Hello from Mongolia, you lovely people!
(The story of our 2016 Victory Lap continues, albeit not in order - read this post first to catch up!)
I'm currently enjoying a brief, middle-of-the-hurricane moment of stillness here in Ulaanbaatar. Yesterday, we left the ecolodge in Murun where we were volunteering for 2 weeks, and tomorrow we start our trip through Russia on the transsiberian railroad.
Mongolia has been a dream country - almost as soon as we got out of UB, it became my second-favorite country on the Victory Lap so far. (I don't think anything can dislodge New Zealand from spot #1) The capital city is disappointingly hazy with pollution and distinctly lacking in the color green. But as soon as we got far enough away, I perked up with delight over the glorious scenery: rolling hills, craggy mountains, green fields everywhere, animals moving about in every corner of your eye... and horses. Horses EVERYWHERE.
When I was young, I had a mild horse obsession, and I've never grown out of it. I vividly remember a moment in late elementary school or early middle school, when I was in an acting class and everyone was going around a circle telling their favorite animals. I wanted to sound cool for a boy, so I said "white tiger" was my favorite, and maybe even believed it for a split second. The sharing ended with my teacher, and she said, "I have always thought that horses are the most beautiful animals in the world." And I felt a strong mix of emotions: leaping agreement inside that I also love horses most, regret that I didn't say the truth right away, frustration over not being able to correct myself without looking foolish, and an unacknowledged resolve to never experience this moment again. Since then, I've never lied about favorites to impress anyone. I love the color green, I love tiny things, and I have always thought that horses are the most beautiful and majestic animals on earth.
All that to say, Mongolia is bursting with horsey eye-candy.
And just general, breath-taking eye-candy everywhere:
We lived for 2 weeks at Harganat Ecolodge, a tourist camp that will potentially open for business next year. We worked every day for 6 hours alongside 6-8 other WWOOFers, weeding gardens, watering gardens, building rock walls, and designing rock wall art. Adam worked almost every day building a wall to keep out cows and goats from the ecolodge grounds:
My work experience was particular satisfying, because the second day I was asked to design a snow leopard for the restaurant walls, which are covered in various traditional Mongolian animals & symbols. For a week I worked next to a lovely Belgian named Suzanne who was designing a wolf on the wall section next to me.
After 2 weeks, I had the satisfaction of completing both wall sections on the last day we were there. Whether it sticks around or not, I had a blast making Mongolian rock art! (What a way to earn one's keep for a couple weeks, eh?)
We took lots of naps in our ger:
We listened to Hamilton the musical on repeat, ate a metric ton of meat and potatoes, and got to experience a local Naadam event - Naadam is the biggest festival in Mongolia, with celebrations and competitions held in every major aimag / city throughout the country, though most people go to Ulaanbaatar. We were in little Murun, in the Huuvsghul aimag, and it was a fantastic time!
A dance performance with shamans and singers and more!
Horse racing - all the jockeys are young kids!
The most popular event is wrestling, though
Waiting for the horse race to pass our group
There is nothing perfect about Mongolia, but that was part of what made it such a meaningful time for us. I think we were happier during those 2 weeks of constant dirt and spiders and discomfort than we were during the whole trip up until that point.
If you have the chance to visit Mongolia, take it. You won't regret it.
Carpe Chinggis Khaan,
Anna
I love your snow leopard and Adam's wall! :)
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