In the steppes

Time to start the great adventure !

First contact with the nomadic breeders, with whom we will stay during the next 10 days. It is purely amazing to be here, it hardly seems real.

And also first contact with the horses. They have no name, it will give us the opportunity to chose how we want to call them. Mine will be Sheitan, “devil” in Arabic language : generally speaking, the Mongolian horses are more wild than tame, and this little buddy is a 4 year old stallion. It looks like those holidays are going to be eventful !

After a first 8 hour day of riding (including 4 hours of trot and lope, now I understand why people say that Mongolian horses lope like the wind in the steppes) full of emotions and a night more than useful to recover from the previous day, we leave family campground and start heading towards the Orkhon falls, then a bit further every day.

There is no word to describe what we are going to live during the following 8 days, but just to give you an idea :

• welcoming sanitaries

• fully equipped kitchens (and an amazing cook, thanks for everything Oyona !)

• one million star campgrounds
  

• awesome sceneries and millions of flowers everywhere
  

• cattle drives (mmhh, this reminds me something, but I cannot remember what...)

• long, non stop, exhausting days ;)

• learning how to load and unload a yak (not sure that I will have the opportunity to practice very often in Paris) with the 150 kg they can handle, or to ride it

• watching women milk the mares, and practicing on yaks afterwards (it just took me about 2 minutes to get 5 drops, fortunately I don't do it as a living...)
  

• learning how they kill sheep (!!! if you want to learn it, you can have a look at the video below, otherwise do not try and view it !!!). Poor Dudule, before, during and after...

• trying to find solutions to fight against all the insects of the universe in the evenings

• hailstones starting to fall where there is not a single tree within miles and miles

• unforgettable moments spent with the families we will meet on the road, tasting the mare milk, the yak cheese and the salted tea they offer to anybody who enters their home

• wonderful evenings spent with everybody around the fire, playing cards or listening to Mongolian songs during hours, laughing out loud and doing our best to communicate in spite of the language

Those days flew away like seconds, we didn't want to leave Puruwe, Timbe, Badra, Boldaa, Gana and Bor.... For sure, we will never forget you guys, nor your families. Thank you so much for everything you shared with us day after day.

(Thank you Laura for the group pictures)

On the road

During the night, the second part of the group arrived: Laura, Audrey and Romain, and then Cécile in the morning.
We join Tuul, Oyona, Chouka and Gambaa, and start heading for the 350 km in front of us (after a 'short' stop at the airport to get me second bag: today, the Aeroflot flight is 3 hours late).

As soon as we get out of the city, we are surrounded by herds of goats, sheep and horses, in the middle of the steppes. Here and there, we can see ovoos on the side of the road, big piles of stones accumulated by all the people who want to be lucky on the road. Each one of us walks 3 times around it, may be it will avoid us a flat tyre...



At the end of the day, we spend the night in a tourist camp in Karakorum, before visiting the town during the next day.

Mongolia : Ulaanbaatar

Sain bainuu !

Good news : the Aeroflot flight is only 2 hours late and I manage not to choke with the fish bones in the salmon served during the flight.
Bad news : one of my bags are not there. The special 'polar cold' fleece jacket is here (it will certainly be useful this afternoon, the weather forecast plans 38°C in the city), but the short sleeves T-Shirts are still somewhere in Moscow. We only leave tomorrow morning, let's hope that I won't have to keep the same clothes during the next 15 days...

The first members of the group are there : Lea and Marine.

After a short stop at the hotel, we start the city tour with the Gandan Temple, and its amazing colours. We are exhausted by the flight, the jet lag, the traffic jams and the temperature, but we do our best to keep up with the interesting explanations about Mongolian Buddhism.

The National Museum of History, even though it really looks fascinating will be a bit too much to handle today, we almost fall asleep in every single room we enter, from the history of Genghis Khan to the traditional music instruments and costumes. It's really a pity to be half asleep...

After an afternoon nap, we attend a show of traditional music and dance. even though I am usually not a big fan of this kind of things, I must admit that it was really an enjoyable way to finish this first day.

Stockholm with Yannick

Hej ! 4 days in Stockholm, it could have been a bit long, but actually it was just too short, even if in June the sun rises at 3:30 am. So many things to be seen : Gamla Stan (the Old Town), trips on boats in order to enjoy the different islands and the scenery, the pilgrimage on the trail of Greta Garbo, from the cemetery where her grave is to the building where she spent her childhood.

But also the Royal Palace, with its royal guards... and its royal family. It took us a few hours, but we eventually managed to see the King, the Queen, Victoria and Daniel who will get married in exactly one week, and Prince Charming !

Stockholm is also a place where you are sure that you will find museums, whatever you are interested in. Either Junibacken, for the old children, with its famous Pippi Longstockings (= Fifi Brin d'Acier in France), or the famous Vasa Museum :

If you get tired of walking in the streets, it is time to go to Skansen, and enjoy the animals, either the ones from Northern Europ or the ones who come from more exotic countries. No way to make a picture of bears or wolves in Montana, not sure that I will come back from Mongolia with pictures of reindeer, but at least I will have seen them in Sweden. And even Madagascar fits in the scenery. One thing is sure, the next opportunity to see wolverines won't be before long. Even in Skansen, it is a bit difficult to see them.

On Sunday, for the National Day, we had chosen to go to Drottningholm Palace, and enjoy the gardens with the families having picnic, its incredible theater which could make Versailles jealous, and the place where you try costumes and hats from the theater. This will stay as one of the best memories of the week end. Yannick, we have to go, you cannot stay here forever ! ;)

One last picture, in front of the Parliament, with our 2 new friends, the wolverines : on the left, Carl Philip, also nicknamed Glouton, who went back to Troyes with Yannick, and on the right, Wolfy. Welcome in France, guys !