Roughing It Ger Style

Showing them how its done
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Leaving the suburbs of Ulaan Baatar behind you start to appreciate why you come to Mongolia. The surrounding hills and grasslands gives Mongolia its sterotypical wilderness appeal and endless feeling of spaciousness.

As our bus bounced its way through the countryside en route to Terelj National Park you could sense everybody's excitement for leaving the city behind and getting back in touch with nature. Our home for the next threee nights were to be in traditional Gers, which like a teepee is a tent used by the nomads of Mongolia for their day to day living.

Traditional wrestlers
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After taking in the standard tourist horse riding and archery show we were ushered into our gers. Emma quickly rushed for the ger with the nicest door and we got setup to find that we had the only beds which resembled slabs of concrete. A normal Ger consists of beds around the edge with a table and a wood burner in the middle.

Given our extreme surrounds a few of took for the nearest rocky peaks and caught some amazing views of the valley and the surrounding landscape. That evening we witnessed a massive lightning and wind storm which threatened to lift our ger away and gave us a sense of mercy to the gods.

Hmmm! Don't try this at hgome
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Alive, the next day we took to some horse trekking and met a traditional nomadic family. Mongolians usually ride horses bareback and their pathetic attempts at inventing saddles for tourists resulted in many of us nursing sore butts for days to come. I was looking forward to meeting the nomadic family but the experience seemed somewhat contrived with a group of 12 people sitting huddled in one ger the poor lady turned out to be something of a zoo attraction. We did have the misfortune of trying some of her natural cheeses, curds and milk straight from her yak, horse (who knows) much to our displeasure and her amusement.

The not so successful archers
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Finally we took a 12km hike through the countryside to check out the natural wonders the National Park possessed and to see a monastery dotted among the many valleys. Our time in the ger was probably the highlight of our journey so far and the endless sun, views and memories will remain for a long time to come.