The real Mongolian BBQ ...

As we sat watching the snow start to fall, wondering just how long we'd be snowed in for we we're treated to a genuine Mongolian BBQ.

Baiscally the ingredients are hot water, meat, potatoes, carrot - hot stones are added to the wok, then it's sealed with wet tea towels and left to cook on the ubiqitous burner found in all Mongolian countryside homes (thankfully we were in wood, rather than dung burning country now). After 30 minutes it emerges with a strong smoky flavour - certainly one of the better countryside meals we had.

This is what it ends up looking like

I don't think I can give an accurate account of our visit to Mongolia without some further comment on the food.

There were some nice restaurants in Ulan Bator, however outside the capital the food was at best uninspired, at worst bloody awful or unsanitary. Our experiences seems to hit both extremes in equal measure.

In the countryside dried meat (mainly unchewable), home made noodles, carrot & potato form the basis of 99% of meals - with 2 choices, either wok fried or in soup form. Whichever you go for it will have far too much salt. Guaranteed.

In Central Mongolia we were offered putrified sheeps head - apparently the pinnacle of this delicacy is the roof of the mouth. I think we managed to decline without causing too much offence ... but it also became apparent that our disgust at unusual foodstuffs cuts both ways.

On being asked what we wanted for dinner one evening I jokingly said "lobster" (as if we had a real choice anyway). Being completely landlocked most Mongolians have never seen a shrimp, much less know what a lobster is, so out came Mel's very useful Point It: Traveller's Language Kit book and we explained.

It was just after the part where you drop them alive into boiling water that our driver, Ochiro, turned green and had to leave the Ger for a breath of fresh air. Also in the point it book we're frogs - "do you eat those too?" our guide asked incredulously. "No, only the French eat those" we explained. At least there was one thing we all agreed on.

A few days after this our guide unearthed an unexpected can of seafood cocktail as we stopped in an aimag (regional) capital for fresh supplies. Excited at the prospect of a decent meal I provided simple instructions on how to make a simple seafood spaghetti (garlic, onion, tomato sauce). It arrived back with beef in it. Enough said.

The Khovsgul horse trip ...

After 2 days of driving north we arrived in Khovsgul aimag (region) and the lake that is Mongolia's premier holiday destination.

It was simply great weather during our 3 days of horse riding along lakeshore and scaling the surrounding mountains. Loads of fantastic scenery - and also some of the best food of our trip as we dined on fresh fried fish which I'd helped a local family pull out of the lake.

3 days of riding and camping later and we returned to the village more than slightly sore - just as the weather turned to icy rain. Just 2 hours later and it had turned to blizzard drifting the snow waist deep in places.

The sudden snow stopped us leaving until much later the next day - but we knew we'd been lucky - had we still been out by the lake with just tents and horses it could have been far worse ...

Heading for the hills ...

Our first stop in Central Mongolia was the soviet-era sanatorium and hot springs at Hjiirt. The whole place has an spookily erie air to it, as the patients shuffle along the corridors at about the pace of your average tortoise.

First we had to for our medical examination - where we had our blood pressure taken and chests checked with a stethoscope. Finally we were given permission to take a shower in the sulphurous waters - but no more than 7 minutes mind you, because apparently the effects could be powerful.

In reality it was exactly the same kind of hot sulphurous shower you get in most hotels in Reykjavik - only with less water and in slightly slimy 1950's shower block. I suspect the medical examination was little more than a placebo to work alongside the supposedly healing nature of the springs ... however after the previous 10 days without access to showers it was extremely welcome all the same.

That evening we camped at Tovkhon Khiid Monastery, just below the 2100m summit of a mountain in the nearby National Park. After a very cold night we awoke to a strange swooshing noise outside our tent - on closer investigation we discovered the reason, it was covered in 2 inches of snow which had started sliding off.

After the tricky 4WD descent back down the now slippery dirt track, our next stop was Kharkorin - site of the ancient capital of the Mongol empire Kharakoum and home to one of the architectural highlights of Mongolia, Erdene Zuu Monastery.

