On horseback, at last

When we last saw Babette, she was enjoying her week off from school, although her computer problems had her frustrated. On Tuesday, while at the internet place, she learned that an overnight trip to Terelj National Park was available, leaving Wednesday at 9 am, so she eagerly called the tour operator and signed up. For only $45 the tour provided transportation to the park, 2 hours of riding, 3 meals, and an overnight stay in a ger. What a bargain!

On Wednesday, I met the 2 girls who were also going, Karolina from Poland, and Ayuna from Russia. I packed everything warm that I had, and wore my merino long underwear for the first time this trip. We got to the park and were shown our ger - a cozy place with 3 beds and the woodstove already lit. It was a fascinating place. Our hostess, Chimgee, lives in a ger with her 3 sons, ages approximately 17, 10 and 3. We had approximately 3 hours until lunch would be served, so Karolina, Ayuna and I took a long walk around the area. I wore almost everything I brought: 3 pairs of long underwear, 3 pairs of socks, a shirt, my jeans, a down vest and my down coat. The park is in a valley and I have no idea how ownership or use of the land is handled, but they are in a large area in the valley along with all of their livestock. The cattle all roam free, as do the sheep, goats and horses. Only the camel is tied or confined all of the time. Lunch, consisting of buuz, pickles and tea, was served in our ger at 2pm. The riding began at 3pm. We got on our horses, but for some unexplained reason, we were LED down the valley and up the hills and around until we returned to the area where our ger was. This was very disappointing and would have spoiled the whole trip except for one small detail. The horses Karolina and I were on were led by the 10 year old, but Ayuna's horse was led by the 3 YEAR OLD!! He was absolutely amazing. (He is the small detail.) We were on horseback for an hour, and he walked the whole way, leading Ayuna's horse, up and down the hills, singing and talking the whole time. I don't know a single 3 year old in the US who could or would do that, but he was very capable AND agreeable. Later in the evening, he walked across the valley to bring home a cow who had gone astray. Again, he did it by himself, happily and very capably. What an amazing childhood (if you can call it that) he is having. Such freedom, yet such responsibility and confidence in knowing that he is a vital part of the family business. I imagine that the ger hosting is just a small sideline business for them, and probably brings in some decent money (especially when the weather is better), and is really not a lot of trouble for them. We were basically on our own, except for the riding time and the meals. Camel rides, which we all had, cost 3000 extra togrog, about 2 dollars. The camel (2-humped kind) was very comfortable and warm. It was like having a teddy bear in front of you to hug and an overstuffed chair behind you to lean against. The only trouble with riding a camel is getting on and off. There are no stirrups on the camel, just a blanket between the humps and this camel didn't kneel to let people on or off. The 17 year old came to give us each a leg up, but still you have to scramble to get situated and a leg over to the other side. The hump is so high that it's not like swinging a leg over a horse or a bike.
I brought apples and carrots for the horses, but the horses DIDN'T LIKE THEM! I've never met a horse that would refuse a carrot or an apple. Luckily the camel was most appreciative of the apples, and I was fascinated by the way the camel, a cud-chewing animal, would swallow the apple whole, bring it back up and continue chewing. He knew how to get the most out of the apples I fed him. The cows enjoyed the carrots. One cow kept following me around after the snack - even to the point of hanging around our ger later that night.
Dinner was served at 6pm: buuz soup, bread and tea. By 6:30 the sun was setting behind the mountains, although the people on the other side would have had 1-2 hours more sun that evening. I had hoped to be able to see a sunrise in the morning, but the rocks and the mountains in the east prevented that. There is little chance of seeing a sunrise in UB because of the smog in the city. The evening was very peaceful - just the occasional dog barking, the sound of someone chopping wood, the crackling fire in our woodburning stove, and the sheep brushing by the ger. I heard rustling outside at one point and thought it was the wind, but it turned out to be my reddish brown and black cow, who had followed me home, probably hoping for some more carrots.
Breakfast in the morning was bread and tea, although I will admit that the 10 year old boy brought us some jam and the bread knife 45 minutes after he had delivered breakfast. This time my Swiss Army knife came to the rescue. Three things I will never travel without: 1) Swiss Army knife, 2) rubber sink plug, and 3) moist towelettes. There was no place to wash up in the ger, and no sink or water source available, except for the bottled water we brought. There was an outhouse, but I never saw a place for the guests to wash - hence the desirability of the towelettes. The girls were most appreciative, and couldn't believe how well prepared I was. One interesting thing about the meal delivery system. This boy was the one who brought us our meals, helped stoke the fire, lit our candle, etc., but never knocked or announced his arrival to us - just came in on his errand. Luckily he never caught us undressing (after all, there were 2 girls in their 20's in there and me, ahem, a bit older), but maybe he knows that no one ever really undresses or changes clothes in this weather.
After he stoked the fire for the night, it became so hot that I was forced to strip down to my underwear - and I don't mean the long kind, either - and lie on top of my sleeping bag. I woke up later when the fire had burned down and began to put clothes back on. By 6 am I was driven to hop over to the stove, still in my sleeping bag, and build the fire back up. Ten years of Girl Scouting paid off big time! The 10 year old came in about 30 minutes later to do that very thing, but the ger was already warm. I was very proud.
Our ride came soon after breakfast to take us back to UB. I have rarely been so happy to take a shower in my life. The hot water and the chance to get clean were wonderful.