Our Man in Mongolia
Thursday September 5 2013
Crossing the Gobi...
It has been a while since I have had time to sit down and put together a few more words on what has been going on in Mongolia, but in my defence, it has been the most amazing few months with so many fantastic memories and once in a life time experiences that I have not had the time to sit down and process everything.
Now that things have settled down I will try and adequately capture in words some of the things that have been going on...
In early June, I set off with five other expats and two Mongolian guides from the banks of the Tuul River near Ulaanbaatar and headed South on a ten-day, 700km horse ride down off the steppe and across the Gobi on the toughest little horses in the world. Our destination was the Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine about 80km from the Chinese border.
The ride was conceived several months earlier when over a bottle of Red wine, two of us discussed driving to work at the mine in the South Gobi rather than the normal way of getting to work by flying down. Somewhere over the second bottle of Red it was decided (apparently by me) that it would be a good idea to ride down on horses. A few quick text messages later we had picked up the other four adventurous riders and the inaugural Gobi Gallop was off the mark.
All of the riders were connected in some way with the Children of Peak Project which looks after the kids living at the rubbish dump so the ride evolved into a fund raiser to raise more money for this very worthwhile cause. Because this was now a fund raiser and riding 700km across some of the most remote desert in the world was not hard enough we all committed to ride part way in a traditional Mongolian wooden saddle to raise extra funds.
Now, for those who have not seen a Mongolian saddle, it is a very small saddle made of wood complete with a wooden seat that is covered in raised metal ornaments where smooth leather would be more appropriate (see right). We learned very quickly that the best way to sit in a Mongolian saddle is not to! (Short stirrups and standing at all times is a more comfortable way to go. Good for the legs and easier on the backside!)
Our team of riders consisted of two Australians, two Canadians, one South African and one Pom who claimed to be an Australian depending on cricket or rugby scores at the time. The youngest of our expat team was 44 with the oldest being 64, comprising four very tough women the fore mentioned Englishman and myself. All from widely different back grounds and living in Mongolia for very different reasons brought together because of a desire for do something positive for the children living at the rubbish dump and then finding we all shared a common passion for adventure and to do something a bit different.
Different was an understatement! Can you imagine going for a horse ride for 700km in ten days where you do not see or cross one road, do not go through one gate or see one fence? We had freezing cold nights, desert heat and scorching sun during the day and dust storms that were impossible to ride through requiring us to stop, turn the horses backside to the wind and waited until the wind and dust died down so we could continue. Our route had us riding from Well to Well dictated by the need for water for the horses. On several occasions we rode all day to a well only to find the well was dry and we had to keep going for hours more to the next water. However, we also got to ride down off the steppe and see some of the most remote and beautiful desert in the world, beautiful sunrises and sunsets and go to sleep lying in our swags looking at the night skies filled with more stars than I have ever seen.
As with most things I have been lucky enough to experience in Mongolia, it’s meeting and interacting with the locals that make it so special. The herders we met along the way who invited us into their Gers for Salty tea, to the look on the little kids faces when they saw these strange looking people riding past was priceless. The one overarching feeling that I get from interacting with the traditional Mongolian is how proud they are of their horses and their herder heritage.
Overall the ride was an amazing experience through an amazing, beautiful country riding with some amazing people and being privileged to experience a bit of the real Mongolia and Mongolian people which has not changed much since Genghis Khan rode through on his way to conquer China. I have developed an even stronger respect for the Mongolian people and their tough little horses after this experience.
If riding across the Gobi was not enough, July was the Nadaam festival in Mongolia which goes for three days (officially) with an opening ceremony, archery, wrestling, knuckle bone throwing and horse racing as well as concerts, traditional shows with “Morin Khuur” or horse head fiddles and traditional dancers, fireworks and generally a good time to be had by all.
The horse racing is brutal with jockeys as young as 6 years and very few older than about 14 racing over distanced between 20 to 30km with quite a few riding bareback.
The traditional wrestling is a knockout event with the winner being treated as a national hero. If you can imagine how popular the player who scores a winning try for NSW win a State of Origin series would be (if it ever happens!), that how popular the winner of the wrestling is!!
The traditional food for the festival is “Khuushuur” which is like a deep fried meat dumpling fried in Mutton fat or a Khorkhog which is a traditional way of cooking mutton with hot rocks sealed in a sealed can so it is barbequed and pressure cooked at the same time. Nadaam is also a good time to try the “Airag” which is the fermented mare’s milk. Must admit it can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!
We were lucky enough to have a friend from Cairns visit for Nadaam and she went home suitably impressed with the festival and the Mongolian people, food and traditions.
After all of this you would think a bit of quiet time would be in order, but just as we were thinking of a weekend at home with nothing on, we heard of another once in a lifetime event that we could not possibly miss.
The Mongolian people were planning on breaking two world records in two days.
The first was for the most horses in a parade with a record of over 8000 horses and riders being the current title holder. The horses and riders assembled in a valley out of Ulaanbaatar and as the sun rose, horses and their riders in traditional dells appeared out of the mist as far as the eye could see with a final tally of over 11,300 horses and riders riding ten abreast past the Guinness book of Records judges to smash the previous records.
The next day as another attempt at a world record for the most horses in a single race. I believe the number to beat was only about 250 horses but this was absolutely smashed with well over 4200 horses racing over 18 kilometres. Most of the riders were children and a large percentage of these rode bareback. The sight of over 4000 horses galloping across the steppe together is something I never expect to see again and a truly amazing experience.
When you consider that most of these riders had to ride days to get there, it truly is a testament to how proud these people are of their heritage and the lengths they will go to celebrate it.
So, in a nutshell, the past ten weeks in Mongolia have been absolutely fantastic. I feel very privileged to have been able to see and share some of these once in a life time events.
If life is about making a memory every day, I am sure I am in credit over the past few months and look forward to making more memories of Mongolia over the next few.