9/7 to 9/10 Final Days

9/7 was a day of leisure. We had the option to ride which most took up. I had caught what turned out to be a stomach virus and rested. The weather and scenery made for a pleasant day off. In the afternoon we visited Jergdallen's ger and family. The little boy in the photos is his son but really his grandson. Jergdallen's son is either not going into the family business and/or lives far away. Jergdallen and his wife adopted their grandson in order to teach him the ways so he may one day inherit the herds of sheeps, goats, yaks and, of course, horses.

Jergdallen's son was much less shy than the other kids we met. It may be because he's met all the other non Mongolians who have been on tour. Past participants have sent batches of photos back and he pleaded Jergdallen to put a photo of him in the front. The conversation went as follows:

Son: Put this picture in the front.
Jergdallen: There's room for it in the back.
S: No! Put it in the front.
J: How about the middle?
S: No one's going to see it if it's in the middle!
J: Okay, I'll put it in the front.
Jergdallen's Wife: Oh, just put the album away! We have company and you're being rude.

It played like a sitcom. At least it was more productive than my conversations with Bootsy that went like this:

Jackie: Okay, time to canter! Come on, Bootsy! Tro, tro! Tro, tro!
Bootsy: Um, no.
J: PLEASE!
B: Nope.
J: Here comes the whip...
B: All righty then.
(30 seconds later.)
J: Oh come on!
B: Hehe.

The next day we had to say good-bye to Dogii and Jergdallen (and Bootsy). We were all pretty sad since who knows if our paths will cross again, even if we return to Mongolia. We wished them luck for the coming months and were off for a drive to "Piece of Sand", an area at the very edge of the Gobi. We had a chance to ride camels but I passed. It was entertaining to watch Jim and Katie try to manage the animals though. Listening to the camels made me think of Star Wars. In fact, we found postcards of costumes worn by Mongolian princesses and clearly George Lucas's costume designers borrowed heavily for princess Amidala.

The following day was spent driving back to UB on terrible roads. It didn't take as long as the first day out but it was just as uncomfortable. We got back in time for me to check out the main square very briefly. Then we saw a performance of traditional song and dance.

As I mentioned before, the staff at Nomads really took care of us well. I had never been on an organized tour like that so it was a nice first experience. Everyone was friendly and respectful and the participants all agreed that Mongolia more than lived up to our expectations. I went away with a desire to see much more of the country (we only covered a small part of central Mongolia) and a definite plan to return. The people of the countryside were all incredibly warm and welcoming. Almost everyone asked if I was Mongolian and didn't believe Mishidma when she told them I wasn't. This was really the first time people have had that kind of reaction. In Korea I am always asked if I'm Chinese or Japanese. I will think back to this trip very fondly and hope to get back to Mongolia soon.

Here is the link to the last of the photos. I ran out of juice the last few days and had to eek out photos with my other camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54764455@N00/sets/72157602153514067/

9/6 Final Day of Riding - Orkhon Waterfall

Today is the official final day of riding. We have the option to ride tomorrow though. We got a late start since the horses all ran home in the middle of the night. Turns out Dogii and Jerdallen's gers are about 15 km away so they knew their way back. While Dogii and Jergdallen went back to retrieve them, we visited a family in a nearby ger. The father and older daughter had gone off to visit another family so the mother and younger daughter greeted us. The girl was very shy at first but finally opened up for photos. The ger was very clean and the mother was preparing milk to make butter, cheese and vodka. The furniture, including the roof beams, was all hand painted by the woman's brother-in-law. Orange is often used to brighten the interior.

When the horses were all back we rode to Orkhon Waterfall, the largest in Mongolia. On the way to camp we stopped at Dogii's ger and met his family. Dogii was an extra in a music video of one of Mongolia's most popular entertainers. He tried to find the video but sang for us instead. I am trying to upload the video of him singing a song about being 18 years old. The words are all about the trials of being that age and trying to figure out who you are. His father also sang for us. He also had a fantastic voice. Jergdallen said their whole family could sing well. They wanted us to sing a song popular in our respective countries but none of us dared to follow their performances. Somehow I don't think my rendition of "Umbrella" would be a positive representation of American pop culture.

Here is the link to photos from Day 8: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54764455@N00/sets/72157602153450829/

9/4 Urt Bulag Valley

Today we covered another 30 km and I seem to have gotten used to riding now. I decided on a sitting trot instead of trying the other options. Bootsy still breaks his canter and there's nothing I seem to be able to do about that. We had a bit of miscommunication in the afternoon and I fell off when he started galloping away while I was taking a drink from my water bottle. It's not a long way to the ground so it didn't hurt and I rolled to standing right away as Dogii chased after Bootsy.

In the afternoon we visited a family preparing insulation for their winter ger. They also had solar panels. The family had two little girls and I gave the older one a stuffed horse beanie baby. She seemed very pleased and showed it off to her father when he walked in. When he asked who gave it to her, she said she forgot. Thanks, kid! Her parents seemed quite young. Mishidma said they've broken with the tradition of arranged marriages and now young men scope out the ladies, though they have a lot of distance to cover on their motorcycles and horses.

The ride to camp was quite short and we were no longer by a river. Our tents were set up on top of a tree covered mountain. It was Lisa's birthday so the cook made a cake. We still can't figure out how she baked a strawberry shortcake without an oven. I managed to stay up past 9:30 and saw the stars. You could see everything, according to Katie. I don't know anything about stars and constellations but all I know is that the sky was covered. We saw a number of shooting stars as well.

Here's the link to photos from Day 6: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54764455@N00/sets/72157602144397002/