This summer, I originally intended to put together a trip to Tibet with a few others. But after researching and discussing all the logistics and costs that go into a trip to Tibet, I decided that Mongolia might be a better option for now. I visited four places in the span of two and a half weeks. Along the way, I had a lot of adventure, perhaps more than I bargained for. It was a memorable trip that packed so much material that I had to break it into four parts. I’ll show you why.

Day 1

The first part of my adventure started at the aptly named “Dream Adventure Mongolia” campsite, located in the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park area, about two hours (when taking into consideration the road conditions) outside of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. I was feeling a bit anxious when arriving at the airport and not seeing anyone notifying me that they were the ones taking me to the camp. There was an eager taxi driver following me around to “help” me out with where to exchange my money, though. After I asked the taxi driver to use his phone, the driver for the camp finally identified himself. A simple sign with my name would have been nice, but I suppose they just aren’t that formal.

Anyway, after making it through slow, congested traffic, he stopped to pick up his cousin, who happened to be one of the people running the campsite. Her name was Nami. We drove out of the city and along the bumpy dirt paths to a spot where her boyfriend, the other owner of the campsite (Puje), had to pick us up in the land cruiser to make it the rest of the way. It was a rather thrilling ride as we bumped and soared through the uneven mini-rivers that had popped up that summer because of all the rain. He apologized, but I simply said I thought it was fun.

As we approached, it was nice to see all the gers up on the hill, just like in their website photo. Inside a ger, it is cozy and usually filled with four beds and some heating equipment in the center. There is an opening at the top that is usually half covered, and the other half can be moved to accommodate rain, snow, or the sun.

The weather here changes a lot throughout the day between clouds and sun, and just like in the desert, that also means the temperature fluctuates. Earlier in the day, it was a bit cloudy. Later in the day, it became much sunnier, which made for nice late-afternoon photos.

Later that afternoon, we had time to go horseback riding. This was my first time actually riding by myself as an adult (rather than just sitting on a horse as a kid with someone walking the horse around). It was a short introduction to the rules of getting on and off the horse (always get on and off from the left side only), as well as how to guide and stop the horse. After getting my gear on and getting saddled up (literally), I and two other guests (traveling buddies, Angus from Ireland and Mya from Croatia) headed off with Puje.

Mongolian horses are a bit smaller than the horses we see in the west, but they are still strong creatures and can handle long walks and hauls. They are also always hungry, and the horses kept stopping to eat grass and weeds whenever they had the chance. The saddles themselves also seemed smaller and quite uncomfortable. They seem to be made of wood with some “cushioning” to help.

One thing I will mention is how different it felt to be here, coming from China. The air was not only dry but also clean. Nature was all around me, with many animals appearing here and there with herds of goats, sheep, cows, yaks, and horses. There was also a ton of another creature: flies! I was unpleasantly surprised at just how many flies there are here. It seemed like there was hardly a moment where I wasn’t swatting flies away, whether on horseback or just walking around. I wonder if it has to do with all those piles of animal poop everywhere. They only seemed to dissipate whenever it was cold and wet. Another unfortunate thing to occur was that my allergies suddenly kicked up, big time. I don’t know what I was allergic to, but it caused me to practically sneeze my brains out and later caused sinus problems.

Then in the evening, the sky was blue with pink cotton candy-colored clouds (yeah, I can use alliteration).

Day 2

In the morning, the sun was shining, and it felt quite a bit warmer outside than inside my ger. The clouds can really appear and disappear quickly. I think part of the reason for the big differences in temperature is that here it is also much drier than where I live in China, where the humidity can sometimes make it feel just as muggy and oppressive in the evening as it can during the day.

The meal portions here were quite generous, as is typical in Mongolia. Here, the food was, as Angus put it, “a modified version of Mongolian food.” I’m sure he was right. In fact, later on during my trip, Puje ended up asking me if I had ever eaten horse testicles before! Apparently, they are full of protein. It’s good to know, but I don’t think I’ll ever act on that information.

Breakfast here was the least Mongolian meal, with the exception of the fried flat bread. Other than that, we were served yogurt with granola, honey, butter, homemade blueberry jam, and even some gross Nutella with marshmallow (for young kids), as well as scrambled eggs with some pieces of cucumber and cherry tomatoes. To drink, there were little plastic containers of instant coffee and tea bags along with sugar and powdered creamer and a big thermos of hot water.

Angus and Mya had discussed a day trip with Nami, and I decided to join them. The trip consisted of going to visit “Turtle Rock,” along with a monastery nearby (well, near if driving), lunch, and then a visit to the largest statue of Mongolia’s most famous man, Chinggis Khan (sometimes spelled and pronounced differently as Genghis Khan).

