Mongolia

Earlier when I tried to post my video it was only in 360 quality, it SHOULD be in 720HD, so if it isn't please just click on the 360 on the bottom and change it to 720HD, it is MUCH clearer and looks way better!!





A few years ago I sat down and made a list of some top places I'd like to see in the world and Mongolia ended up in the top 10.  The history of Genghis Khan and the famous Mongolian Empire of the 1200s, the amazing blue skies, vast valleys and wide open spaces, wild horses and the feeling of freedom that seems to be prevalent there.
So, this spring I decided to make it happen and contacted a lady named Daka there in Ulan Bator (the capital city of Mongolia) and asked her to put together a great trip for me.  I told her I wanted it to be as genuine and "Mongolian" as possible, keeping me away from the city and doing as few touristy things as possible.  She was very cool and put together what I felt at the time (and even more so at the end of the trip) was a great itinerary for the trip.
At the time I figured I'd be rolling solo, which never bothers me, but of course it's always more fun to enjoy a fun experience with someone else.  Well, my friend Zablon decided to take a job here at the school and he said he really wanted to go to Mongolia as well...so, it worked out perfectly!  He actually got to Korea on the 25th of July and we did a few things here in Asan like his health check and stuff so he could start teaching for us on August 6th.  The tickets were sold out for the 28th (the day I flew) but we were able to find a ticket for him on the 27th, so he actually flew out a day early.  I was pretty excited Saturday as I made my way to the Incheon Airport...I always feel giddy when I'm about to go on a trip.  I arrived in Ulan Bator just after 10 PM and was quite surprised with how small the airport was.  Z was waiting for me in the arrival area and we were ready to get the trip started!  I met Daka and our driver and they took us to Daka's aunt's house for the first night.  It was really cool to finally be in Mongolia and I was amazed at the night sky there.  Mongolia is a country with a population of under 3 million and the most sparsely populated independent country in the world, and so the lights didn't effect seeing stars like they do here in Korea.  We met Daka's aunt who had a nice welcome dinner for us: some traditional Mongolian milk tea, potatoes, sheep and special Mongolian bread.  She was very kind and one of the first things that I noticed about Mongolian's was their smiles and their eyes all looked to be full of happiness and energy.  After eating dinner we retired out to the ger.  A ger is a portable, felt home that the Mongolians use since there are many nomadic people that reside there.  They are very sturdy and quite easy to put up and take down, they told us that it could be done in a few hours.  It was really awesome and exciting to be sleeping in the ger the first night and Z and I talked about how lucky we both were to be doing this adventure, in a place that as kids neither of us ever could have imagined visiting.
I slept VERY well there that night (and also through the week), I think the fresh air there had something to do with it.  So, we had a hearty breakfast of pretty much the same thing we had eaten the night before.  I'm not much of a breakfast eater, so that was something I had to get used to during the week, as Mongolians really, really want you to eat when they are eating! HA!  So, that morning was soooo lovely, the sun was out, the sky was clear and we hit the road.  Our first destination was the Manchushir Monastery.  At the end of the 17th century Mongolia had been incorporated in the Qing Dynasty of China, at the collapse of the dynasty Mongolia struggled for independence. By 1924 the Mongolian People's Republic was declared and Mongolia came under communist rule until 1992.  The Monastery was an area of several hundred monks and had some houses, as well as a big monastery for worship.  When the People's Republic took over, they attacked the monastery, killed lots of the monks and destroyed most all of the buildings.  They have since rebuilt a wooden monastery which is supposed to be similar to some of the wooden buildings that were previously on the site.  The original big three story foundation remains partially intact.  It was a beautiful area and after seeing the monastery Z and I hiked to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the amazing scenery from the top.  We met back with our driver and headed back to the parking lot.  When we arrived at the van he said "hey guys, I lost the key!" he was smiling and laughing so I just assumed of course he was joking, but...no, he wasn't joking.  For most people who know me, you know I'm not always the best in situations like this, but I was quite proud of myself and I decided that this week nothing was going to upset me or make me feel stressed out, so I said "well, that's cool, do you need some help looking?"  He said he would try and find it (keep in mind we had been walking half the day) and so he took off to look for it.  It was a really nice day and near the monastery was a very beautiful area, so Z and I just relaxed and went over to watch a group of Mongolian guys playing volleyball.  They looked very happy and they seemed like they were having tons of fun.  After about 5 minutes a lady and her two kids came over and started talking to us.  The girl was really cute, maybe about 11 and her mom said she wanted to practice her English with some foreigners.  So, we chatted with her for a minute or two and her mom spoke English quite well.  She asked us what we were doing and we told her we were just waiting for our driver, he had lost the key so we couldn't go anywhere.  After about 30 minutes our driver came back and said he couldn't find it.  Well, him and the lady started talking, her and her husband and family were there for the weekend on vacation with some of her husband's employees enjoying the weekend, and she said they had plenty of food in their ger if we wanted to come eat some lunch.  