Leaving the city 4: Nomadic life in the Gobi Desert

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.

8 rules for going on a long distance bus ride in Mongolia

Days were full and therefore went by quickly. Sunday was our departure day. Our driver Nara took us back to the Murun bus station. 

The fare back to UB is about 35,000 MNT. There are a few basic rules to be considered when going on a +10h overnight bus ride in Monoglia:

-          Have your MP3-Player fully charged to drown out the Mongolian folklore music that is played on high volume an on repeat throughout the entire journey

-          Have a pillow or anything else for your convenience with you, since seats won’t contribute much to a comfortable ride

-          Add 2 to 3 hours to the scheduled arrival time in order not to be late or miss appointments, buses almost never depart on time and unplanned stops to pick up or drop off people can cause significant delays

-          Be aware of Mongolian road conditions: if you get carsick easily, prepare yourself in advance.

-          Purchase food in advance: stops along the way are usually at Mongolian restaurants or convenience stores with less than limited offer

-          If you’re sensitive to noise: have your ear plugs with you. The busses are packed with children.

-          Get a window seat so you can open the window in case you need to, because air condition is not always working

-          Appeal to the bus driver: he’s the boss and if he says put your bag there or change seat or whatever, appeal to that, he knows best and discussion is waste of time and energy

Going by bus is somewhat part of the Mongolian experience as well. I felt destroyed after it, but wouldn’t wanna miss this it after all. 

Khuvsgul Lake: A beauty of nature

There was one thing that was on top of my to-do/to-see list in Mongolia: Khuvsgul Lake. No matter how busy I’d be working, how wet or cold the weather would be, or how short money would be, I would definitely have to see this place after what people were telling me and what Google images were showing me.

So off I went again last week for a 5-day trip to Northern Mongolia, very close to the Russian border. The ride began on Tuesday night. A friend of one of my working colleagues was heading for Murun that day coincidently and she was so kind to give us a lift in her car. Leaving UB I was impressed by the dark black sky with millions of stars shining bright, the silence and darkness surrounding. The ride was long, but the street to Murun (via Darkhan and Erdenet) was well paved and just around 7am the sun came up behind the hills with a red light introducing the day we still had ahead of us.

Arriving in Murun at 9am, we found a driver called Nara (thanks_anu@yahoo.com, +976 8822 8609) to take us the remaining 150km to Khuvsgul Lake (since bus service is pretty unreliable and irregular). Anything between 50,000 and 80,000 MNT per ride is a good deal we figured out. Since the travel season in Mongolia is officially over on September 1, it was a bit difficult to find a ger camp that was still open and willing to host us. But we eventually found one, directly by the shore with an amazing view over the lake (22,500 MNT per night per person). This is when the holiday part of our stay at Khuvsgul began.

Accommodation is very simple and basic such as everywhere outside of UB. Energy is rare, showers are rarer and warm water is rarest. Also, the climate is significantly influenced by the lake. Daytime in mid-September is still alright for hiking and taking off your jacket, but nighttime temperatures drop down to 0.

However, having a luxurious stay should not be the main purpose of your Khuvsgul visit anyway. Exploring the lake and its surrounding nature is what you should go there for. And that’s what we did. Our days were filled with hiking along the lake or the nearby mountains and forests, horse-riding, motor-boat rides and peaceful, silent chill out phases. Again, knowing a few phrases of Mongolian or Russian or someone who knows Mongolian or Russian will save you a lot of time and energy to arrange free time activities.

A little north of the ger camp we stayed at, there is ger camp called Khirvesteg. The owner Delger is a cool guy who offers you filtered coffee, motorboat rides and horse riding for a reasonable price. Don’t be ashamed to negotiate a bit, though.

All in all, I found that going to Khuvsgul Lake in mid-September was the best time, because tourists are gone, hosts are more open for negotiations regarding the rates and autumn is coloring the forests in a golden yellow.

UB Street Art: It’s all in the detail

No matter how deep the economic crises is, no matter how cold the weather is, no matter how pressuring life is – people never kept from releasing their thoughts and emotions with street art. If you take the time giving the streets, dead ends and narrow alleys a second look, you will find quite a bit of UB street art.

Since to me street art is a way of individual expression, I don’t feel entitled to comment on that. So enjoy this exclusive insight of a UB you would not find in travel guides.