Into the Mongolian Wilderness

We left the city and that took quite a while, but once we got out, we were on a highway, passed a GIGANTIC monument to Genghis Khan, and then turned down a gravel road and into the highlands of Mongolia. We drove for two more hours through some of the most sweeping and gorgeous, remote landscapes I have ever seen and arrived at our ger camp just before dinner. We pulled up a hill to a grassy overlook area and parked the car. We were greeted by staff, and then, I kid you not, a yak was fetched to bring our luggage to our tent/room. I should take a moment to say here that I found the Mongolian people all to be very beautiful. They have high cheekbones and a ruddiness to their complexion that is gorgeous. Their faces are round but structured and they have uniformly kind eyes, slanted up and out. Everyone I saw seemed like they had been born in the region except for two people at our camp, and it was truly lovely to interact with such beautiful people, inside and out. Our beautifully appointed, round felt structure with wooden floors greeted us with colorful accents and a wood stove in the middle of the room for heat. We got settled and then went into the dining room for a surprisingly delicious dinner with a dessert that was like a delicious coconut cashew bar, reminiscent of halvah and other middle eastern delicacies sweetened with honey.

We had a roaring fire in our ger that night and were both super tired from not getting a lot of sleep on the train. We went to bed fairly early. The next morning I woke up in time for sunrise and a misty morning with clouds resting in the valley. After a sweet time in a still morning, I went in and had breakfast and then Cara and I walked around the gorgeous valley by the river. I had arranged for a horseback ride that afternoon and around 3pm I set off with a guide who spoke not one word of english. He would look back at me every once in a while and check but we couldn’t talk about anything and Cara wasn’t there so I was basically just kind of stuck on a horse at the mercy of this guide for three hours. It was beautiful countryside and I did enjoy the ride but I wish I could have asked where we were going, what we were seeing, negotiated our route, etc.

I came back that evening and two new guests had arrived, two Norwegian women, Barbara and Janet. Cara had already met them and we chatted with them a bit at dinner. There is a communal dining ger, and everyone eats together at the same times. There was a group of 10 people traveling in Mongolia for birdwatching. They were there the same nights as we were and it was one of the highlights of my day each evening when we had all finished dinner to see them all take out their sheets and compare their sightings and tallies. They were so adorably dorky and passionate about their birds and which ones they saw! I loved it.

That night I asked for a bonfire to be built in the fire pit just a little ways away from the gers in the meadow. That got going after dinner around 9pm and it was far and away the best night of our stay. The skies were absolutely clear and once it got dark, there was a sickle moon and a sky exploding with stars. I have never in my life seen a night sky like that. I couldn’t look away and my neck hurt the next day because of it. I could see the milky way clearly, and so many constellations, and the stars twinkling in their beauty. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. It was perfection under that sky by a roaring bonfire on a cold night. Our Norwegian friends came and shared the bonfire with us and we enjoyed a continued chat with them, and we were also joined by the leader of the birdwatching group who has quite an interesting story to his life. This trip has been so great for meeting people. Cara is the best at that. In Beijing she was connecting with cab drivers, random people in airports, people in shops, vendors, waiters, it’s pretty amazing. I went to bed that night under my heavy pile of thick wool blankets to the sound of a slowly dying fire in a state of deep gratitude.

I had one of the most pleasant awakenings of my life the next morning. It was still dark outside and I awoke to the sound of the fire attendant coming to our ger to start the fire at 6am. I could feel that the room was very cold and she started the fire very quickly and quietly and left softly as she came. Soon there was a crackling, roaring blaze in the stove, pumping heat into the room. In darkness I watched the fire blaze through the grate on the stove, and throw dancing orange shadows on the felt wall. I listened to the beautiful music of the crackling heat burning, and enjoyed the weight of the covers around me, feeling safe and warm in a desolate and cold, but beautiful place.

