excitement. This time it was through a group called Steppe Riders. It was such a nice deal. Check this out: for 40 Tuugruugk (about $28 American) we got a ride to and from the location by microbus, we got to stay the night in a geir, we got fed, and we got to ride horses for hours over the wide open steppe. Not a bad deal.

It was nice to get away and meet some other foreigners in the process. I was invited by a Scotsman who had been working for a tour company until recently. There was a Texan working for a Chinese newspaper, a contingent of Aussie lasses engaged in various activities and a Canuck doing god knows what amongst others. I feel very fortunate that the foreigner community is so open here but with all the discrimination we experience on a daily basis it sort of makes sense.

This time around we were working with a company that had our interests in mind. Meaning they took the time to adjust the stirrups for us and whatnot. This certainly saved my knee some trouble. On the first afternoon I was given an eager steed who kept pace with the leaders of our group for which I was thankful. However, on the second day my luck ran out. I was given an old mount who certainly tried but his gallop was totally weak. I spent the whole ride just trying to catch up. Actually my horse spent most of the time with his nose up other horses asses. All that space and he insisted on close contact. It makes no sense.

Nice people, nice fire that lasted the night, a rather nice weekend. Afterwards back to broke ass UB only this time with a sore bum and groin and every other muscle used for sitting. Such is life.

Eagle Rock!

Most "blinks" in photography are unfortunate. I think this one had the opposite effect. Nice work Tom.

Odt, Lookin' Like A Rock Star!

Sights in Terelj

Hotel Terelj

TereljMaa

Kickin'It Geir Style

Mongol Horde Cometh!

Weekend In Terelj

Once again I took off last weekend for a trip to the country. This time it was with my homies from Sexy Jazz Lounge, a little pub my friend Sarge opened not far from my apartment. His waiter Odt's family maintain a geir camp at a well known national park called Terelj, so our lodging was completely covered. It was very relaxing, on the first day we didn't do much. We sort of strolled about the general area where we were staying. There's a five star hotel there that we took a brief tour of. It was probably the nicest building I've seen in Mongolia.

That night we all gathered by the river while Tom played songs on his guitar. Sing along hippie classics such as Hotel California, American Pie, and Uncle John's Band. It was a little cold for it but felt nice. Later we played drinking games in our geir until we passed out.

The next day as we all lazed about nursing hangovers a man rolled up on his motorcycle with an eagle hanging on the backside. I wish I could've gotten a decent image so you'd know what I meant. Instead you'll have to settle for my shoddy camera work. We each paid 1,000 Tugrugs (about 70 cents American) for an opportunity to photograph ourselves with the powerful raptor. Very exotic experience. There was no way I was going to pass that up.

Afterwards we mounted horses (or ponies perhaps, they're so little!) and rode about the grounds. The stirrups are so high up on those beasts, my knee began screaming at me again. It was very much like riding long distance on my bike with my seat post set too low. Ah well. Fun enough. This child acting as our guide kept whipping my steed into action. The trotting horse's back nailed my inner thighs repeatedly, leaving me sore. Damn I need some conditioning, I'm getting soft in my old age!

Bus ride home was two hours of overcrowded mayhem. My back got wrenched out of alignment, which turned Monday into hurtin' day. Worth it nonetheless.

Dark Day

All the storm clouds are heading toward my destination.

Ideal Camping Ground

So Blue

I like the patterns on this one.

Up On Bogd Mountain

Directly south of UB lies a set of mountains, called Bogd. Its totally in walking distance so I've been meaning to hike it, I don't know why I didn't until yesterday (8/09) but it was sweet all the same. The plan was set in advance so I ignored the inclement weather and set out. Two friends bailed on me siting the possibility of stormy weather, but I was hearing none of it. Good thing Jason agreed to join me, it would've been a lonely hike without him.

The hike to the ridge was brutal! I keep forgetting how steep the mountains are around here, but once we got to the top things got real nice. UB actually looked tolerable for once. If you pull back a bit you don't notice the derelict structures all around, it starts to look like a proper city.

The weather turned out to be perfect for hiking; cool, moist air kept us from over heating. I love summer heat, but sometimes it just feels nice to layer up and get out in the woods, you know? We found some sweet rock formations up on the ridge and more then a few patches of ground with high conifer canopies yielding sparse undergrowth. Perfect camping grounds, I shall have to return for a weekends excursion. The woods opened to allow for spacious meadows and not a few fly wild flowers. I love how an overcast day can make the colors just pop in contrast. Eagles soared below us, surveying the valley for prey, while a fox bounded his way down the slope. We found some more "indian" strawberries and a whole lot of fungus. I wish we could have stayed longer.