We stayed the night in the Ger district of the city, and the pleasure of being entertained by a local musician. I use the term loosely, as he was bloody awful, we later found out his main occupation is as air traffic controller at the airport - unsuprisingly this was just a hobby and "a little business" for him as he put it.

Our final stop in Central Mongolia was 2 nights at Terkhi Great White Lake - and an opportunity for the first horse riding of our trip. Our preparation had been a series of strictly regimented 30 minute lessons, this was more like getting your hands on Dad's car keys after passing your driving test.

After the 2 hour trek out to the rim of a nearby volcano on our "half-wild" horses, our local guide stopped to chat with one of his mates & just waved us off in the general direction of our camp. At the call of "Choo, Choo" (Mongolian for giddyup) our horses knew exactly what to do, and soon we galloping along with the wind in our hair (well Mel's hair).

The only downside was losing most of our ability to walk for the next few days. Just enough time to recover for our forthcoming 3-day horse trip ... we hoped ..

The biggest Ger in the world ...?

Our time in the Gobi brought us some interesting new experiences.

On the second day of our trip we dropped by the local monastery during morning prayers, before calling in on the Chief Lama in his luxurious Ger. Suprisingly we found him surfing the net on a Dell laptop ... quite the contrast with the previous evenings dung-fuelled experience.

The have what they claim is the biggest Ger in the world .. you can see a quick video of the interior here. I subsequently came across at least 2 similar claims - but who am I to question the integrity of the next Grand Lama of Mongolia?

The next few days saw us progressing hundreds of kilometers into the Gobi region via the cliffs of Tsuran Suvarga, before reaching the spectacular Yolyn Am a gorge that remains filled with ice all year round. After camping for the night, we attempted the more adventurous route out through Dugany Am, a valley which lonely planet decribes as "impassable" until July - well not if you tackle it like this ...



After a lunch of Camel crispy fried pancakes, we made it to Khongorin Els sand dunes where we stayed with a local family. After a very cold night in the Ger we got up good and early for the difficult climb to the top. We were glad we did, as when we got up there the windspeed started building - sending plumes of sand high into the air. We made it back down literally sandblasted and covered in tiny scratches. 2 hours later back in the Ger we were sitting out a vicious sandstorm - you can see the video here.

At last, at about 8pm the storm subsided to give us a truly great sunset to conclude the Gobi leg of our trip in style ...

Jeep Jenga & the road to the Gobi

So the morning of our departure & the stack of gear (tents, food, kitchen equipment, backpacks) waiting to be packed for the journey looks much smaller than our Russian Military Jeep. After a fair bit of head scratching and with every available space filled (under seats, sharing my seat with our water butt) we finally roll out toward the Gobi.

We have 2 staff on our trip - Tuul our guide/translator/cook and our driver the irrepressibly good humoured Ochiro .... about 3 hours into our journey a herd of antelope ran right in front of the Jeep and almost instantaneously he had us in hot pursuit across open countryside ....


Apparently later in the year when they are a bit fatter, you can chase them like this for about 10km and then as they slow down, exhausted, you hit them over the head with a stick out of the drivers window. Nice.

We also got a brief instructional on hunting marmot, just wave your arm up and down and they'll stand there mesmerised while you shoot them. Equally pleasant. Both Tuul & Ochiro insist blowtorched marmot is delicious, while our copy of Lonely Planet says it's responsible for regular outbreaks of bubonic plague. Thankfully it's out of season so we didn't have to put it to the test.

Our first destination was the old monastery at Baga Gazrin Chuluu - undiscovered during the soviet purge, mainly I guess because it's the size of a gnat and competely hidden within the considerably more spectacular rock formations surrounding it.

We stayed with a herdsman family on the first evening. Upon entering their Ger we were immediately provided with gifts of a bowl of their dinner (dried meat, noodle and veg soup), and several shots of Chinggis Vodka. We then spent the next hour helping to bring their herd in for the night - you can see me helping here.

I won't say what they were using as fuel in the burner that cooked dinner and kept us warm, suffice to say it's brown and sounds like a bell. Oh yeah, and it comes out of a goats backside .....