First stop: Turtle Rock

Here is the first (and unfortunately, not the last) place where I saw native eagles tied up to a post by their feet so that tourists could see them close up and get photos with them. I saw quite a number of eagles flying around, which made me happy. I just wish that Mongolians would get more sophisticated and up-to-date on better humane tourism practices when it comes to animals, although Mongolia is certainly not alone when it comes to animals not being treated well. For example, I discovered that Thailand is notorious for having elephants trained to give rides, even at places that are labeled as refugee camps.

After exploring this area a bit, we got into the car, and Nami drove us over to the area with the Mongolian Buddhist monastery. As we were driving, I saw a dog trotting by with something in its mouth. As we got closer, I saw that it was a sheep’s head!

Along the trail, there were many signs with interesting sayings and suggestions in English and Cyrillic. Inside and around the monastery, there was also Tibetan calligraphy.

Next up was lunch. We drove back to the main area of Turtle Rock to the restaurant. It was basically a big ger, big enough to fit us and a bunch of other tourists, mostly from Korea. I was told (and saw firsthand) that the majority of tourists in Mongolia are Korean. Nami told me that apparently it is easy for Mongolians to learn to speak Korean (perhaps because of the pronunciation?). I chose to have some stir-fried beef with fried noodles. The portions were again large.

For the final leg of the trip, we headed out to see the giant statue of Chinggis Khan. It’s big enough for tourists to climb up the stairs (because apparently the elevator wasn’t working or only went down). Not only does the statue here appear in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest Chinggis Khan statue, but inside there is also the world’s biggest boot. It’s a rather nice place to visit, with a small walk-through museum in the basement and a restaurant on the second floor.

The best part about visiting here was when Nami made a comment about how now we were all officially descendants of Chinggis Khan. Why? Because of where we exited his body to go outside, She said, “We came out of his balls.” Best. Tour guide. Line. EVER.

This was supposed to be the final part of our day trip (after stopping off at the store to get some more items). However, one decision made by Nimi ended up extending our day into a much longer and more adventure-filled day than we ever expected.

On the way back, we discussed which route would take the longest. Nami told us that we could try going through the rivers or go back the way we came that morning, which would take at least an hour longer. She drove us to the first river, and we debated whether we should try to cross it. Ultimately, we told her that we are not familiar with the rivers, nor are we experts at judging how feasible it is to cross them, and that she should do whatever she thought was best. After some more pondering, she decided to try going through the little rivers.

The first river we went through without a problem. On the second one we came upon, we saw a few cars that had pulled over and had their hoods up. It wasn’t long before we realized that they were trying to dry out their engines! Nami stopped to ask one of them if the crossing was OK. Again, we pondered whether it was worth corssing. She decided to go for it. This time, the river was a bit wider and deeper. Crossing here made Nami a bit more apprehensive, but by the time we had finished we had made it without any problems. This gave us all a bit more confidence to continue through the waters.

However, it wouldn’t be long before we came upon the third river area. This time there was definitely more water all throughout the area, and it made it difficult to assess how feasible it was to cross. As I mentioned before, the first two crossings gave us some false hope. This time, as we tried navigating through the water, it was much more difficult to figure out where we could go safely and where the other side of the river was. I could go on, but I think this next video taken by Mya says it all.

We tried to remain calm and help her navigate, but it clearly didn’t help to relieve the anxiety. When the car dipped down slightly and that final splash of water rushed over the hood and hit the windshield, that’s when things started getting real. While sitting with us in the back, the young girl (Nami’s niece) couldn’t get the window rolled back up because the power wasn’t working. At one point, I also started to feel the cruiser start to drift. For a brief moment, I wondered if we might have to suddenly abandon the car and try to swim ashore. Luckily, it didn’t come to that.

Our luck lasted just long enough for the engine to cut out at just the right moment as we were exiting the water. Though we didn’t have to swim, those of us sitting in the back still had to step into some water before walking ashore, and this soaked Angus’ and my socks and shoes.

After everyone calmed down, we took a few selfies with the now-defunct car with the flooded engine. Nami and her niece then decided to go and see if they could find anyone who could help us while the three of us stayed behind. Angus and I tried to hang our socks and shoes to dry. Luckily, my feet dried off rather quickly.

While waiting, the clouds kept moving and revealing some lovely twilight over the surrounding hills. In the other direction, we could also see some lightning and hear some thunder. Mya asked if we should sing a song. I then asked, “How about ‘Row Row Your Boat?'”

