(So here is day four's installment. If you haven't read the previous entries, start here. Otherwise, read the journal entry and view the pictures from...)
Day 4
I am almost too tired to write this, but I do need to take a minute to make a note of my insane day in 'Yellow Dog Hell'.
First let me explain what that means ...
I woke up this morning at 6:00 AM to the tune of yaks munching grass right outside my tent. I hate it when that happens.
(Yak Water Polo?)
I went on a small photo safari, read my Bible and began to break down my camp site. My Mongolian campsite companions told me yesterday that they were thinking about leaving at around 8:00 AM. Well, you don't don't have to be in Mongolia very long to know that really means we'll probably leave sometime after 10:00. It was 10:15 actually, when we finally pulled out of there. I was also told that we wouldn't start driving right away, because some of the party didn't get a chance to view the volcano on the first day. However, before that we all visited a little spot near the lake called (in Mongolian) "Yellow Dog Hell". Here's why it has such a noble name.
Many, many years ago two rivers (a mommy river and a daddy river?) had a daughter (that would be White Lake - Tsagaan Nuur). And for some reason that I am not entirely sure about, the daughter had a yellow dog (Why a lake would have a dog is not too clear in my mind, but it's a story so quit asking questions). At one point their daughter got very sick and was about to die. So the parents went to ... I am guessing the shaman, but I don't know that detail for certain. He told told them that if the daughter was to live, then the dog would have to die. So the father took her dog and left it here.
After five days the dog died. And Tsagaan Nuur lives to this day. This place is now called "Yellow Dog Hell". It's quite an interesting spot, actually, with more unusual volcanic rock formations.
So after this, one van went to the volcano. The rest of us went into the little village of Tariat, and waited for them at little guanz. It was a nice guanz (as far as food was concerned), and had some of the best hoosier I've had in Mongolia. So I drank milk tea and ate meat pies. The others in my group were also drinking some kind of soup made with sheep intestines. I try to avoid food made with any kind intestinal material whenever possible, and managed to squeak through that one unscathed. We watched Mongolian Wrestling that was taking place for Naadam in UB on a little television. It was really quite the Mongolian moment.
(The food was definitely better than the place looked on the outside!)
After some time there, we moved to a bridge that was on the edge of town and waited for the volcano visiting people there. They showed up at some point. But in the meantime, the folks in my van decided they wanted to take another swim in the river. I say another swim, mind you, because they had all already been swimming in the lake that morning. I have decided that Mongolians really like to go bathing in water whenever it is possible for them to do so. It also seems that there is absolutely no shame in swimming in your underwear. So they do, and so they did. Not really to the point of feeling all that comfortable swimming in my underwear (and not really wanting to sit in a van for 8 hours with wet underwear), I elected to take pictures of sheep and take a nap in the van.
When I woke up, the swimmers were coming back - and it seems that the other van had showed up at some point - dropped off some who wanted to swim - and went on to the next guanz because they hadn't eaten yet. So we packed up and rode on to meet them. After about 20 minutes we found them, and stopped. Forthwith, everyone else decided they wanted to eat there as well. By the time we left that guanz, it was 4:00 in the afternoon - and we were 20 minutes away from the lake. I was beginning to sense that this was going to be a long trip.
We stopped several more times before we finally pulled off the dirt path and into a small group of gers that were a bit off the trail. It was probably 8:30 at this point. They wanted to buy fresh airag. So we pulled into this place and the family had us go into their ger, and we drank more milk tea and ate hard bits of cheese, and they gave us big bowls of airag. We were there for about an hour before one of my party came to me and said that they all wanted to spend the night here.
I did a quick calculation in my head and figured that at this rate, I wouldn't get home until sometime in August - so I said thanks for the ride this far, but I really needed to get to Tsetserleg tonight, as I had left some money there to purchase a bus ticket back to UB tomorrow. So the sun had set, it was after 10:00 and they helped my wave down a car that was going toward Tsetserleg. It was two ladies and 2-year old in a Toyota Rav4. I was kind of glad that I got to ride in one of those, because I think that's the type of car I would for us to purchase next year. The class reunion folks were very gracious, and wouldn't allow me to pay them any money for gas. We said our good byes and I got in the car.
I don't know how this lady found her way to Tsetserleg. These roads are tough in the day - darn near impossible at night. Somehow (sometime after 11:30) she found the way, and here I write form the Fairfield, not-by-Marriott guest house once again. Same room even. The ladies were driving on to Khar Khoren - which is two more hours down the road, at least. They also wouldn't accept any money. Very nice people. It is now after midnight and tomorrow may be another challenge, as there is no bus running to UB because of Nadaam. I may be stuck here until Saturday, which is not necessarily a terrible thing. They do have a hot shower and the food's not bad. But it would be nice to get back home. It will be nicer now to go to sleep.