When I could see the light starting to grow I woke up in my nice warm tent, and bundled up to go outside and watch the sunrise. I walked to the place where we had built the bonfire the night before and sat down on a log. the gray light turned to rosy pink, then to flaming magenta, and then the golden sun started to shine on the hills in the valley around the camp. There is at least 10 miles of visibility in every direction except south where we were. The sweeping views and big sky make my heart beat with renewed strength. After watching the sunrise I went and chatted with Cara as she woke up and got ready for breakfast. Then we had another delicious meal that included a fried bread that looked a bit like Naan but had the texture of a very light funnel cake. It was kind of chewy but light and just a touch sweet. It was so delicious. Might have been my favorite thing I ate all week.

After breakfast Cara and I and the Norwegians set out on our Yak cart rafting adventure. We hiked about 4 miles to the spot where the rafts get put in. The yak cart followed us, carrying the raft and we had two guides with us. Barbara and I chatted the whole way about about range of topics, and Janet and Cara did the same. Barbara shared with me that she’s into shamanism and was partially in Mongolia on a quest to find a shaman. She has three spirit guides, one of whom is an indian man who walks directly beside her always, and two of whom follow her often. She’s also a healer and has studied the art extensively. We reached the river and the guides unloaded the cart and put the boat in. Janet made a comment about how it should just be called “rafting” because the yak cart really didn’t do anything except pull the boat down to the water and we didn’t really interact with it beyond that. We had seen pictures were the yak actually pulls the raft down the river but I guess that was not our lot this time. We took our places on the raft and the two guides sat on the back with their feet in the frigid water, and we set off back down the river. Janet was hilarious. On the boat we were talking about men and she was lamenting the shortage of good men in Norway. I told her I thought pretty much all Scandanavian men were good looking and she was like, "no WAY. Only Swedish guys are cute, Norwegian guys are no good." And then she said all the Asian guys were too short for her (she’s very tall, over 6 feet) and she said, it would be a shame to have a meter and a half of mismatched space in the bed, too cold in a Norwegian winter. Cracked me up. Also at one point our guides starting singing, and then all of us decided to sing. I selected “Proud Mary” because we were, after all, rollin’ on the river. The water levels were fairly low so in a few places we got a bit stuck, but we did move along at a nice clip and it was fun to paddle and steer the raft. It was a lovely morning! The river and the views from it were gorgeous and I could have imagined taking a much longer trip on the raft and it being amazing.

We got back to the camp around 1 and ate a hot lunch which felt great after the cold wind and the cold water around us. After lunch we arranged to have a visit to a ger sauna that evening down by the river at 5pm to give us a free afternoon. I went for a long run deep into the southern valley all the way back until the road went up into the mountain pass. I ran for almost two hours and never saw another person, just cows, horses, gophers, chipmunks, and magpies. The morning had been overcast with little bits of rain, but the afternoon the sun broke through every once in a while and each time it did it set the hills shining with the most beautiful glow. And the sky was SO blue. I was in heaven. I could have run forever. It felt amazing to go back and back and back on that road further into this unknown place and it opening up before me. I got back right at 5pm and saw Cara, who was ready to go down to the ger sauna. Our camp was at the top of a plateau at a middle altitude in the surrounding valley, the hill leading directly down to the river. We walked down the hill and reached the bank of the river and found a man there waiting for us by the tent which was pumping serious heat from the looks of the chimney in the roof. The attendant guy showed us the sauna and Cara and I entered. Much to my delight, it was very hot and felt just like a regular sauna. The wood stove in the middle of the room was going at full force and I started sweating almost immediately. After a long run and some hard and hilly hiking, it felt absolutely great to be in there and relax. I could hear outside that the man and one or two of his friends were just hanging out there, waiting for us to see if there was anything we needed or to tend to the fire. My idea for the outing was to be, like most times I find myself in a sauna, unaccompanied, especially by men. I really wanted to take a nice dip in the river without any clothes on, since skinny-dipping is my favorite. I also didn’t want to wear many clothes in the sauna either and I was afraid that the guy was going to come in to check on us and get more than he bargained for… so although I was worried about seeming rude, I put on my clothes, stepped outside and asked if he would go.

