Magic Mongolia

Mongolia was amazing.

We loved every minute of our stay there. The first morning was spent wandering around the Gandan Khiid Buddhist monastry complex which houses four glorious temples and a university - 200 or so monks live there.





We went in a couple of the temples - both were stunning, full of gold buddahs and flickering candles. In the first, rows of monks were chanting their sutras, smashing symbols and blowing on conch shells - chaotic and peaceful at the same time, if that's possible. Hundreds of people came in and out, walking around clockwise and spinning each and every prayer wheel. In the main temple stands a 40foot high golden buddah with four arms, adorned with precious stones. It's enormous. Again, unbelieveable amounts of people came in to worship, burn incense and leave offerings. There are prayer flags tied to all the trees in the area.








Lots of the older Mongolians, and several of the small children, were walking around in traditional attire - long coats with braiding and wide colourful sashes, fur hats and amazing colourful leather Mongolian boots, with the curly up pointy toes. It was strange - in the middle of a capital city, you can turn a corner and go back a hundred years. People still live in ger tents on the outskirts of the city!





After lunch we piled into a mini van and drove off through the snow into the Mongolian Steppe - the middle of nowhere - to the Elstei Ger Camp. Although only used by tourists and one nomadic family, the place felt pretty authentic and we were amazed as we walked into our ger. It was just amazing. Four cot-style beds, a table and even a dressing table were all painted in ornate Mongolian style, around the central stove. And boy was it hot. Really, really hot. The fire burns all day and the smoke leaves via a chimney in the centre, and someone comes in avery 6 hours or so to top up the fuel. The round tents are covered with three thick layers of felt, so it got really warm, even at night.











The place was just stunning. 8 tents and a small brick dining room, surrounded by snow covered hills. We went for a walk to the peak of one and, apart from the snow clouds that quickly descended, the view was spectacular. We could see herds of yaks in the distance.




We shared a tent with another couple, and everyone at the camp was great fun. For 2 days and nights we relaxed and were fed traditional food (mutton, dumplings, more mutton, even for breakfast... actually it wasn't so bad, some of it was delicious!). We had a crazy guide, Naki, who despite being about 28 and very camp had the energy and character of a 12 year old. It was so funny - we stayed up the first night playing games with ankle bones, and he kept coming up with punishments for the winners - I was the first to win one game, and he sent me out of the room before announcing I was to give someone a piggyback and run across the room three times! Other punishments consisted of singing, dancing, mimicking farmyard animals and drawing a number in the air with your bum! The guy was crazy! Far too much energy. It felt like a childhood sleep over, there was so much giggling going on!

The next morning we practised our archery and skipping! It was really nice to be out on the countryside, getting a bit of exercise and relaxing. The only problem was the toilets - outside drop toilets again, but a good distance from the camp, so not much drinking went on!