Back at the outskirts of town we found a store that sold tallboys of IBC root beer. My first of this beloved beverage since leaving home sweet home. Nice work team.

HikePix

Orange solid line: My trip up/ Green dotted line: My trip down

After climbing the rocks, the view to camp below

From up there

Solo Hike

On the second day of our outing everybody was hung over from too much vodka. They were all completely unmotivated and lame. I tried to round up some folk to go hiking with me but ended up going alone. Perhaps its for the best. Nobody can hold me back when I'm alone. God that sounds anti-social. I wanted to socialize with people but nobody wanted to do the things that I'm interested in. Lame.

The hike was short but oh so sweet. Of the the two promising mountains I chose the one with the more varied terrain. I had to traverse a marshy area that was rife with spiders. I don't know much about spiders but somehow their markings looked particularly menacing. I think spiders are beautiful creatures but damn do they give me the creeps. Got some good pix of them though, some of my best I believe.

After the marsh the land began to rise and I entered a coniferous forest. There was ample canopy which dominated the available light resources making for a sparsely populated undergrowth. Ideal conditions for hiking. By and by the land became very steep and suddenly I was confronted with a wall of rock. I easily could've gone around but I needed some adventure. I climbed hand over foot and no sweat I was over the top. Onward, upward, through a meadow and then more woods. After about an hours climb I crested the ridge. I wanted to continue along the ridge to higher ground but I had to turn back. People would worry if I was gone too long.

On the way down I found some more rabbits cabbage. I think we were in more fertile ground because the varieties here were plumper and juicier. I also found more "indian" strawberries which were plumper/tastier as well. Stokin'! All in all a short but sweet hike, albeit alone.

Back at camp we didn't tarry much longer. An hour of bumpy riding and I was back home. Exhausted, I passed out for three hours and poof! There goes my weekend.

Geir Camp Pix

Geir Camp

Last weekend my employer hosted a camping trip to one of the many geir camps that abound in this area. For those of you who don't know, a geir is the traditional nomadic Mongolian tent/house. Most of you in the west would probably call them yurts but you would be wrong. Its a geir! And roll that R dammit!

An hour of rough riding over washed out country roads brought us to an old soviet recreation center. I guess the government used to be able to dictate when and where and how you could spend your vacation. This was such a place. At one end of the camp sat a dilapidated building which served as some kind of hotel/vacation quarters. It was all run down and falling apart and there were all these corny landscape pictures hanging around an otherwise sparsely furnished compound. I've been here long enough not to be shocked but it was appalling non-the-less.

I caught wind of a lamb roast and b-lined for the camp fire grounds. The president of my school was preparing a fire for a slow roast so I lent a hand. I rarely get to spend time in the outdoors any more so when there's a fire I'm generally there. Entreaties to join a game of volleyball fell on deaf ears as this kid set about gathering wood and building the rotisserie fire, which required hot coals and low flames. We built a second "feeder" fire with the intention of transferring coals to the cook fire just to keep the thing alive. We had to keep the roast fire going for a full five hours to get this mutton done.

By and by I was lured away by the promise of food. I felt that I was neglecting the rest of the group so I took my leave with the promise of returning before the roast was finished. The entire staff of Santis sat about on the grass picking at meat with greasy hands. Mongolian women are rather good looking. It is bizarre indeed to see a bunch of attractive women sitting in the dirt and pulling meat off of bone with greasy fingers and gnashing teeth. What a group of barbarians. Outstanding.

After that unimpressive meal I returned to the real action. Lamb roast. Apparently in my absence a herd of cows roamed through the camp and , wouldn't you know it, ATE THE DAMN FEEDER FIRE! WTF??!! I have never heard of animals eating hot coals but unless I'm the victim of a bald faced lie we lost ours to the bowels of a bovine. Will the wonders never cease?

Well after dark the roast was finished and we were finally able to enjoy the fruits of our labor. I was quite hungry and it was delicious. The rest packed up quickly to stumble home, while I stayed behind to watch the embers die. The rest of the Santis staff were in the weird recreation compound having disco night but I couldn't bring myself to indulge in such lameness. I can go out to the disco any night of the week in UB but right now I'm in the country dammit! I'm gonna hang out with the fire even if I have to do so alone. By the time the coals died to a minimal glow it became quite chilly. I wandered back to the geir I was staying in for one the coldest nights sleep of my life. I didn't wake up until long after the sun arose. I can't sleep unless I'm warm.