We left Ulaan Baatar on the
main road west, crossing the Trans-Siberian Railway as we left the city.
Once outside the city, the countryside opened up - there are long
distances between villages and many people live in gers and move four or
five times a year to new locations depending on the pasture available
for their herds. A yak crossed the road at one point, and herds of sheep
and goats and cattle wandered across fairly frequently.
We
reached Khogno Khan (pronounced "Hoogan Han") late in the afternoon and
found a family who would let us stay in one of their gers. Then we went
up to the monastery up the valley and looked around it. Outside it
there were camels which belong to the family who were our hosts that
night. Returning to the gers, we were welcomed with tea and fresh
yogurt, and a little later we had dinner with the family. They have
horses for tourists to ride and another group had just gone out, so I
got the chance to have a short ride. The Mongolian saddle is made of
wood and it's high in front and behind the rider. On the horse's back
there are several cloths and a felt pad, and there's a bit of padding on
the rider's side of the saddle too!
We slept in the
ger that night and I awoke to find that the lady of the family had
already milked the cows and was making yogurt. We had breakfast with
them and found that they have horses, cattle, sheep, goats and camels -
all the 5 herd animals of Mongolia. In the evening there were Ruddy
Shelduck on the rocks behind the gers; they are very chatty birds!
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