Some of the crew prior to departure from the VSO office. Look pretty sinister looking lot to me!! A minibus was about to take us a 1.5 hours drive west of UB to visit a family living on the steppes.
Having left the City and the main road behind, we took off on tracks across the landscape to find our family. The tracks are remarkably smooth and despite not being a 4x drive the bus fairly motored along. That is until we met livestock or crossed a dried up riverbed.
The family we were visiting live in a shallow valley with three other gers quite close. They move 4 times each year with the seasons.
And the views were just spectacular. No noise. No trees or fences for the wind to rustle or whistle through. Just open, uninterrupted space. You could literally set off walking in a straight line and not have to deviate from it. The Romans would have loved it here!!
The family met us and we were invited to join them inside their cosy home
Even with 20 additional people, the ger was very accommodating and just felt so secure and calming. We enjoyed a lunch of dumplings, hot milk, milk tea, dried yoghurt as well as popcorn and home brewed milk wine.
The kids and I played with their Lego. The little girl already rides horses. I missed that on camera. Kicking myself over that one!!! She is only 6 years old!!!
A fascinating visit. A traditional life style that is adopting new technologies. TV with photoelectric cells and wind turbines for power can be seen beside gers. These portable modern devises are likely to help preserve the nomadic life, if the Mongolians wish it so.
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