Camaraderie on the Steppe

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In Praise of

Winter Embrace the cold in Finland, India, and the United Kingdom

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KENYA

ON A CONSERVANCY IN THE MAASAI MARA

PHOTO ESSAY

ICY TRANSFORMATIONS IN LADAKH’S CHANGTHANG

BUS TO ANTARCTICA

A CHILDHOOD DREAM IS REALISED


Journeys Slice of Life

CAMARADERIE

Mongolian herders and nomads milk mares during the summer, also known as the white season. Fermented mare's milk or airag is an important part of their diet, as are eezgii (dried cheese), tarag (sour yogurt) and aaruul (dried curd)..

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P P E E

Mongolia

A CHILLY EVENING IN MONGOLIA IS WARMED BY THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS BY BIJU SUKUMARAN

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on the ST


Journeys Slice of Life

I

was tired and nauseated from six hours in Manault’s beatup, blue Russian jeep, jostling on the rocky terrain of Central Mongolia. I hadn’t showered in days and requested that we stop for the night at an official guesthouse. The official guest houses didn’t have much in the way of accommodation— usually a series of gers, traditional tents made of hides, and a small restaurant—but they did have toilet facilities, and taking a shower was a luxury after days along the dusty paths. But as usual, Bubu, my bubbly 18-year-old translator and guide, didn’t seem to hear.

She had only recently taken a job with the tour operator and although she was Mongolian, she was from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, where bus stops had Wi-Fi, and teens in popped-collar polos strutted streets filled with high-end cars. Her knowledge of the

rest of Mongolia was shaky at best. The other night I had caught her taking notes from Lonely Planet’s guide to the country. So when we stopped in the most rustic ger camp we’d ever seen, owned by a nomadic family, I was not pleased. My sick companion

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The nomadic people (bottom right) of Mongolia have roamed the steppes for two millennia; Archery, (left) wrestling, and bareback horse riding are coming of age skills for every nomadic boy; Karakorum was the old capital of Mongolia from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Four of these giant stone turtles (top right) once marked the corners of the city. Only two remain, including this one outside the monastery’s northern gate.

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Mongolia was groaning next to me, and bathrooms here were non-existent. When your stomach is sick, squatting on the steppe with no cover isn’t the greatest option. The two Japanese girls we had caravanned with earlier on the trip had demurely used a large umbrella for cover on restroom stops, but here the flat countryside offered few opportunities for privacy. The family had an extra tent covered in drying skins and bags of airag—fermented mare’s milk—that did nothing to settle our stomachs. Bubu didn’t understand why I was so angry until I explained it, my temper finally bursting after weeks of dealing with her lack of attention to our requests. But I wasn’t about to insult our hosts. The relationship between guest and host is all important in this most remote of countries, where you never know when you will be in need of housing. Determined to make the best of things, I brought out the great equaliser— alcohol, in this case a few bottles of beer and Chinggis vodka—and headed to the camp where our host family was making dinner on an open fire. With that simple gesture, everything changed. Maybe it was my obvious irritation, maybe it was the host family’s inclusive sentiments, but Bubu immediately started translating everything, something that usually took multiple requests to get her to do. And silent Manault, always uncomfortable indoors, opened up,

his face crinkling in pleasure in the afternoon sun. I squatted on the ground as the family passed me an intensely flavourful bowl of rice and beef broth along with a huge femur bone. After my partner roused herself from her stupor, we took pictures of the kids and printed them on a mini-printer to hand to the family. We had heard that though gers were often equipped with TVs and satellite dishes, photographs were still highly prized. After letting out an almost girlish squeal, the mother issued marching orders and the kids were immediately cleaned and dressed for more pictures. After the impromptu modelling session, while the men were still sucking marrow from bones with gusto, we left with the mother to pick wild strawberries on the slopes of the closest mountain. As we hiked up, she told us about the sacredness of the area. Wolves lived on the slopes and a shaman had recently climbed to the peak to perform a sanctification ceremony. The constant questions by a foreigner from the other side of the world didn’t seem to faze her. In fact, with her sun-weathered face, piercing gaze, and rugged lifestyle amidst acres of isolation, I got the feeling that very little fazed her. In this culture, the blue sky is worshipped and high places are held in reverence. Throughout the trip, we had passed ovoo, piles of rock (or wood in the north) that are ritualistically circumambulated clockwise. We had circled many. Sometimes, we added a rock

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Bactrian or two-humped camels transport tents and supplies. They are sometimes used for wool, milk, and meat as well.

