Now
that we’re heading towards the end of October, options outside of UB are
getting fewer and fewer. We’ve been having occasional snowy nights since
late September already and of course minus degrees
Celsius.
However,
the Gobi desert is still a good place to travel to, even in October. So we
went there with an old-style Soviet bus, fitting up to 8 people. The
nomad family we stayed with was a friend
of our driver. Their ger camp was situated approx. 30 min away from
Delgerkhangai, which is approx. 2 hours away from the paved road between
UB and Dalanzadgad.
We
were leaving on Friday night and everything was super cozy. We were
chatting, sharing our food and beverages and stopping by at a typical
Mongolian restaurant along our way. Shortly after
we continued riding, we were facing a relatively heavy snow storm.
Luckily, we were through it once we went off road in the middle of
the night.
We
arrived at the ger camp at 4am. Next morning we were welcomed by a blue
sky and a far view overlooking the flat hills reaching till endlessness.
The day was busy. We were taken to family
friends and were invited for lunch, airag and – of course – multiple bottles of vodka.
Throughout the day we were helping the family with their animal herds,
collecting wood and playing with their children.
Night
came soon and we were having a traditional Mongolian dish called Xopxoг
(Khorkhog): goat meat, potatoes, carrots put together in one put and
heated up by water and stones. And to be honest,
this was the first Mongolian meal I enjoyed and which didn’t cause me a
stomachache.
Staying with a nomad family is a DEFINITE must do in Mongolia. Even though life is very basic and easy and people do not have much (materially seen), they are overwhelmingly generous with what they have. As I already mentioned previously, food and beverages are something your really need to get used to, so it can be a challenge responding to their generousness in an appropriate way... BUT I had to remind myself, I was a total stranger to them and they let me stay at their place, offered me their food, car and shelter for free. I'm so thankful for this experience. Every once in a while, one needs to experience a different life in order to resort values.
