Staying with the Nomads of the Northern Gobi

The bus from Ulaanbaator to the Mandalgovi in the northern Gobi desert. The road was under construction so for now all cars/buses/lorries use this dirt road or just freestyle accross the steppe. This turned what would be a 3 hr journey into an an 8hr epic on a good day.

Unfortunately it had rained the night before and our bus got stuck in a patch of mud. After 3 hrs the driver managed to dig us out. All passengers collected rocks to put under the wheels to give it a bit of purchase and we were away!

Milking the cows; we were not allowed because of the horns!
 

We signed up for a 5 day community tourism project called Ger to Ger. They have arranged with local families to host tourists as a form of second income (as well as herding) we get to stay with local families who feed us and show us a bit of traditional Mongolian culture and how they live. The families also act as guides taking us from family to family each day (either hiking or by camel or horse cart) so we could explore the region. It was very cool and the families were lovely. So friendly and welcoming!

Noble Rock national park. Former home of the T Rex!

Playing a game a bit like marbles with the children. However, the Nomads are a little short of marbles, so resourceful as they are they use sheep ankle bones. Some still had bits of meat attached. Yummy.
 

Noble Rock national park. Former home of the T Rex!

 This was the Ger of the last family we stayed with. The man of the house was in his 70's and had been a ranger and doctor of the region for 36years. He originally used to travel to patients by horseback across the steppe and desert. Respect!

On the way back to the regional town 80km away, our 4X4 broke down. 6 times. This is probably because the driver drove at 40mph over everything in his path. Everyone needs to do this in Mongolia otherwise you never get anywhere. We spent most of the time head butting the roll cage. However, ingenious as they are, our Mongolian driver eventually decided the problem might be a blocked fuel line, so he pulled it off and plugged a two litre beer bottle into the engine - our new fuel tank. 5km later we broke down again and he dismantled and rebuilt the carburetor in the desert. This got us another 2km down the road. Before it died completely he had replaced all the spark plugs, dismantled the fuel pump and inspected the head gasket. Eventually we had to be rescued by his son. Still, his mechanical efforts were highly commendable.

 Camel Portrait (look at those teeth)!

Although Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia isn't the most beautiful city in the world, its central park was second to none. Me and Amy had our lunch sat on an old concrete block. While we ate a mother helped her toddler do a poo on the main path.