7 - Mongstruck (Gachuurt)

Ulaan Baator to Gachuurt, MONGOLIA - 07 july 2002

Tina was feeling better. Goretti’s spirits had improved. It was time to get out of Ulaan Baator. Tina and Jus had a 2-man tent. The five of us decided to go to Gachuurt which was a nearby village and camp by the river.

The village was nothing much, but once we headed away by the river, the countryside was really pretty… rolling hills, grazing horses and sheep, gers in the distance, sparkling river…

We agreed on a camping spot finally and put up the tent. I instructed the guys, “OK, you guys cook lunch. And we girls will go hunting.” “How the world has changed…” Pablo quipped. Well, actually, I meant, hunting for wood and branches for fire tonight.

After lunch, Tina and Jus went for a walk and the rest of us decided to take a nap. It was not long before the rain came. Goretti, Pablo and I scrambled into the tent. Hmmm… It was already crowded for the three of us. If it rained tonight, how were the five of us to sleep in here? Goretti suggested the Spoon Position. Well… ahem.

Pablo spotted the eyes of foxes in the distance that night. Wow… being the nature guide that he is, he was quite sensitive to sound and spotted reflections from their eyes when we shone our torch in the right direction. For me, I heard nothing and saw nothing.

That night, Goretti slept out in her hammock and Pablo right by the beach. With the earlier rain, it still felt cold. I was glad I was tucked in cozily in the tent with Tina and Jus.



Gachuurt, MONGOLIA - 08 july 2002

After breakfast, we decamped. The river could be crossed as we had seen Mongolian holiday-makers swimming and wading to the other side.

Goretti and Jus walked across first. The currents got really strong and at one point, they had to walk parallel to the banks for about 50m because that area was shallower and the currents slower. The shallow parts soon petered into a beach on the other side of the river. Now, knowing the route, Tina crossed next. Pablo and I had no sandals with us. So, we removed our boots and crossed bare-footed.

Have you heard of pebble therapy? If your feet hurt when you walk on pebbles bare-footed, it means there are many problems in your body. Well, from the pain I felt, I must be a pretty sick person. This pebble therapy is used back home in Singapore so I had anticipated the pain and I endured it better. I overtook Pablo, giving the impression that the ordeal was effortless for me. He looked at me, incredulous. He thought that I felt no pain. After struggling halfway, he seriously wanted to give up. I told him he would have a wonderful sleep tonight with the pebble therapy. Just endure.

This side of the river had rolling hills and gers. The weather was great today and everywhere was picture-perfect. Some boys were riding horses and herding their sheep. Very Mongolia…

There were edelweiss flowers too. We broke into the song ‘Edelweiss Edelweiss, every morning you greet me…’. Tina and Goretti plucked some of them, saying that in Europe, they were a protected species. Well, if Tina and Goretti stayed in Mongolia long enough, edelweiss would need to be a protected species here too.

We wandered around for about an hour, trying to figure out a good camping spot. A Mongol herdsman rode towards us. He was glum-faced and unamused. He indicated that this was his private property. We had to leave. We apologized profusely and gestured that we would cross the river back.

With some difficulties, we crossed the river to an island. We walked further until we came to a slightly narrow part of the river to attempt to get back to the same bank we were on this morning. However, this side of the river was deeper and had stronger currents. The brave Goretti and Jus again tried to be the pioneers to get across. They tried for a long time. The water would come all the way up to their chests. It was OK if we got wet. We just wanted to protect our passports and cameras.

After another hour or so of being stuck out here, some kind Mongol horsemen across the bank took pity on us and brought their horses over for us to cross. We took turns without incident until Pablo’s turn. His horse nearly drowned! Pablo, sitting on the back of the horse, had water right up to his waist! When his horse climbed ashore, it panicked and galloped away at top speed!!!! This was like a movie! We stared with our jaws wide open! I could not move. The Mongol horseman who crossed the river with me, pulling the horse I was on, had to drag me off the horse in order to go chase after Pablo’s! Imagine, if Pablo had fallen off the horse, with his feet trapped in the stirrups and his head in between the tramping legs… it would have been a disaster!!

