Mongolia is calling

[Matt_01]

The family site, they have just moved here for the summer.

The tourist Ger

The 12 and 6yo


The 6yo is about to go riding with his brother to check on the animals.

 

[Matt_01]

Lunch

Butter and yogurt making

 

[Pushka]

Lunch
View attachment 388764View attachment 388765View attachment 388766View attachment 388763
Butter and yogurt making
View attachment 388769View attachment 388768View attachment 388767

I may have missed it. Are you part of a tourist group or solo?

 

[Matt_01]

Making milk vodka and cooking some of the food for the evening meal, my attempt to make the dumplings was woeful.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

Did they speak good English or how do you communicate?

 

[Matt_01]

@Pushka I booking on a small group tour and I am the only person.

 

[Pushka]

@Pushka I booking on a small group tour and I am the only person.

Im sure there are pros and cons of being the only one. Enjoy the experience.

 

[Matt_01]

I am a bit out of sequence earlier in the day we went out riding and the wooden saddle was quite comfortable.

 

[Matt_01]

I am struggling to keep this TR up to date as I am still posting about day 1 and I am currently late afternoon on day 3.The ability to connect to the net is just intermittent or not available, day 1 once out of the city no coverage, day 2 limited coverage, day 3 I can connect to the 3G coverage at times. This TR maybe a data dump when I am back in the city

 

[Matt_01]

@Pushka there seems to be more pros than cons, outside of the planned tour I have been allowed to drive the wagon on and off road. The senior family member of the second family I am staying with offered to take me on his motorcycle tour and I could not say no. I am sure if there were others with me I would not have been allowed to do these things.

 

[Matt_01]

I am posting out of sequence again, up thread I mentioned that I had checked luggage to bring gifts and I had no intention of bringing the bag back with me. I noticed in the family greeting Ger (I will provide further details in a later post) a checked size bag with wheels and I asked the guide if it was something that nomads use and was advised yes. They don’t want it for the wheels rather the hard sides and shape makes it easy to store and transport some of their items. All that been said my bag has a new owner.

 

[SuePa]

I am posting out of sequence again, up thread I mentioned that I had checked luggage to bring gifts and I had no intention of bringing the bag back with me. I noticed in the family greeting Ger (I will provide further details in a later post) a checked size bag with wheels and I asked the guide if it was something that nomads use and was advised yes. They don’t want it for the wheels rather the hard sides and shape makes it easy to store and transport some of their items. All that been said my bag has a new owner.View attachment 388943

And a very happy one, by the look of it.

 

[Matt_01]

Still on day - During the day the family do not let the calf’s go out with the heard, this is to keep them safe and the other reason is when cows come home the calf’s will start to feed and the milking begins. The cows started arriving at around 8pm.The calf in the first photo is a day old

Sun goes down at around 10pm

 

[Matt_01]

Day 2 - These boxes contain the families prized possessions and the one has been in the family or five generations.

The cows are going out and after breakfast we will be heading to Karakhorum.

A few random photos from the wagon, like yesterday miles of not much as we were heading along our dirt highway.

 

[Matt_01]

On the way we passed through a village which are dotted about the Provence’s and after about 2.5hrs on the dirt and a short drive on the sealed road Karakhorum came into sight.

 

[OZDUCK]

I was trying to remember why Karakhorum rang a bell so I had a look. And of course at one stage it was the Capital of the Mongol Empire.

 

[Matt_01]

Karakhorum was once the capital of Mongolia until either the 2nd or 3rd Khan moved it what is now Beijing, the guide also advised that over the years the capital has changed around 25-30 times. First place we went to was the Elden’s Zulu Monastery. There used to be about 62 other Temples in the complex however when they were under Russian Rule the Russians destroyed the temples and killed around a 1000 monks.
There were once temples although here.

 

[OZDUCK]

Karakhorum was once the capital of Mongolia until either the 2nd or 3rd Khan moved it what is now Beijing, the guide also advised that over the years the capital has changed around 25-30 times. First place we went to was the Elden’s Zulu Monastery. There used to be about 62 other Temples in the complex however when they were under Russian Rule the Russians destroyed the temples and killed around a 1000 monks. View attachment 389103View attachment 389104View attachment 389105View attachment 389106View attachment 389107View attachment 389108View attachment 389109View attachment 389110View attachment 389111
There were once temples although here.
View attachment 389113

Looks like it would be a fascinating place to visit.

 

[Matt_01]

I noticed these wagons around the place and apparently the a what the guide and drive described as the Russian van. They are used by a number of tour companies that do more serious off roading and in the remote areas as they are almost indestructible.

Next we checked into the tourist Ger Camp and I was not expecting it to be quite this good. It was called Secret of the Silk Road Resort and is only a couple of years old.

I did check the Hilton pillow bag and the was no pillow, I guess someone nicked the bag for the room.

 

[Matt_01]

Lunch and after 5 days of eating in Mongolian restaurants, street food, road side diners and with the nomadic family I was excited to see a green salad and pea soup. The main was mutton but I was more interested in the vegetables and I ate the desert before I remembered to take a photo of it.