After Nami came back, she told us that she called her father to tell him what had happened. The fact that she could get a signal was a big relief. The other big relief was when she said that her father was in the military and that he could get a truck out to tow the cruiser and take us back. The whole time, Nami was worried about telling Puje about the whole situation, but eventually she called to tell him.

It had already been an hour, and we were told it would take another hour before they could get here. Before they could get to us, they had to figure out where exactly we were, which briefly resulted in some “Marco, Polo” with car horns.

By this point, the water had started to rise, so it was good that they arrived when they did. We were anxious to see what this truck looked like and hoped that it was what we needed. Mya took video of the truck making its way over to us. This made us anxious because, as it got closer, we could see it tilting and dipping. The moment when the headlights dipped below the water made me worry. All of us were thinking the same thing—that the rescue truck had to make it since they were the last hope of getting out of here. The last part of the video was the most nerve-wracking.

We were so happy to see them. Nami wrapped her arms around her father as we greeted them enthusiastically. Then they took out their cable rope to hook the truck to the cruiser. By now, those storm clouds had gotten closer, and it began to rain with occasional flashes of lightning and thunder.

After finally getting the cable connected and loading us onto the back of the truck, we started to head out. One of the men stayed in the cruiser to help steer it as we towed it. After coming out of the first mini-river, the cable disconnected, and we had to signal to the truck driver to stop. They got out and had to reconnect the cable. By now, it was raining harder, and we were told to get inside the cruiser to keep dry, so we did.

The first mini-river bit seemed OK to get through, but as we came upon the second part, I began to feel more apprehensive. Not only was it getting darker and rainier now, but it also made me nervous to see the muddy, slick-looking track marks on the riverbed as the truck came up the other side. Our cruiser was in neutral (I think), and all we could do was be dragged by the truck. Once that part was over, I felt more relieved…until we came upon the third and final river to cross.

This time it looked much wider than the other parts, though we were told that this one wasn’t as deep as the part our cruiser barely made it through. This didn’t help to relieve the stress, though, and Mya said she didn’t want to be in the cruiser while crossing and wanted to be in the truck. The rest of us agreed, so we got out and hopped onto the back of the truck and sat on the truck bed benches with a tarp covering us. As soon as we got close to the river, they determined that the truck might not be able to pull the cruiser well enough across, so the driver and one of the other military men stayed behind with the cruiser to wait for the water to recede.

Going across was now the most nerve-wracking part for me. By this point, the rain and constant lightning had made the situation seem even more treacherous. I spent the whole time just hoping to make it across. I didn’t dare try to look out from under the tarp while crossing. Finally, we made it ashore. As we continued on, though, some parts of the ground were very uneven, and the whole truck kept jolting us side to side into each other. A short time later, the truck stopped as we approached the nearest ger. We were told to get out because the truck had engine trouble. The rain was still pouring and the lightning was still flashing all around, though there wasn’t much thunder. We were told that we could go back in the family’s truck to the camp, though Nami chose to stay behind with her father and the truck driver.

On the drive back to the camp, we could still see lightning flashing all over. It almost seemed like quick bursts of strobe lights in the sky. The driver also happened to have some music video channels playing on his dashboard, so we watched some Mongolian music videos. We joked to each other about the surprisingly high production values.

After another 45 minutes or so, we finally made it back to the camp at about 22:15. Puje asked if we were OK and told us that they were waiting to serve us dinner. After changing out of our wet clothes, we gathered in the dining ger for some late-night noodle soup by candlelight.

By this point in the trip, I was only on my second day, and I had already had more adventure than I thought possible. I still had another three days to go, so the next day I just decided to rest and ponder life, whereas the other travel couple, along with the other Australian family that was staying there, left the next day. Before they left, Mya, Angus, and I recounted our saga and showed them Mya’s videos. I joked about how Nami had told us about other times that she had gotten stuck while driving, once in the mud and another time in the ice across a river. I joked that it only seemed right that Nami had now gotten stuck crossing a river and that now she had her bases covered.

Day 3

The next day, the weather was good, so I just ate and took more photos throughout the day. Along with the guest gers and dining pavilion, and ger, they also had an outhouse, a shower, and even a sauna ger. For the hot water, it required making a fire to heat a big bowl of water, then scooping it up with buckets, climbing up the side of the cabin, and pouring it into the big water tank to mix with the regular water. It was also nice waking up to see different animals outside of my ger. One morning it was cows; the next it was horses. Many nomadic families in Mongolia just let their horses and cows wander freely during the day, but towards the evening they try to herd them.

