A ring-a-ring of roses

Shamanism was popular in Mongolia before the advent of Buddhism, yet it is still practiced today. We visited a shaman shrine and had to walk around it three times in a clockwise direction and throw stones on the pile; this was for good luck.

Temple in the mountains

Another day, another temple. This one involved quite a hike in the National Park, really this was a hike; well it was up hill and took over an hour (this constitutes a hike in Wendy world!). However, the trek was intersected by Buddhist sayings, statues and other pretty things to take your mind off the incline.

The walk was worth the while and the temple really decorative; this time we had to take our shoes off. Mind, I was relieved to descent, take five and soak up the scenery. And here are the pix…

En route…

At the top…

Shoes off…

The end 🙂

The Mongolian Wendy House

Central to nomadic life is the Gir (or Yurt), a circular tent which they can easily erect and dismantle for life on the road (or desert). Apparently, once your skills are honed you can put one up in just three hours. Luckily, our Gir was already built which is just as well as I struggle with a tent.

I did not know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised how homely and spacious they were. The one we stayed in was also quite decorative, I’m not sure whether this was because we were in a tourist camp or whether it’s their take on interior design; the latter I hope.

Oko had arranged for us to visit a 70 year old local lady who lived, with one of her sons, not too far from our camp. We arrived there to see her return with her cows, ready to be milked.

There are some courtesies of Mongolian life that visitors should adhere to. The first is, on entering someone’s home you walk and sit in the left hand side of the house. If you are a family friend you can sit on the right. Secondly, it is extremely rude to decline anything that is offered. I’m glad we were told this as the lady had prepared a veritable banquet for us all.

Life as a nomad is all about routine; tending to their cattle, milking their cattle, making food from the milk and so the circle continues. The making of food is a daily task and most of the delicacies derive from milk. The feast prepared was accompanied by salty, milky tea and we spent an hour chewing the fat (or rather cheese!) with our host.

Back to camp, and hooray, another happy birthday. We celebrated Fred’s special day with fizz and chocolate cake. Divine.

Mongolian National Park

Our next bus trip took us to the Mongolian National Park, where we were going to spend the next two nights. After a stop off at a super market to stock up on munchies and beers, we left the outskirts of the city and headed east into the countryside.

En route, not only did we try some fermented camel milk, which tasted like sour cream, we also stopped off to meet Mr Eagle; boy was he heavy.