But Pablo steered the horse to a group of grazing horses and when it rounded a curve and slowed down, Pablo the Argentine Gaucho that he is, jumped off and walked away. What an adrenaline rush!!! We were so thankful Pablo was alright. Accordingly to him, his whole life really flashed before him!

We set up camp and figured we had probably moved 200m from our last camp-spot but we had taken 4 hours or so and a near-death incident, to accomplish it. We started to make pasta for our dinner. The herdsman who had earlier driven us from his property, surprised us by crossing the river on horseback and riding towards our camp.

We wondered if we were again on his private property. But he quietly disembarked and looked at us curiously. Tina offered cigarettes. He took one and sat down. Slowly, Tina charmed him further with her finger-pointing ability at her Mongolian phrase-book and managed to get a conversation going. We learnt the following: He had eight children. His profession was ‘Herdsman’. He was a Hindu.

We invited him for dinner and he accepted. Through the phrase-book, he indicated he would bring some milk and yoghurt. That would be nice. And he galloped away.

The first pack of pasta we cooked looked gross. The sauce looked pathetic. Goretti, Jus and I suggested cinnamon, raw onions, condiments from our pack noodles, etc… to spice up the terrible sauce a little. Pablo slunk further and further away from the fire, as we proceeded to massacre his beloved pasta and sauce. His Italian heart must be bleeding now.

Indeed, this was the worst pasta I had ever tasted. To us, it was not a problem. Ketchup would fix all horrible food. But how could we offer it to The Herdsman? We had to finish up everything and cook our second pack of pasta for him.

This time, Pablo took over and he made a really wonderful bowl of al dente pasta for The Herdsman upon his return. He was beaming from ear to ear as he slurped up the spagetti. In turn, we gratefully drank his goat-yoghurt and salty horse-milk.

That night, Goretti and Tina brewed edelweiss tea. Can you imagine that? We were crazy. With excellent weather, Pablo and I slept under the stars, with the rushing river right by our feet. It was magic.























Gachuurt, MONGOLIA - 09 july 2002

At around 7am, Goretti shouted to us, “Hey, I think it’s going to rain, ya?” We peeped out of our sleeping bags. Indeed. She scurried into the tent right away with her hammock and sleeping bag. Pablo and I continued to lie on the bank, comatose until the pelting rain was too strong to ignore. We then crawled into the 2-man tent. Somehow, we contorted our bodies and fitted one another’s sleeping bags in all available space and managed to snooze for another 3 hours or so.

We were finally up and about at 10am. The Herdsman soon came over with five horses. He must have been observing us from his side of the river, coming over only when we woke up. We had breakfast together with the goat cheese he brought along. He gestured that we should decamp and pack up. Hmmm… it appeared we were heading back across the river to his ger. He soon assembled some of his children and neighbours and we had one person assigned to each of us to help us ride the five horses.

At his ger, we met his family and neighbours. His wife prepared some bread and poured salty horse-milk for us. We were offered his snuff-bottle and sniffed some of the snuff. This was a Mongol custom - offering snuff-bottle to friends to sniff. To be very frank, we had no idea what was in it but if you sniffed too much, you coughed and sneezed for a while.

His poor wife was washing, cooking, cleaning, making dough the entire time. Her youngest 2-year-old daughter was permanently suckling at her mother’s nipple. The Herdman’s wife shifted the little girl to the left or right without a care whenever the latter got in the way of her domestic chores. We thought she was amazing. Yet, The Herdsman kept indicating his last finger at his wife, which meant ‘no good’.

Pablo asked The Herdsman’s children to draw pictures of the place they lived in. After overcoming their initial shyness, they soon got excited over it and drew many wonderful pictures. Goretti returned to Ulaan Baator today to pick up her temporary passport. The rest of us later took a walk around the hills behind his ger.

That night, we asked The Herdsman where we could set up our tent but he insisted we sleep in his ger with his family. Oh, what a wonderful experience this was!! We were in a ger with a real Mongol family… and NOT in some tourist gers with hot showers and sauna that cost ‘only’ US$50. Excellent excellent excellent!! This would go down as one of the best trip experiences I had had so far!