"How has Mongolia blowed you the most?": A 5 Day Excursion to Bulgan Province

The title statement came from a girl who rode the mini-bus (Soviet tank/van) back to UB with me today. She is going to spend a semester in Montana and I told her that I thought the US would "blow her mind as Mongolia has blown my mind." Cute ESL blunder!

Have you ever gone off-roading? How about on a bus? How about on a bus from the 1970s Soviet Union? I have. On my way to Bulgan Aimag to learn about dairy products, the highway just ended and the bus just went through fields and dirt roads until it picked up again 20 miles later. I thought I was going to puke/faint/die. So, the ride there was really exciting but most of the stay was very relaxing and there was a lot of down time. How much down time? Well, I'm more than half way though Jane Eyre and if you know me well, that would take some serious down time. While I spent a lot of time enjoying the views, walking around reading about Mr. Rochester there were some fabulous highlights-

1) A huge rain storm on the first day. The floors of gers are either linoleum or dirt because water just washes through them. You also have to be careful to bring in the chimney. I was with a mother and son and I held the son as he shivered with fear as his mother threw goat's milk into the storm to make it go away and tie down the felt and plastic covering their home. He mumbled prayers as we tried to hold the door shut. It was much better than being one of the travelers out on horseback who had to crouch down on the ground with their heels together.
2) Every meal- dried goat and potatoes in either a stew or with noodles (I can make them for you!). There was carrot shaved in a couple times too.
3) Walking out to rock piles, we (a French couple and 2 Mongolian kids) heard a drum, a lam, and followed the sound around a hill of rocks to a real shaman's ceremony. He was dressed in feathers and danced while beating this huge drug. About 10 people were sitting around and when they saw us we were told to move away.
4) The father of the first family came to the ger by motorbike at around 9 and the girl there (a friend of the family) motioned for me to get on with her. She said, "sheep! hun!" and jumped on after me. He drove us 10 minutes to the sheep and I was clueless as to why we were going there at all until we got off and he sped away. We had to herd them home! It was awesome but you can imagine my moment of panic when I am herding about 200 goats and sheep on my own and, because I'm not wearing my glasses, I can't see her with her 200 or the ger.
5) Camel burn- it will take the skin right off your butt. DON'T GO ON A CAMEL FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES.
6) On the evening of the 3rd day, I, along with the French couple (shout out of Kyeng-Hy and Jean-Yves!!!!) were taken by horse up to an ovoo on a hill. An ovoo is an ancient and sacred pile of rocks. This one was surrounded by white stupas and the view of the hills, mountains, pastures and sand dunes was majestic.
7) I mentioned that I wanted to buy a del, the traditional robes, and the mother of the 3rd ger said that she would sell one she just made. She said that sewing was her hobby. She put it on me and it looks wild! 40,000 Tugrik and 2 days later I'm ready for Naadam.

There were many more amazing moments that I'd love to tell you about but I'm sure you are done reading. The purpose of this trip was to learn to make the traditional dairy products. I learned quite a bit (including how to turn yogurt into vodka) and was given plenty of bowls of cream and yogurt to sample. My students next year will get to eat delicious orom (sliced dried cream) and aarts (fresh milk curds)!