UADarthmaul's Travels: Mongolia 2: A boat, the Naadam finale, an ambush, a hike, and the long road up towards the reindeer herders

Near the end of the drive to our campsite, I spotted some yaks alongside Lake Khuvsgul. I had the driver stop, so I could get out and take a look.

Despite being only a thirty minute drive, it was very slow going, and incredibly bumpy. It bothered my neck. It was a relief to finally reach the camp. This was my first time staying in a ger, and it would also prove to be the most luxurious one of the trip. I had a basement, which was cold and damp, but had its own toilet and heated shower. The heat in the shower was on a timer that was about 75 seconds long. I also had an electric outlet. Unfortunately, the power kept going out. It took a few visits ofrom a repairman before the root of the issue was figured out. They had a space heater in the basement, which although it was desperately needed, kept killing the power, so they disconnected it.

That night I got to experience just how cold Mongolia nighttimes could be. I wore multiple layers, including thermals and gloves. I was still cold. The camps serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes it is served restaurant style, being delivered to your table, and other times it is buffet style. Every meal had two drink options. Hot water and tea. It was never room temperature or cold water. You could request instant coffee and powdered milk.

The next day was extremely wet. The guide suggested taking a boat ride on the lake. We drove to Hatgal, but the rain persisted. We boarded the boat, and I donned my poncho. I wasn't able to take out my camera gear at any point. I sat on one of the benches for a good portion of the trip, just viewing the landscape, and young children kept sitting next to me, seemingly curious of the foreigner. Some parents pulled them away, but others let them sit. Some tried to speak an English word or two with me. I was the only white person on the boat.

Eventually, sick of the rain, I sat on the floor near a small area with cover. There was no entry into the inside of the boat, so this was the best I could come up with to stay comfortable. While I sat here, they decided to invite people to sing, karaoke style, with a microphone. There were two volunteers. One woman who ranged from slightly out of tune to tremendously out of tune, and one man, who was pretty darned good.

We stopped at a local coffee shop and ate the packed lunch from our camp, before returning to the final day of the Naadam festival celebrations. At this point the rain was a bit lighter. We first watched a bit of wrestling. Shortly after, the horse racing approached and again people rushed across the wrestling field, halting it.

Afterwards, we sat under cover and watched the final wrestling matches.

The Disney machine has not spared Mongolia.

Volleyball is something that I saw people playing constantly throughout Mongolia. As I was leaving Naadam on the first day, I put down my bag so I could play volleyball in a circle with some of the local kids and my guide. While watching the wrestling this day, I spotted a man in traditional Mongolian clothes playing volleyball.

After wrestling, horses were gathered in sets of five and were brought up for awards, based on where they placed in the race. A man on a horse would sing into the microphone, milk would be spilled on the rear of the horses, and this would then repeat with the next five being brought out. It was a slow process.

There was one woman that I saw often that day. Her dress reminded me of an American. She stood out like a sore thumb. Eventually, Dorj and I ended up standing next to her and she approached us. She was Asian, and Dorj confused her for a Mongolian. She was Chinese American, and she was wearing yoga pants. She was spending time in Mongolia with a local nomadic family.

On the muddy ride back to the camp, we encountered a bus, which had become stuck in the mud. We pulled over to ask for assistance, but the driver had already departed on foot to go for help. My driver left his number in case they needed help when he returned. Some of the people were sitting on a blanket in the grass. Others were playing volleyball. One young girl, maybe six or seven years of age, pulled down her pants, squatted, and urinated right there on the side of the road in front of everyone. Going to the bathroom in nature, and not far from others, is fairly common in Mongolia. For myself, I packed wipes that were biodegradable(most wipes use plastic), tissues, a portable and lightweight shovel, and would always go far, far away from others.

Back at the camp, we were served a soup for dinner that consisted of a flour based covering and then a meat soup underneath. Without my asking, Dorj explained that it was mutton. I preferred he hadn't told me.

On the second night, they set up the fire in the room, so sleeping was easier. The problem with stove fires is that they die, and then you wake up in the middle of the night freezing. I decided we should have a delayed start to our day, so I could relax in my room. The only item on the agenda was a short drive and a hike. I met with the guide and driver for lunch, and there was a woman sitting with them. When I sat down, Dorj explained that this woman was in need of getting up to the north, where we would be travelling next, as she had a job there and no transport. She was friends with our driver, Ana(a man). She spoke a bit of English, and I decided that it couldn't hurt to have someone along, though I wasn't crazy with the ambush technique, having her there and trying to pressure me on the spot. The premium that I paid for a solo experience was quite expensive. After I agreed, they then informed me that she wanted to come on the hike too. I shrugged and said it was fine.

Luckily, the weather had cleared up, and it was beautiful out. We drove on an incredibly bumpy nonroad to the site of the hike. There was another car there, and everyone else spoke together in Mongolian. Some random man joined us on the hike. No one ever explained who he was or why he was joining us.

At some point I pulled the guide aside and asked who this man was. He said that he had no one to hike with. While taking a short break, this man approached me and asked me how expensive my camera was. I lied.

At the top we encountered another group who had come via horse.

There wasn't much to see until we reached near the top. Then the view was incredible. Untouched landscape as far as the eye could see, with incredibly blue water. We sat at the top for a time. The woman was very nice and talked to me more than the guide. I asked her what she was going to be doing in the north. She said it was for vacation.

On the way down, the guide ripped out a plant and explained that they often used it for food or to chew on. It was rhubarb. I said that we make pies out of it in the west. They didn't believe me until I pulled up a picture.

The next day we began a ten hour drive. There was only a twenty minute period of paved road, the same part that we had taken on our way to hatgal. We pulled off the road and followed random sets of tire tracks from previous vehicles that had come previously.

We stopped at a set of older monuments with writing carved into them.

We would often see huge flocks of sheep, cows, or small sets of horses randomly dotting the landscape, along with solitary nomadic family gers. The lack of traditional infrastructure anywhere was extraordinary.

This video below has clips from the muddy return from Naadam as well as the driving through sheep herds on the ten hour drive.

Dorj spotted vultures in the distance and suggested we get out and approach by foot. I took photos of the dead sheep that they were consuming. It was also being consumed by insects. Feel free to avoid this next section if you are sensitive to these kind of photos.

Eventually we reached the midpoint of the day, a tiny village, where we would be served the common noodle dish for lunch. We were served by two women, while local children came in and out. Before sitting down, I walked around the tiny settlement.

The location of our lunch.

The section of non road that directly followed lunch was exceptionally bumpy, and made me nauseous. Luckily, my body adjusted, and it became tolerable after some time. We would often see ground squirrels darting away from the dirt tracks that we would follow.