3 July 2018, Tuesday

This morning, I woke up at about 5:30am because Mrs Oyunaa was already up and preparing breakfast and starting on the day’s chores. I snuck out of the ger to see the early morning sun and snap some photos. There was still some mist hanging around and it was a very tranquil scene. However, I was still quite tired so I crept back to bed and continued sleeping.

I woke up again two hours later and had breakfast, which consisted of sliced bread with jam and butter, flatbread and coffee. Mr Batchuluun left not long later as he had to attend a business meeting in Ulaanbaatar and he would be away for the night.

Mrs Oyunaa suggested that I go for my horse ride in the morning instead of in the afternoon because it was likely going to be hot then. So I put on my shoes and a cap, and went for my horse ride at about 10:15am.

The horse ride was pre-arranged with my Airbnb host and I had paid US$15 for one hour of riding. Before getting on the horse, I had to sign a waiver form to discharge any liability from the hosts. The form provided some basic tips on horse riding and safety precautions, and essentially said that you are undertaking the activity at your own risk.

My guide was a 13-year-old boy, probably one of Batuka’s cousins. He didn’t speak English at all so I just followed him and did as he instructed via his actions. As far as I am concerned, this was my first time riding a horse. I may have ridden a horse when I was very young, maybe somewhere in Thailand, but that was probably with an adult under supervision, so that doesn’t really count.

It was a very fine day for horse-riding. My guide’s horse was slightly ahead of me while my horse followed behind. The guide kept our horses at walking pace most of the time, and the terrain was very flat, so it was a very safe ride. I had plenty of time to soak up the scenery, which was beautiful. We crossed a small river and passed some cows, but otherwise, we did not see many other animals. There were plenty of flies though, and I had to keep fanning them away, which was rather annoying.

On the way back, my guide let our horse run for a little while, and that was fun. When the horse is running, you have to stand up on the stirrups. Otherwise, your nether regions will bang against the saddle and that is certainly not fun, especially for guys. You know what I mean.

After an hour and 15 minutes, we were back at the ger camp. I think the duration was about right for a horse ride. I wouldn’t say it was boring but I had enough of it. Maybe it would be more exciting if there was a bit more variation in the terrain. But for my first time, I enjoyed the experience and I was glad I rode a horse in Mongolia. It is one of the things that is quintessentially Mongolian and a bucket list item checked. 

After that, I moved my bags to another ger because the group of American tourists had left. I had the whole ger to myself. I soon found myself on the bed and fell asleep without realising it.

I woke up at about 12:45pm and went to the kitchen ger, where Mrs Oyunaa was in the midst of preparing our lunch. She had enlisted the help of another two Swedish ladies and their Mongolian guide to make the man tou and meat/vegetable puffs.

The man tou were deep fried in a big pot and they were especially nice when they were freshly cooked and still crispy. Mrs Oyunaa made a whole lot of them so that they could last for a few days. They were eaten throughout the day as snacks so they ran out pretty quickly. I observed that sometimes, they dipped the man tou into a bowl of milk tea before munching on it, just like how we dip our you tiao into soya bean drink to soften it and soak up the drink.

Mrs Oyunaa made two types of puffs – a vegetable one and a one with small chunks of mutton meat. They were wrapped up around the edges like a curry puff but they were flatter and bigger. They were then deep fried. So we had the “man tou” and puffs for lunch, together with a cabbage and carrot soup that was delicious.

I didn’t have much to do in the afternoon so I retreated back to my ger and worked on some blog posts. At around 4:30pm, dark clouds had gathered and it started to rain. The rain wasn’t heavy and didn’t last long. At 5:20pm, Batuka came around and asked me to play football with him. So I got out of the ger and we went to have a kick-about. I asked the two Swedish ladies to join in and we had much fun playing football before switching to basketball.

At about 6:30pm, it was time to round up the cattle. I tagged along and tried to help out. However, I didn’t really understand what the adults were trying to do – whether they were trying to separate the goats from the sheep, or they were trying to count them. So I just did whatever they pointed at and followed Batuka around as he ran here and there chasing after the stray ones.

At 8pm, dinner was ready. Tonight’s meal was soup noodles with potatoes, carrots and you guessed it, mutton. It was tasty and I had second helpings of it. As had become customary, I took a glass of tea after the meal and went out for my evening stroll. It was my favourite time of the day, when the grass plains become ever more beautiful and I could look at the setting sun without hurting my eyes. I soaked in the view and took a deep breath and thought to myself: Life is good.

At 8:45pm, it was time to milk the cows again. I helped to steer back two stray cows and helped Batuka with the tying of the calves. I saw that my 13-year-old horse-riding guide was busy scooping up the cow dung and placing them together in an area so that they could be dried and collected later to be used as biofuel. It was really a family effort to keep it all going. I was happy to be a part of it and I gladly carried two pails of freshly squeezed milk back to the ger.

That night, I watched the World Cup match between Sweden and Switzerland on TV with the two Swedish ladies and their Mongolian guide. Mrs Oyunaa brought out a bottle of vodka and shot glasses and we had a vodka drinking party. They don’t have beer here in the grasslands because they do not have a refrigerator, so they usually have vodka instead.

At the time, I was beginning to nurse a flu. The vodka was strong and it cleared up my nose immediately. I don’t usually drink vodka, especially on its own without a mixer, but I must have had six glasses that night, because the guide also brought out a half-bottle from his own stash to add to Mrs Oyunaa’s. For the record, Sweden won the match so the two ladies were very happy. We had a great time bonding over drinks and football. It was a memorable way to end the day for sure.

P.S. Here’s a little tour diary with some of the highlights of my two days on the grasslands, hope you’ll get a better idea of what it was like out there!