One of the biggest problems with the more off-the-beaten path destinations is communication. In Mongolia, we encountered so few english speakers that we couldn’t really ask any questions or express our desires or thoughts to anyone around us. It’s a difficult place to be in. So when I interacted with the staff at the camp or with any of the local people I encountered, not just in Mongolia but in Beijing too, I largely had to use gestures. I found myself thinking what I would use to ask this man to leave. I came out and he was sitting there with two friends, lazing around and napping by the yak and the cart from earlier that day. He seemed immediately concerned and motioned about the fire inside, I think asking if the temperature was okay and seeing if I wanted him to come in and tend to it. I motioned to the tent and gave a thumbs up, saying no no no. Cara would have been mortified to have him enter. Then I motioned and then waved my hands towards the hills, saying “you, go?”. I was so extremely self-conscious doing this. I felt all high and mighty, telling this man to leave me be but I would have been so sad if I hadn’t been able to get in that river unencumbered. So I asked and he almost immediately understood. He nodded and said, “Yes, bye!” and then he and his friends left. I was elated.

After about 5 minutes more in the sauna, I was ready to take a plunge into the river. I steeled myself for the bracing cold I was about to feel. Then I ran outside and plopped straight down into the swift but shallow current. It took my breath away it was so freezing! But it felt amazing. I could barely stand more than about 5 seconds or so, and I didn’t go all the way under because it was so shallow but I went in up to my shoulders by doing basically a push-up plan on the rocky riverbed. Then I ran back into the super-hot tent and warmed up, laughing hysterically and feeling the pins and needles of my skin and blood reacting to the extreme temperature change. What a lovely sensation. I convinced Cara to try it too. We did it together two or three more times, each time I felt more an more brave and stayed in a little bit longer. Each time the warmth of the sauna welcomed us back and each time I laughed and laughed at the joy of being able to have such a fun experience.

After the ger sauna we climbed back up the hill to the camp and had dinner. The night was overcast so there were, very sadly, no stars to gaze at. It was very cold and windy in camp that night and Cara and I spent a long time in the dining hall with the big fire in it, waiting for the fire in our ger to be lit and warm it up in there. We chatted and puzzled through our transport to Ulan Bataar the next day, and finally retired to a nice, warm tent. The only problem about the warm tent is that the bathrooms are outdoors and it’s kind of a long walk to them. One is always dissuaded from drinking too much water, even though it’s a very dry climate, because no one wants to make that cold walk to the outhouse in the dead of night! I, however, drank a ton of water anyway because I can’t stop myself, and many times bundled up in darkness to take the walk to the outskirts of the camp.

It’s amazing how beautifully appointed our ger was, very luxurious, but how primitively we were living. There was no electricity in the camp except a few solar-powered lamps, no running water, no heat except the wood stoves, and no non-animal transportation. I took bucket showers for the first time in my life. They make one deeply, deeply appreciative of water pressure. Especially girls with long hair. I only washed it once while I was there because it took an incredibly long time to get the shampoo out. But I have to say, showering in the shower ger was one of my favorite parts of the camp. It was akin to the sauna ger in that there was a wood stove and it, most of the time, was nice and toasty warm in the tent. They heat the water by putting a large wok directly on top of the stove and then they fill the bucket with a shower spigot inserted into the bottom of it. You turn the knob on the spigot and the water comes out, very very slowly. I really liked having the whole tent with candles and warmth and a little wooden grate to stand on for drainage under the shower bucket. I’ll admit it was kind of a sexy experience for me! It’s definitely about the proximity of the walls around me when I’m naked in the tent. At home, my shower is very small. It’s fine, and has ample space for me, but nothing else. I know I’ve showered in other, larger showers, like at my parent’s house or fancy places with palatial bathrooms and it always feels a little bit more adventurous and sexier in those situations.  The bigger showers and the more space around me, especially outdoor showers, are just amazing! I wonder why that is, or what that correlation is.

