Ger camps, nomads and desert. Real Mongolia.

After our much needed stop revive survive at the western coffee shop, the 5 of us girls headed onto the local supermarket to pick up some goods in preparation for our epic train journey. With a 9:30pm departure we were dropped at the station by our not so attentive or useful honcho Allen, and ultimately left to find it ourselves. Drawing cards again, we were split into rooms of four, tiff unfortunately drawing the short one and sharing her room with another vodka train group of three others. 

The night was spent with the 12 bodies jammed into one room playing kings, with an extensive range of local liqueurs, averaging about 60% and tasting much like petrol…. “a sip a day keeps the doctor away” one clarified in English. 

With a 3am bed time, we all woke reasonably early to dig into our packet porridge and drink instant coffee from our thermeses, whilst taking in the deserted looking scenery before arriving into the change station. This is where carriage by carriage we are taken into a large shed, jacked up and the wheels are changed to suit the Mongolian tracks. Why not just change trains? I don’t know but this process took the majority of the day. Cuppa noodles and sachets of milo were consumed until two of the boys ran out of the gates to purchase some group treats of ice creams and dumplings. About 5pm we were asked to get off the train and re enter, officially stamping the departure of china. Mongolian officials then collected our passports aboard and stamped the entry. A little after we finally heard the departure music as the chinese saluted our goodbye.

Waking up to real Mongolia was simply unique. Small clusters of houses with colorful roofs, naked hills in the distant with giant desert plains in front. The occasional glimpse of a ger was exciting and intriguing. Around mid day we finally arrived into Ulan baatar, the capital of Mongolia. Greeted by our beautiful honcho Gele, we went straight to our lovely central hotel. A shower later and we were all feeling fresh and ready to explore the city. Indulging in some deep fried dumplings (snitzel size) and some local noodles we then headed to the main square to find out more about the history of Mongolia. An intense dust storm followed by rain hurried things along and we returned to the hotel to get ready for an evening of activity.

Things kicked off with a traditional song and dance performance. Dressed in bright robes with elaborate hair and make up, we watched a unique and interesting band perform a variety of songs on strange instruments. Even stranger when one of the members started singing; a low guttural noise from his throat. There were also theatrical dance groups and a contortionist thrown in for good measure. She wowed the crowd after elevating her self into the air, hanging onto a pole with her teeth. 

Back into the cold night air, Gele took us to a dingy looking ‘American bar’ appropriately named the Detroit Bar. Many rounds of Mongolian vodka shots, cocktails and some dinner followed before we left for a karaoke bar. In our own karaoke room, everyone was surprisingly shy to start with and more shots were ordered. But it wasn’t long before a passionate rendition of When a Man Loves a Woman was performed followed by a strip tease. The rest of the night was spent fighting for the mic. When our hour was up we were kicked out of the booth and had managed to pick up some English tag alongs from another vodka train traveling in the opposite direction - not the loveliest lads. As promised, the gorgeous Gele took our rowdy crowd to a club. Once inside things got quite loose. With podiums, stripper poles and Mongolians shouting us rounds of drinks, we were right at home. Most of the group became quite friendly with some of the locals including one guy dressed in double denim sporting a Mohawk (I think he was fat too..) While others got up close and personal with the English twats. Needless to say, Gele watched on mortified and seemed relieved when three am rolled around and she dragged our drunken motley crew home. That left us only a couple of hours to pack and sleep before a five hour bus trip to a ger camp early that morning. 

After a good hours sleep, a coffee and some ibuprofen we set off on our 5 hour trip to a traditional Mongolian ger camp. We imagined we’d all be snugly stuffed in one ger, with on each others body warmth and perhaps an animal skin blanket to keep warm through the night. You can imagine we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find four real beds per ger, real toilets and toilet paper? Was this a 5 star get camp!? The three of us settled into our ger with Jane. 

The afternoon was spent visiting a traditional Mongolian family. In order to get there we scaled the desert landscape in our bus- the lack of suspension made for an interesting journey. The family were shy, understandably so and brought us inside the ger for a salty tea and their traditional bread. After taking some scenic shots and petting the lambs we hopped back on the bus for a evening feast back at the camp. Sitting in the ger later in the evening relaxing under four quilts, listening to the fire crackle on the inside as the dust storm picked up on the outside. We spent the best part of our night talking with Gele about her life and dreams. Once we had all said good night it gave us time to reflect on how lucky we are to have grown up where we did, with endless opportunity and choice. 

Leaving this camp to find the next was merely an hours drive along a small dirt track in the middle of the Mongolian desert. We stopped off at an ancient style prayer space where Gele explained the traditional Mongolian beliefs on shamanism, from here we went to the oldest lamaserie in Mongolia where our guide casually talked about many paintings and ornaments and giant Buddha statues from the 17th century.

We arrived at or second ger camp to be treated to an amazing lunch. This site was a little more traditional, with only us at this camp it felt far more authentic…even down to the drop toilet singly set beyond the fence in a wooden box and bearing a rotten smell. We quickly became friends with the staff sharing a few dances and plenty of laughs. We spent the afternoon horse riding across the grassy plains. With what seemed like infinite space we rode across to the river at the base of the hills, cutting through rocky, sandy soil and passing a group of wild horses. Although the dusty winds blew and the ever looming fear of ticks grew stronger you could not wipe the smile off any of our faces. By the time we were back we were ready for dinner…and again served mammoth dumplings. 

We spent the evening sipping tea, watching the sun set, playing tiffs iPhone dancing app, playing the ankle bone game and a few of us were eager to try on the traditional Mongolian clothing. Once again ending the evening next to the fire in the ger.

An early start today with a hearty breakfast ready for our 6 hour drive back to UB across the rolling grey hills, desert and grassy plains covered by the bluest sky- listening to Geles’ favorite tunes….

Our last day in Ulanbataar was fairly low key after our epic journey to the ger camps. A late start and a wander through the streets and the state department store we then met Gele for one last adventure. 

After an interesting trip via public transport we found ourselves in front of yet another big Buddah. However we were more interested in the hordes of school kids who had just graduated and were dressed to impress. Bus loads of them had arrived to take photos at the scenic area. A monument to the strong relationship between Mongolia and Russia sat high on a hill, (600 stairs) with the most amazing panoramic view of Mongolia’s capital city at the top. Hundreds of of the graduates in stilettos were even making the journey, that’s how good it was. 

A quick lunch of dumplings (we still aren’t sick of them) and we were in some taxis to the black market, a massive outdoor extravaganza, bustling with people and pick pockets. While we remained aware, an unsuccessful thief slashed Eric’s bag but lucky she caused a scene and scared them away. 

Back in a taxi and we were on our way to dinner at a Mongolian all you can eat barbecue. Gele organized an early celebration for Panda’s birthday with cake and said an emotional, personal good bye to each one of us. She really was an amazing person to meet and made our Mongolian experience so much more incredible.