Day 2: Spent almost the entire day on the bus, but we were able to stop at a town where we met some little swordfighters. We befriended the gang of kids and played frisbee and hacky-sak. Mogolians are pretty natural at both. Set up camp at a random, unprotected spot in the desert and saw many dead camel remains. The desert floor was covered mostly by two different kinds of chives, which became my favorite snack for the remainder of the trip. The sunset was unbelievable. We celebrated with an impromptu dance party to Safa and Tara's guitars and Nora's flute. Then we lay under the stars and sang random songs. I slept comfortably in a tent with four other girls.
Day 3: Stopped at the flaming cliffs, once an important excavation site for dinosaur bones. Got our buses stuck in the sand. Stopped at our first sand dune, which brought out the 5 year olds in us. At night, a wild sand storm. It sounded like rain pattering at first, then beating harder and harder, until our tent collapsed under the pressure. The door zipper ripped and so did the window. Then the rain came for real. I was the last one out, leaping out just as the tent really fell apart. It was quite dramatic. We followed the other refugees to the bus, where I slept quite soundly.
Day 4: In the morning, we visited our neighbor's ger for breakfast. They totally spoiled us with a huge and filling breakfast of pancakes, rice soup and bread with nutella, jam and tea. Afterwards we rode camels for the first time, but only for a second. Unable to camp anymore, we stayed at a ger hotel. "Ger" is the Mongolian yurt. Living is easy with bathrooms. The bathrooms quickly got stinky as many people got sick. Took our first paleontology test, which I got 145% on.
Day 5: Drove to a new ger hotel near the sand dunes. We tried to jog to them at night but it was way too far. Went to bed early.
Day 6: Best day ever! Sand dune hiking was intense, the uphill was not your grandmother's treadmill. We sledded down. I wasn't able to get the sled going at first, but we found a good spot later.
In the evening, we rode camels for a while. I was feeling sick, but didn't throw up. I missed the square dance and lost my appetite for the next few days. Getting up on the camel seems to be the most difficult aspect, both for me and the camel.
Day 7: Still dizzy and woozy, I slept on the entire bus ride. We got to a little town and stayed in a falling apart hotel, which I think used to be an elementary school, and promptly lost my passport and atm card in the market. Not my favorite day. All the food was unappetizing, so all I ate was chocolate.
Day 8: Went to a museum and looked at some amazing wood carvings and metal work. Arrived in the late afternoon at a waterfall. Some of us got a little too excited, stripped down to our undies and jumped into the freezing cold water. We got in loads of trouble and were sentenced to washing the dishes for the rest of the trip after a firm lecture on modesty and American Women's Reputation Abroad. We learned that gender equality is not an arguing point outside of the good ol' USA. Still, the guys felt guilty and helped with the dishes. My camera was out of power at this point, so I have no photos of the lovely falls, but I will get some from my friends.
Day 9: Hiked up to a beautiful outdoor monestary, but I wasn't able to reach the top because it was forbidden to women. A man came along and looked at me like I was a pile of dog shit because I snapped a twig on a bush unknowingly. I wasn't feeling so tranquil.
Day 10: Stayed at a nice hotel. My roomies accidently shattered the toilet cover and made a big mess. We danced to the same five songs over and over until I got depressed about my passport and went to bed.
Day 11: Returned to Ulaanbaatar.
1 comment:
haha, mom misread and thought you had guys trying to unzip your pants from behind, but i corrected her. pretty funny image though. like you have one of those pairs of tight leopard print pants that zip up the butt. i can see it now!
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