We were starving and stranded (the driver called his brother back in Ulan Bator (UB) and his brother was bringing the spare key) so we accepted her offer to eat with them.  They had a huge lunch and they were actually eating Korean food! HA!  So, we ate with them and chatted with them, and then the guys were going out for some wrestling matches after lunch.  Apparently Mongolians love wresting, so all the guys were wrestling each other and playing around.  They were all really funny and cool.  Z has a real nice camera and they asked if he would take some nice pictures of their group and then send them after we got back.  We must have taken pictures with them for 20-30 minutes, the whole group, each family, the men, the women, etc. it kind of reminded me of Langston reunions! HA!  Anyway, they were really happy and cool with us, so we enjoyed spending time with them and taking pictures.  Finally our key arrived by around 3 PM and we were back on the road again.  We headed towards Terelj National Park, and it was a gorgeous drive.  The roads there are quite fun, there are some paved roads, but lots of the roads in the country are just dirt and in some areas quite rough.  We made it to the park in several hours and our plan for the next few days was to stay in a ger with a local family there in the National Park.  When our driver dropped us off we followed the lady back off the road, over several streams, and probably walked a good mile back to the little camp.  They had an old Japanese delivery truck where they had like a stove, sink, TV, etc. and then there were two gers, one of their family and then on for visitors.  She was really nice and there were several kids there as well as her husband and some other locals.  She made us a nice dinner and we got ready for bed and slept well.  In the morning we woke up to heavy rain (we had a horse ride planned for the day) which was surprising as beautiful and clear it had been the day before.  The man said there was probably too much rain to do the ride that day, but it was supposed to clear some by the next day.  So, basically all that day we just talked, hung out with the little girls (they were soooo cute, Mongolian kids were adorable), took a nice long nap and ate some of her really delicious food.  The one hard thing there was that I guess most people bathe in the river...so, it had been a few days without a shower for me.  We did wash our hands and face in the river, but the water was WAY too cold to take a bath! HA!  Anyway, we woke up the next day, but the rain had let up considerably and the guy said we could go for a ride if we were ready.  I was a little disappointed that it was still a little too rainy to take our cameras on the ride.  The ride was so beautiful, we were out in the National Park and the mountains and trees there were really breathtaking.  He was a very kind man, he didn't speak much English, but it was fun riding through the mountains of Mongolia with him.  We were gone for most of the morning and then got back and ate lunch before heading to UB that afternoon.        It was about a two hour drive into UB and we ended up getting there just about rush hour.  Now...I have to say, if you think you have ever seen bad roads and traffic, you have seen nothing until you've been to UB.  The city itself isn't that huge only around 1.5 million, but the roads leading into the city were beyond atrocious!  The pot holes there could swallow a small child and I have no idea how the UB residents have not had a major revolt over the roads, it was beyond anything I've ever seen before.  So, we got to the hotel (the only hotel we stayed in all week) around 7 PM and checked in.  I was excited to finally get a shower and when I jumped into the shower, to my dismay I realized that our hotel only had COLD water! HA!  So, that might be the fastest shower I've ever taken.  After that Z and I went walking around the city and found a really nice city square in downtown that had lots of people out and about.  It was cool seeing the square lit up at night, there were several Genghis Khan statues, around the city hall building.  We found a nice restaurant and I had some delicious lamb and potatoes for dinner.  We walked around for a bit more, but frankly, UB isn't most beautiful city I've ever been to.  It was cool in its own way, but there really wasn't much to see.  So, Mongolian travel note for you, if you do go there, don't plan to spend much time in UB, it can pretty much be seen in a day or less.  We were pretty wore out from the drive and had a big few days ahead of us, so we went to bed and then got up early the next day.  Fortunately the weather was beautiful the rest of the week.  We met our driver and hostess Puji (Daka's friend) the next morning.  We hit up the grocery store and bought a bunch of food and headed on our way towards Khugnu Khan Mountain and Khustain National Park.  We drove for a good part of the day, getting a good view of the countryside on our way to Khugnu Khan.  We stayed that night in a ger cam at the base of the mountain and did some hiking that evening.  It reminded me a little of Arizona with the rock formations and remote countryside.  It was some fun hiking, and we found a nice little waterfall.  That night was actually really nice though, I had my first and only hot shower of the week there at the ger camp.  Khugnu Khan is near some sand dunes, so the next morning we went to the sand dunes and they had camels there you could ride.  It was quite fun, the camels were really obedient, but they smelled awful! HA!  We rode camels together with Puji and had a fun time riding around through the sand. Our driver met a guy who worked there with the camels and he wanted us to visit him on our way back in a few days when we were headed back to UB.  That was one thing I noticed about almost all the people there, they seemed really kind and very trusting and open to meeting new people and sharing what they had, which of course I thought was really cool.  