Cara and I talked for a long time that night in our tent and that’s been one of my favorite parts of this trip. Just being able to be with her and see the things that she’s been seeing day in and day out for the last 2.5 years. I know it’s been a great assignment and a tough assignment for her in Beijing, especially for the first years of her marriage to Luke, but it’s been so great talking to her, talking through things with her, and just becoming closer cousins. I enjoyed on the train when our New Zealand friend and I were chatting, he made it clear that when he first met us he thought that we were a couple. Judging by the crunchy clothes we were both wearing and how we look nothing alike, I get it. I told him I didn’t blame him. Cara and I joked about who would be the butch lesbian and who would be the lipstick lesbian. We couldn’t decide. Each of us has tendencies in both directions.

We woke up that morning, planning to depart around 1pm that day. I got up before the sun and decided the climb the ridge just outside of camp that had been taunting me all week. I set off with my camera and some music and had one of the most beautiful morning devotionals I’ve ever had. It was chilly and damp but the clouds were breaking and there was going to be sun, you could tell. I started up the very steep ridge in the overgrown grasses and hit the tree line where it smelled of fresh evergreen and the grasses got thicker, ground a bit spongier. Up and up the incline, past the edge of the trees up to the bald summit at the end of the ridge closest to the camp. I had been wanting to stand at that point for days! I got there just as first light was starting to paint brilliant colors on the edges of the gray clouds around me. I could see the ridge extended for a ways up and it hadn’t taken me very long to summit so I kept walking the ridge up. I must have walked another mile along the ridge with a steady but gentle incline to a point at which I could see really far in every direction, even to the south.  I got to that point as the sun finally broke through the clouds and started to warm the earth and bask its rays on the hills I was walking. Oh what a gorgeous site and walk that was! What a truly blessed experience! The music accompanied me and oriented me towards praise.

I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to travel to these places and see these things and interact with the people that I have. God has so richly blessed my life in these ways. And he knows me so well, knows what I will love and puts me in the way of beauty. What a sweet, loving father he is. I was also thinking how crazy it is to be born an American. Talking with Cara about the people she meets through work and the stories she hears, and the lives that people are born into just simply because of where they are is insane! To be born an American and to live the life I have, one of great privilege and comfort, is a truly incredible thing. I hope I am never desensitized to it. I am also so glad to be coming home to America. I always am. The comforts I enjoy, the standards of cleanliness, the products available to me, the reliable plumbing, electricity, access to and ease of communication, good roads, fast cars, information always available, and the truly astounding beauty of just the good ol’ 50 states. I am continually bowled over by the fact that my experience is one of America, and that that is my country of citizenship.

After the morning hike, I came back and had a lovely breakfast with lots of hot tea and warmed up with Cara. Then I decided I would go for one last run through the hills of Mongolia. I wanted to soak up as much of that landscape as possible. I ran down the road we had hiked the day before and occasionally had to run between herds of cattle, sheep, goats and horses that were running all over the road and hills around it. The sun was shining and all was quiet. I passed a few truckloads of people who had what seemed to be all their belongings strapped to the flatbed of a pickup. The English guy who had been the birdwatching group leader told us that these were families who spend the summer on the steppe, about 2 hours away, and come into the valley for the winter because it is more protected from the winds. The cold on the steppe can kill entire herds. So they were making their annual move. Pretty amazing. The families were unabashedly staring at the crazy American running on the dirt roads like an idiot. They’ve probably never even thought about running for exercise. I was thinking about that as I was passing them. Gyms, exercise, working out, staying fit, it doesn’t even enter into their thought process here, and yet it is so forward in the minds of my culture, and even my own person. I think about staying in shape all the time. They simply exist. Their mindsets are not marred by comparison. Being American and living in a developed country isn’t all blessings, after all.

After my run I had scheduled a massage (they were only 15 dollars for a half hour!). Janet and Barbara had both gotten one and said it was really really good so I wanted to try it. I entered the beautiful, warm tent and was greeted by the sweet masseuse who does a lot of other jobs around the camp as well. She and I were again communicating through gestures. She started pointing to different parts of her body and I figured she wanted to know where she should work on me. I asked for shoulders, neck and back. It was a very nice experience and she did a good job. I can always use more pressure but she massaged my head which was lovely. And she mysteriously worked on my feet which was absolutely wonderful. I hate it mostly when people rub my feet but I really loved that part even though my feet were dirty and I felt really bad that she had to have such a close interaction with them. She did a great job.

