Mongolia: Nothin' but mutton

We arrived in Mongolia with no plans, other than three nights booked at a guesthouse in Ulaanbaator. Thankfully, our guesthouse was able to stick us on a tour of the Gobi Desert within 2 days - and we were off!

We joined 6 other travellers in two sexy Russian vans, with our drivers, cook and guide. We weren't really sure what to expect, but it was soon apparent that the one constant of this trip would be mutton. Lots of mutton. Boiled, fried or even in porridge - mutton is the staple meat in Mongolia and we were going to be eating plenty of it. But to make up for the food there would be ridiculous scenery, adorable Mongolian kids and super friendly locals.

We drove along mainly sealed roads on our first day, which was a bit of a misleading introduction of things to come. After over 8 hours on the road, we arrived at the spectacular White Stupa before settling in to our first night in a family ger. The family herd of goats was parked nearby, which made us (almost) feel at home.

Spectacular scenery at the White Stupa.

Our first night in a ger! Surprisingly cosy and comfortable.

Our host cooking up a storm inside the family ger. On the menu tonight: dried camel meat and noodles.

We drove for two more days across bumpy unsealed roads before reaching the Khongor sand dunes. We acted out all of our Marco Polo fantasies by jumping on a two-humped camel and going for a short ride across the flat, before foolishly agreeing to climb a 200m high sand dune. Now, 200m doesn't sound far. But it is. After an hour of taking one step up and two steps backwards with sand blowing in our faces, we were almost ready to give up. Then stubbornness kicked in and we finally made it to the top - and we were rewarded with some truly iconic scenes of the Gobi.

Our trusty steeds with the Khongor sand dunes in the background.

Thomas of Arabia aboard his camel.

View across the Gobi Desert from the top of the Khongor sand dunes.

KG's 'get me the f*ck off this sand dune' face.

After a great few nights under the desert stars, it was time to head to greener pastures in the Orkhon Valley. With only one van breakdown, we headed to the Valley via the incredible Red Cliffs.

Only one breakdown in this old banger - not a bad effort!

Tom working on his 'pensive' pose at the Red Cliffs.

Once we arrived in the Valley, we embarked on a full day horse riding excursion, which was an absolute highlight of our time in Mongolia. But also a pretty painful highlight. After a full day on our tiny Mongolian horses we both felt like we had run a marathon, and it took us three days to recover. To all you horsey people - I take my hat off to you. Anyways, Tom's horse (Warren) was unsurprisingly a complete shit that kept biting and kicking the other horses, and my horse (Simon) was an angel. That night, we were treated to more mutton roasted with hot stones.

Apparently holding hot stones covered in mutton grease shows you are super manly.

My noble steed, Simon. 

For us, this was to be our final stop on the tour. We were dropped off in the old capital, Karakorum, and left to find our own way to our next stop in Central Mongolia. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue but in Mongolia public transport is unreliable and often non-existent. Getting desperate, we started wandering the streets of Karakorum looking for a ride. Suddenly, our knight in shining armour arrived - and she happened to be driving a delightful Toyota Camry. Soon were on the road with a lovely Mongolian lady and her daughter to Tsetserleg, a two hour drive away.

We had a couple of less enjoyable hitchhiking experiences to get to the White Lake, around 180km from Tsetserleg, but the hassle was worthwhile. The lake was beautiful, and our 'luxury' ger camp even had hot water and electricity - winning! Our afternoons were mainly filled with beer, peanuts and cards.

Hitching a ride in the back of a timber truck to the White Lake. Better than walking... I guess.

Ikh Khorgo ger camp on the shores of the White Lake at sunset (around 11pm)

View over the White Lake

Our trip back to Ulaanbaator was thankfully less eventful than our trip out to the White Lake (no rides with dead goats or in the back of timber trucks again - phew!). We arrived just in time for the epic Naadam Festival, the biggest event in the Mongolian calendar. Unfortunately, our original guesthouse was booked out so we ended up in some total shit hole in the east of the city. Our delightful guesthouse owner tried to charge us US$100 each for Naadam tickets and assured us we couldn't get tickets any cheaper. Needless to say, we walked 200 metres down the road and bought tickets off scalpers for a quarter of the price. To say our relationship was 'tense' for the remaining 4 nights would be an understatement.

The Naadam Festival was chaotic, fun and a bit odd. The Naadam Festival is held on 11th and 12th of July every year, and showcases three traditional games - wrestling, archery and horse racing. There is also an epic opening ceremony where the history of Mongolia is re-enacted, along with fireworks and concerts in the main square (Chinggis Khan Square). Here are a few pics of the action:

Tom getting in the spirit of things with his Mongolian flag at the Naadam Festival opening ceremony.

Naadam Festival opening ceremony.

Just a couple of mates hanging out before the kids wrestling matches get underway.

Traditional wrestling victory dance.

There are no weight divisions in the wrestling - it's an all in competition.

Women are only allowed to compete in the archery at Naadam - and they are incredibly sharp shooters.

We managed to catch up with a couple of guys from our Gobi tour during our time back in Ulaanbaator, who organised a tour to see the 40 metre stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan. Great day out to see the big man in all his glory.

40m stainless steel statue of Ghengis Khan? Of course!

Mongolia is one of the most incredible countries we have ever visited - the space, the scenery and the amazing people make this place pretty unique. Next - the Trans-Mongolian train to Russia!

Yeah/Nah Index

Gobi Desert - yeah defs
Tsetserleg - yeah but only to get a decent meal at Fairfield Guesthouse
White Lake - yeah
Ulaanbaator - nah unless you are checking out Naadam