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Journeys Slice of Life or stone to the pile in respect to the sky. When we were too rushed to stop, Manault had honked, keeping the totems on his right as we passed them while driving. But while walking around them, Bubu would often get confused about the direction she was supposed to go. By the time we returned to the camp, other relatives and friends had stopped by on horses and old motorcycles. Manault, perhaps relaxed from the vodka, but more likely because of the camaraderie of the steppe, taught me how to drink properly. When serving, I learnt to pour with my right hand supported by the left at the wrist. And to pour for everyone before I pour for myself. Bubu declined the drink, instead she dipped a finger lightly into the vodka, flicking it to the sky as an offering. As the wolves from the mountains started howling, my drunken host wrapped his arm around my shoulders to lead me back to my tent for the night. He was overjoyed to discover that we were the same age. I looked at his family, his friends, his tents, and his slice of this wide, wild country and wondered at how similar in spirit we were—and how utterly different. That night, the camp dogs awakened me, barking at attacking

wolves that had come down from the mountain. The growls I heard from the wolves were like nothing I had ever heard before; they went straight to my brain. Wide-awake, I heard the dogs fight back, driving the wolves away from the horses, the greatest treasure of any nomad. I fell asleep amidst the strange smells of drying skins and fermenting milk, wondering the next day whether the wolves—or even the past 24 hours—had been nothing more than a dream. We took our leave the next day to an empty camp. The family had gone to tend their flock. But the dynamics in our group had changed subtly. Our driver was silent again as he revved up his jeep, and as the bright azure sky beckoned I remembered the clink of bottles and the words spoken the night before. “Tocktoy!” Manault had exclaimed, his normally stoic face breaking out into a wide grin as he lifted his Chinggis vodka in cheers and benediction, “To blue skies, straight roads!” Biju Sukumaran is a travel writer currently based in Argentina, the latest stop on his slow travel through South America, living in each new place for 3-4 months.

DAVID SANTIAGO GARCIA/GETTY IMAGES (CAR), BARRY LEWIS/ALAMY/INDIA PICTURE (VODKA), LYDIA SCHRANDT (DESERT)

The barely-there roads of the steppe are usually traversed in Russian 4x4s (top left), which are prone to breakdowns thanks to the terrain; Chinggis vodka (bottom left), which derives its name from Genghis Khan, is Mongolia’s most popular vodka and a great way to break the ice with locals; The Mongolian Steppe forms a crescent to the north of the Gobi Desert (right).


Mongolia

THE GUIDE Orientation Trips to central Mongolia leave from the capital Ulaanbataar, which is perched atop the Mongolian-Manchurian steppe in the northern half of central Mongolia. The steppe forms a large crescent around the Gobi Desert, sweeping across central and eastern Mongolia. Getting there Flying to Ulaanbataar from India requires at least one stop. The quickest (about 15 hours), though not the most economical, option is to fly via Hong Kong. Picking another halt, for example Istanbul, is sometimes less expensive though the duration of the journey is nearly doubled.

Getting Around ULAANBATAAR The capital city can be explored on foot, via cab, or using the bus system. The city centre is quite small and many sites can be seen on foot, though it's best to explore during the day. Cabs have a tendency to overcharge foreigners. The new buses are clean and surprisingly modern— buses and bus stops have Wi-Fi—however traffic can be quite bad, especially during festival times. THE STEPPE To travel outside the city to the steppe, it is advisable to book a tour. Many tours use jeeps or small buses to tour the country. Some more specialised tours use oxcarts, horses, and camels to provide a more authentic experience. G Adventures offers an itinerary similar to what I did (www.gadventures.com/trips/ nomadic-mongolia/AMNA/2014). A more authentic experience, staying with nomadic families all the way and learning traditional

skills like how to saddle a horse, milk cows, textile making, etc. is also possible with the same operator. Nomadic Expeditions (www. nomadicexpeditions.com) is a pioneering sustainable tourism outfitter who offers guided trips that explore Mongolia’s natural and cultural heritage. They also run Three Camel Lodge, Mongolia’s first communitybased eco-lodge. The website of the Mongolian National Tourism Center (www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn) also lists tour operators. Seasons Ulaanbataar is often described as the coldest capital city in the world. During winter (Oct-Mar), night temperatures are usually below -15°C, and can drop below -30°C on the coldest January nights. Pollution is a problem during this time, since coal is burned as the primary source of heat during winter. Summer (MayAug) temperatures are cool and pleasant, hovering between highs of 20°C and lows of 9°C. There is a short monsoon (Jul-Aug) when it rains for about 10 days in the month.

Summer is also the time for Nadaam, Mongolia’s biggest festival and a popular time to visit. The sporting and cultural event is held throughout the country in July every year, and involves the three traditional games of manhood—wrestling, horse racing, and archery. The largest Nadaam is held in Ulaanbataar from 11-13 July and is a huge affair complete with dancers, musicians, and competitions.

Made up of wooden frames covered by layers of felt, gers or yurts are traditional herders’ tents that are still widely used. They can be easily dismantled and set up, making them ideal for the nomadic lifestyle.

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MANLY GAMES

Visa Applications have to be submitted at the Mongolian embassy in New Delhi personally or via a travel agent (011-24617989; open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday). A 30day tourist visa is free of cost (processing time three days). It can be obtained within 24 hours by paying a fee of `1,925. The

application and list of documents required is available at www.mongolianconsulate.com. au/visas/newdeli.html


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