Then I took my last sexy bucket shower, and threw the rest of my stuff in my bag and then headed to the dining room for my last mongolian meal. It was delicious of course and then our transport came and we started the long drive back to Ulan Bataar. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive. We went a different way back than how we had come, we drove mainly through these grasslands with herds of wild horses and sheep and absolutely NO people whatsoever. At one point because I had yet again consumed way too much liquid before getting into a multiple-hour activity, Cara stopped the car to get out and take pictures in the middle of a sweeping valley and I had to pee so bad that I just squatted behind our van and went. There was no cover, and everyone within about 15 miles could have seen me, but I didn’t have to worry because there was absolutely no one around. It was a very strange experience. Our driver did the same thing so I didn’t feel so silly.

On our way to the airport we stopped at what I think may be the greatest tourist trap I have ever encountered: Chinggis Khaan National Monument. It is a towering, gleaming statue, made of stainless steel of the great Mongolian warrior. It is in the middle of nowhere, a ways outside of UB and it is the only thing around. It is fantastic in the way that all roadside eyesores are. It is a paragon of nationalism and commercialism. They recently obtained a Guinness World Record for “largest mongolian shoe”. Not just “largest shoe” mind you, largest MONGOLIAN shoe. What a trip. You can climb up into the horse part of the sculpture and get right up in Genghis’s grill and take a great picture of his face as it looks out over Mongolia. Also, they are constructing 10,000 horseman to attend Genghis Khan on the grounds surrounding the statue and for the low, low price of $3000 (considered a donation to the monument and its governing body) you can have your likeness on one of the horsemen. Cara and I were talking about how it would be a pretty hilarious practical joke to donate $300,000 and submit a photo of Mao Zedong for the likeness and insist that it be done. I bet they would return the money!

We made it to the airport probably with more questions than when we arrived in Mongolia. It’s a strange, wild, and largely inexplicable land. On the road after the airport, when we started getting closer to the huge sprawl of UB, we saw two or three housing developments that looked very American: tight, close together lots, two story homes with stucco outsides, two-car garages, driveways, and little green lawns. We couldn’t figure out who would buy those and why they were so far away from the center of the city, and why they looked like they did, etc. We saw another development of industrial-cool loft-style condos right by a river with huge glass windows in front and cement on the other three sides. Looked expensively designed. I know almost nothing about the government or industry in Mongolia. How does one become rich, for example? Do all rich people in Mongolia live in Ulan Bataar? What does the middle class do? What does the government look like? How is it structured? See? Lots of questions. Cara and I decided on two hash tags for this trip: #whatsinthebox, and #unansweredquestions. Oh the stories.

I was really sad to leave Mongolia. I was starting to get to that point I get to in all my travels when I can feel real life imminent in front of me and I know I have to re-enter it soon. I had an idea when we were driving back to the city from the camp: what if I started a developing nations tourism seminar for countries who want to get more tourism business but don’t really know what they are doing. I feel like that’s where Mongolia is. They have so much to offer, especially the outdoorsy, adventurous set. But they need a lot of work on their tourism infrastructure and they need help developing it.

We made it to the airport and again I was starting to feel the weight of the crush of activity that awaits me when I get home pressing in on all sides. I am really glad to have this plane ride to process a bit and catch up on a few things that I just didn’t do while I was away. It will be good to get to the other side of this coming weekend, past the triathlon and the retreat. Then the office is closed Monday - Wednesday and I will have a lot of good time to catch up and process everything that’s been going on in the last few months leading up to this.

We had an uneventful flight back to Beijing from Ulan Bataar to Cara’s beautiful apartment. It felt a bit empty without Luke there to greet us but it was awesome all the same to have electricity and water pressure and to be back in the city. We had a quiet night, Cara has a lot coming up for her and I just wanted to get ready to head home the next day and enjoy the creature comforts of the big city. This morning I got up, did laundry, Cara and I exchanged pictures and then I went to the airport. It’s been an amazing trip and I’m so glad I got the chance to visit Cara. I hope to find myself in Asia again soon.