Later in the day, Puje asked me if I was up for more horseback riding. I decided that I was, so Puje, Nami, and I all rode together, this time in the opposite direction from before. We went uphill through a rather steep area of the hillside to look for one of the horses. Eventually, after zig-zagging upwards, we made it to the top and found the other horse.

The trek was nice, although when it was time to go back, Puje told me that we should walk down the hill rather than stay on the horses, as it might be a bit dangerous to maneuver downhill. It was a long hike down, and I must have fallen on my butt about five times after slipping on rocks. Poor Nami had the sole on her right boot break and tried to walk down the hill barefoot. That didn’t seem to work out, so she finally put it back on. It made stepping on the rocks easier. She commented that perhaps she goes looking for trouble. I said it seemed more like trouble often found her.

After we returned and the horses were put back into the stable, I walked around outside of the camp a bit to get some more photos of the early evening sun. I discovered that in the summer, the sun here stays out even longer than in China or back home. Perhaps this is due to its latitude?

This was also the time for collecting some firewood and milking the meres.

And eventually it was dinner time.

Day 4

After a very full day, I just took the time to relax and eat. The weather wasn’t good, so I just lounged about in my ger.

Nami’s family also stopped by to visit for a few days. I was told they come each year during the summer (which makes sense since the rest of the year it’s much colder and the winter is unbearable). One of the kids, the girl in red in the first photo holding the baby at the top of this page, actually spoke English rather well and kept asking me if I could play with her. We first played a game where someone held up a bunch of arrows (or sticks) and let them fall. The idea is to try to be the first to retrieve as many arrows or sticks from the pile without moving any of the others. After that, we tried some archery, but most of the arrows there were damaged, which made it difficult to shoot properly.

When it came time for dinner, Puje asked if I wanted to have my food delivered to my ger or if I wanted to join the family in their ger. I said that I would join them.

Dinner was a very simple but traditional meal of boiled cabbage, potatoes, and mutton. They also made what seemed like a liquid that was not quite gravy but had a strong meat flavor to it. Puje told me that for this meal, they just eat it with their hands, which is referred to as the “five-finger feast.” Apparently, this is usually made with all parts of the sheep (and I mean every part). I did see a sheep’s head on the floor while eating and several leg parts (with the hooves) boiling in the big bowl of liquid.

Some words about Mongolian food: their diet consists of a lot of meat (mainly mutton, goat, and beef) and dairy products from cows and yaks (milk, butter, cheese, yogurt), and this makes sense since there really isn’t much vegetation to eat other than the previously mentioned root veggies and cabbage. During one of my breakfasts, they gave me some homemade butter made from milk. One of their traditional foods is similar to a Tibetan dumpling with minced mutton (buuz). There is also Tsuivan, the stir-fried mutton with fried noodles and veggies, Khuushuur, which is like a fried hot-pocket with mutton, mutton soup, Guriltai Shol (mutton noodle soup), Budaatai khuurga (Mongolian fried rice), Airag (fermented mere’s milk), Boodog (marmot, which is similar to a groundhog, stuffed with hot stones, onions, and potatoes), and Qurut or Aaruul, a cheese biscuit that is dried in the sun.

Day 5

On my last day, there was a group of new guests arriving from Finland. I had a chance to chat with them during lunch. Their English was quite good. I was surprised by the ease and vocabulary with which they spoke. It made me feel inadequate for not being so fluent in another language. I may have learned some Spanish in public school and my first semester of college in Spain and picked up some Mandarin while in China, but it’s nothing like the fluency that they displayed.

Anyway, Puje invited me to go horseback riding with them. By this time, he thought I had enough experience to go on ahead of the group. He also gave me Rocky, the horse that likes to go fast.

As I set on ahead of the group, I noticed the weather wasn’t good. It was cloudy, and bits of rain sprinkled on and off. I was OK for a bit with Rocky trotting and eventually galloping as I used my brief experience from riding to help me squat rather than sit to help deal with my butt bouncing on the saddle.

However, when Rocky decided to venture off toward the hill, I was apprehensive about letting him whisk me away uphill, so I kept trying to guide him closer to the trail. Suddenly, I heard what I thought was Puje and some others from the group. I turned around and realized it wasn’t them but rather just some yahoo-cowboy locals. They saw me and thought it would be fun to yell and make sounds to encourage me to go fast. I wanted to yell to them, “Shut up, I’m still new!” but obviously that wouldn’t have done anything.

