The Tour Begins
We finally made it out of town and onto the road that leads out to the wilderness. About ten miles down the road we stopped at a kiosk which was off to the side of the road. Behind it about a thousand meters away were two gers. Mostlikely where the store owners lived. There were three little wooden sheds built side by side. There were windows in front where the merchandize was on display. This included various kinds of soft drinks including Japanese Pepsi. There was also a Mongolian brand of alcohol, cup o noodles and things like that. I ended up getting a soda.
Nearby there was a pile rocks by the side of the road. There were coins, bones and other things thrown on it. One of the drivers had us start walking around it in a clockwise direction. He picked up rocks as he went and threw them on the pile and encouraged us to do the same. He said it was so we would have good luck on our journey and that we would be safe and come back in good health. Our guide Baskar told us this little ritual had something to do with shamanism. In all we went around the pile of rocks three times throwing small stones as we went, and then got back in the jeeps.
Ovoo
We were on our way to a national park for wild horses. After that we were going to go to a ger camp where we would stay the night and then go to a famous monestary the next day.
The roads in Mongolia are bad. At one time they were paved but now there were many pot holes in them. Consequently the drivers spent all of their time dodging those pot holes. There were other vehicles doing the same thing. Our driver felt that he had to do this while driving as fast as he could. Sometimes other vehicles would be coming straight toward us and it looked like we were going to have a head on collision, but at the last minute he would swerve out of the way. We were told that he had twenty years of experience driving on these roads. There were no seatbelts and Paul and I were tossed around in the back seat like a couple of rag-dolls at times.
The scenery was spectactular. The grade of the land would go up in places and then down. And then there was the endless sky. The clouds were puffy cotton balls. Sometimes we would come upon a herd of goats or other animals in the middle of the road. When this happend the driver would stop and patiently let the animals pass by. Sometimes you could see a herin or two standing at the edge of a lake or a river. That was a common sight.
Przewalski National Park
This park is a place where the wild horses of Mongolia are studied and monitored. The place where they house the horses is situated in the hilly grasslands a few kilometers down a dirt road off the main road. The horses are unique to horse lovers because they have a different number of chromosomes then all other horses. They are kind of like down syndrome horses. I have heard that the reason why they went extinct was because the Mongolian people eat them. Besides their regular name of Przewalski horses, they are also called Asian Wild Horses. They are the last remaining species of wild horses in the world.
When we arrived at the site where the horses were I was surprised to see a colonial style house sitting in a field. It must have been the office for the park or a place where back packers could stay the night. Nearby there was a ger that served as a museum. We were met by a slight woman in her early 30's. She led us over to the museum and started to give us a lesson on the horses. We looked at the pictures of horses on the walls. There were also graphs and maps and other material relating to the horses. I'm glad she didn't give us a test while we were there because most of this information went in one ear and out the other.
These horse became extinct in Mongolia about twenty five years ago. Over the years they were bred in captivity in various zoos throughout the world. There were sixteen of them in the Netherlands. When the zookeepers in the Netherland found out they were extinct in Mongolia they immediately sent them back to be re-introduced into the wild of their native country.
She gave a talk on the horses and answered questions and then we went out to the place where they were penned up. It was not far away. When we got to the large corral the lady instructed the jeep drivers not to park where the horses could see them otherwise they would start running up to the fense. The horses were a little distance away in a little shelter keeping their head out of the direct sunlight. After a few minutes the horses came out and we were able to see them through binoculars.
Wild Horse of Mongolia
After this we went back to the museum, then had lunch nearby sitting on the grass. The drivers had prepared everything. This time it was Mexican cuisine. The lunch was so big I couldn't eat it all. It was very good though. These guys were the best cooks. We had enchalates, Spanish rice, tacos and things like that.
We finally made it out of town and onto the road that leads out to the wilderness. About ten miles down the road we stopped at a kiosk which was off to the side of the road. Behind it about a thousand meters away were two gers. Mostlikely where the store owners lived. There were three little wooden sheds built side by side. There were windows in front where the merchandize was on display. This included various kinds of soft drinks including Japanese Pepsi. There was also a Mongolian brand of alcohol, cup o noodles and things like that. I ended up getting a soda.
Nearby there was a pile rocks by the side of the road. There were coins, bones and other things thrown on it. One of the drivers had us start walking around it in a clockwise direction. He picked up rocks as he went and threw them on the pile and encouraged us to do the same. He said it was so we would have good luck on our journey and that we would be safe and come back in good health. Our guide Baskar told us this little ritual had something to do with shamanism. In all we went around the pile of rocks three times throwing small stones as we went, and then got back in the jeeps.
Ovoo
We were on our way to a national park for wild horses. After that we were going to go to a ger camp where we would stay the night and then go to a famous monestary the next day.
The roads in Mongolia are bad. At one time they were paved but now there were many pot holes in them. Consequently the drivers spent all of their time dodging those pot holes. There were other vehicles doing the same thing. Our driver felt that he had to do this while driving as fast as he could. Sometimes other vehicles would be coming straight toward us and it looked like we were going to have a head on collision, but at the last minute he would swerve out of the way. We were told that he had twenty years of experience driving on these roads. There were no seatbelts and Paul and I were tossed around in the back seat like a couple of rag-dolls at times.
The scenery was spectactular. The grade of the land would go up in places and then down. And then there was the endless sky. The clouds were puffy cotton balls. Sometimes we would come upon a herd of goats or other animals in the middle of the road. When this happend the driver would stop and patiently let the animals pass by. Sometimes you could see a herin or two standing at the edge of a lake or a river. That was a common sight.
Przewalski National Park
This park is a place where the wild horses of Mongolia are studied and monitored. The place where they house the horses is situated in the hilly grasslands a few kilometers down a dirt road off the main road. The horses are unique to horse lovers because they have a different number of chromosomes then all other horses. They are kind of like down syndrome horses. I have heard that the reason why they went extinct was because the Mongolian people eat them. Besides their regular name of Przewalski horses, they are also called Asian Wild Horses. They are the last remaining species of wild horses in the world.
When we arrived at the site where the horses were I was surprised to see a colonial style house sitting in a field. It must have been the office for the park or a place where back packers could stay the night. Nearby there was a ger that served as a museum. We were met by a slight woman in her early 30's. She led us over to the museum and started to give us a lesson on the horses. We looked at the pictures of horses on the walls. There were also graphs and maps and other material relating to the horses. I'm glad she didn't give us a test while we were there because most of this information went in one ear and out the other.
These horse became extinct in Mongolia about twenty five years ago. Over the years they were bred in captivity in various zoos throughout the world. There were sixteen of them in the Netherlands. When the zookeepers in the Netherland found out they were extinct in Mongolia they immediately sent them back to be re-introduced into the wild of their native country.
She gave a talk on the horses and answered questions and then we went out to the place where they were penned up. It was not far away. When we got to the large corral the lady instructed the jeep drivers not to park where the horses could see them otherwise they would start running up to the fense. The horses were a little distance away in a little shelter keeping their head out of the direct sunlight. After a few minutes the horses came out and we were able to see them through binoculars.
Wild Horse of Mongolia
After this we went back to the museum, then had lunch nearby sitting on the grass. The drivers had prepared everything. This time it was Mexican cuisine. The lunch was so big I couldn't eat it all. It was very good though. These guys were the best cooks. We had enchalates, Spanish rice, tacos and things like that.
posted by THE REAL MIKE BAILEY at 7:06 PM
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