After we rode camels we headed off towards the Erdene Zuu Monastery, built in 1585 it is the oldest and biggest operating monastery in Mongolia.  The walls around it feature 100 stupas (or little pillars) and inside the walls are several buildings and temples.  It was fun to see the Buddhist monks there and they all seemed very kind.  We also met several Korean families that were there and they were very happy to talk with us and get some pictures together.  After we finished there we headed to the Orkhon River and set up our tents for our camp out that evening.  The river is beautiful and the weather was so nice.  After setting up camp Z and I decided to hike up a mountain near the river and get some nice sunset pictures, as well as some pictures of the nearby city of Kharkhorin.  We woke up on Friday and started heading back towards UB although we had a nice stop at the Khustain National Park (as well as a few flat tires and a stop at the camel herders house) along the way.  As I mentioned before, the roads there are not the best and we had two flat tires in a matter of about an hour near Kharkhorin! HA!  Good thing our driver was able to get them fixed and it didn't slow us down much.  After the tires were ready, we headed off towards Khustain and like I said, we stopped at the camel herders house on the way.  They lived in a ger and of course offered us some food and drinks (I don't drink alcohol, and that perplexed most Mongolians, but anyway).  They had a basket of what looked like some nice cheese, so I took a HUGE piece and started chewing, I have to say everything else I ate in Mongolia was very good, but this stuff...whatever it was, was about as bad a thing as I've ever tasted.  I was glad their baby dropped some stuff on the floor and so I picked it up and acted polite like I would take it out of the ger, but my main objective was to spit out that stuff! HA!  So, I made my way around the side of the van and spit it out as sneakily as possible.  I might have been some cheese stuff, I'm not sure, but I should learn to always start small and then if it's good eat more, but...anyway.  So, after a few hours we arrived at the Khustain National Park, which was established in 1993 to reintroduce the Takhi (or Przewalski Horse) back to Mongolia.  By 1966 the wild horses were extinct in Mongolia.  Fortunately there were several of the saved horses in Europe and by 1977 some Dutch folks had set up a preservation society for them.  In 1992, sixteen of the horses were taken back to Mongolia and released in Khustain and over the years the horses have reproduced as well as a few more added to the park but the horses are still considered an endangered animal.  They have never been successfully domesticated and they are the only truly wild horse still remaining today.  So, of course they are the main attraction at the park, which is huge!  It was quite hot that day and so the horses were far from the road and we didn't think we'd be able to see them, which of course was disappointing.  So, we made our way to Puji's mom's ger which is quite close to the park.  Her brother and his wife and kids live there with her mom and her brother is a park ranger there at the park.  Well, after we had eaten dinner, he came and said he knew where the horses were, if we wanted to go see them.  Of course we did, we were pretty pumped and after driving on some back roads for some time, we found them and had a chance to get quite close to them and take some really cool pictures.  On the video they are the horses that look almost white, not the big pack of horses in the river.  The Takhi horses were quite calm and Z and I had a chance to walk right down near where they were and get some pictures.  It was really cool, since I think he said there are less than 200 in the whole park.  It was getting dark, so it was a little hard to get great pics, but they were quite calm and I was at least happy to see them and get some decent pictures.  It was a little sad that was our last night there, but it was quite funny too though.  When we got back to the ger, they are of course wayyyy off the power grid out there, but they have solar powered energy, so we had a chance to watch the Olympics that night in a ger several hundred miles from UB! HA! They were very proud of their Olympians, who had won 2 medals by that point (I think they finished with 4 medals, which isn't bad for a country of less than 3 million) and we watched some Olympics for a while.
I always hate the last day before the trip is over...but we made our way back to UB and grabbed some lunch  and hung out at Daka's apartment before we got ready to head to the airport that night.  Z's flight left at around 10:30 PM and mine was supposed to be at around 11:50 PM, so of course we just went to the airport together.  Well, Z's flight made it out OK, but just about the time we were to board our plane, they came and said there were high winds, so the flight would be delayed two hours.  Well, after two hours they came back and said two more.  Korea was actually playing a soccer game at this time, so most of the people didn't seem to mind too much and people were cheering and watching the soccer game. HA!  Anyway, he came back and announced two more hours, and so I think people were starting to get restless by this time.  Finally at around 7 AM our plane took off and I got back to Korea at around 12 noon and then had a 2 hour bus ride home.
The trip was a really awesome experience, I loved Mongolia, loved the wide open spaces and how free it felt there.  It was a good place to unwind and get away from it all.  The people there were so kind, and even though most Mongolians are quite poor financially by Western standards, their eyes and faces were happy and proud and the kids laughter was infectious.  Everyone we met was gracious and kind and left a good impression on me.  It made me think of this quote I had read before:

"We tend to forget happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather recognizing and appreciating what we do have!"