I went on a bit further, and then I saw Puje in the distance signaling me to turn back, so I did. The others were much further back and heading towards the camp. Suddenly, Rocky sensed that we were heading back and began to pick up speed. He insisted on galloping along the hillside, but I again tried to guide him back down towards the trail first. He was having none of it and decided to continue along the hill. I reluctantly gave in and let him gallop along. As we went, I looked down and saw there were some dips in the ground. This worried me. All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, Rocky stumbled, and his front right side went down. I saw the ground suddenly coming at me, and I let out an “oohhhhhuuummfffff” as I flew forward off of Rocky and landed on my right side. Rocky toppled over next to me, and for a moment I was scared that he might roll on top of me, but he didn’t.

After I got up and assessed the damage (luckily there was none, just some dirt and some soreness around my waist), Rocky got up and trotted off. I didn’t even bother trying to go after him, and instead I just began walking back on my own. Soon enough, Puje must have seen Rocky wondering around without me on him, so Puje turned back to look for me. He approached me and asked if I was OK. I said I was and explained what happened. He asked if I was OK to walk back, and I said “yes.” He told me that one of the other people in the group fell off his horse earlier, too. I just walked the rest of the way back and took some more photos.

When I got back, the guy who fell told me that he had lost his grip on the reins and tried to retrieve them but lost his balance and fell forward off his horse. I then explained my situation. I asked if anyone had seen me, but they said “no.” I was told that earlier, when I was still close enough to see that I looked like a professional while riding.

All in all, even though Rocky forced me to quickly reunite with the ground, I couldn’t help but feel rather accomplished. This was only my third attempt at horseback riding, and I was already able to work with a horse that liked to go fast and gallop. I had also been forced to experience falling off and getting back up without being afraid to ride again. I also felt very lucky that Rocky didn’t fall down near any rocks (that could have made for a much different outcome).

Before dinner, Puje asked us to help him gather firewood for a bonfire. At first, I declined, but then I felt like I should help. I did wonder how he would be able to build a successful bonfire with wet wood, but I figured he had built enough fires in his life that he would figure something out.

After dragging a small tree along the hillside, I stopped to take one last photo of the ger camp.

That night, the bonfire was big and bright. The wind kept blowing and blew many sparks. We were worried that some might cause a fire elsewhere, but perhaps the ground was wet enough that that wasn’t an issue. The others all decided to partake in the sauna and were quite happy with the experience. I was told that the word “sauna” is Finish and that Finland actually has more saunas than cars, and that since they were Finish, they were basically obligated to use the sauna. I didn’t bring a bathing suit or my travel towel, so I opted to skip the sauna. Instead, I just enjoyed the bonfire and then retired to my room.

Before bed, I had told them that I needed to get to the airport in the morning. They said they would do their best to try to get me there, but that it might be difficult due to some of the dirt roads being washed out. I told them that I didn’t need breakfast that early, but they insisted that there was still time for it.

That morning it was cold and wet, of course, and they no longer had the land cruiser since the engine was still being worked on. They managed to call someone with a motorcycle to come by. The plan was to ride it to where a car was waiting to take me to the airport. I kept worrying that I wasn’t going to make it. I also didn’t have a raincoat (just an umbrella) and ended up having to hold onto my luggage and hold onto Puje while he rode. Luckily, they did offer me a Mongolian robe or coat to wear, so that helped. He ended up riding up one of the hills, having to constantly slow down and re-adjust our direction. At the top, he stopped and told me to leave my coat there and that we would walk down the other side to where the car was waiting. I was annoyed and more worried than ever that I wouldn’t make my flight.

Finally, we made it down the wet, rocky path towards the car. The driver was the same man who picked me up from the airport (Nami’s cousin). Puje and I said our goodbyes, although I was in a hurry and too worried about what I would have to do upon arriving and being told that my flight had already left, so it wasn’t quite how I wanted to say goodbye.

After I arrived at my next destination, I sent an email to Nami thanking her and Puje for all their hard work and how sweet and hardworking the kids were, too. Maybe I’ll return here for more adventure, just like that Australian family did.

But as luck would have it, the driver got me to the airport just in time (actually, I arrived ten minutes after the boarding time); however, the weather had caused a handful of flights to be delayed, including mine. Lucky me. However, it was a bit of a double-edged sword because it was an hour delay and I needed to use the toilet, but since there was no information about the delayed flights and the toilets were not actually located where the sign said they were, I decided to just deal with it and stay put near the gate area along with some other foreigners who looked equally confused and anxious about their flight. In the end, I did make the flight to the next part of my trip: Lake Khovsgol (referred to as the blue pearl of Mongolia) in the north-west.

Stay tuned for the next part of my adventure!