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.