We arrived early in the morning and excitement was in the air. Our guide Gana found us right away. We got into the car and went to the Terelji Nationalpark right away. The ride was smooth and while we watched snowy mountains pass our window we fell asleep. Shortly after we were in the ger camp. After breakfast and a short nap, we took in our ger warmed by a coal oven, we went for a hike. And there it was: we realized that we managed to make our dreams come true. Mongolia had been one of the locations that seemed impossible to ever see and now we stood in the middle of the mongolian mountains.
And that feeling never left us the whole week we spent in this country.
We heard and read many things about Mongolia beforehand and came a little sceptical how it would be. I really enjoyed our experience here. The people, the landscape, the culture, all seem absolutely beautiful to me. Of course there can be crime in a big city like Ulan bataar but so there is in Berlin or any other big city in the world. We felt safe.
Since this week of our travels was organized by a travel agency beforehand, there was no worrying about anything. We got picked up at the train, brought to the different accomodations and had three meals a day. We were told about history, religion, superstitions, food and customs of the local people. We visited the Terelji and Hustai National park and went to the old capital Karakhorum, saw the Dschingis Khaan statue, monasteries and other holy places. The driver Nasa was great and we were able to get some sleep inbetween being in awe of the nature. We saw roaming horses, cows, yaks, sheeps and goats. The wild horses and deer were a big treat along with eagles and vultures sitting on posts on the side of the street. We got the ger and hotel experience and visited a nomad family to have some arag (fermented horse milk, quiet good). We made friends over some Dschingis Khaan Vodka. There was horse back and camel back riding 🙂 We had it all.
But it seems not enough. We want to come back and see more of this country, meet more people and learn about their traditions. Here the spirits of nature are a respected force. We want to see the marmots, the desert and the hot springs.
Let the pictures show you what my experience looked like. Pictures take tooo long to upload! They will follow soon. Facebook is not available for us right now.
Our ger door got a coat as well
Best stamps so far
Back in Ulan bataar, we went to a monastery and saw one giant golden buddha, skipped the dinasaurus museum since it closed right in front of us and had food at a mongolian fast food place.we also went to the movies one night (the new Tim Burton) and to a traditional concert the other night. The concert was wonderful. Go there if you ever go to Ulanbaatar. Do not let the outer appearence of the building the show is hosted in scare you off. It was lovely. Thanks to the recommendation of our guide Gana we went there.
One little story at the end. Yesterday we were on our way to Peace avenue when suddendly someone grabbed me by the arm. I was shocked, confused and a little frightened eventhough it was the middle of the day and very crowded. I jumped. These feelings lasted for one second and exactly until I took a look and realized who had grabbed my arm. She grabbed it again. We had been waiting at a red traffic light. She was a lovely old lady who wanted me to guide her over to the other side of the street. I felt embaressed, happy and relieved, all at once and it was my pleasure to bring her to the other side of the street safely.
Now we are back on the train. The last part of the transsiberian/transmongolian railway lies ahead and then the chinese adventure starts.