Today was my big day. I had homemade noodle soup for the first time. It was delicious😋

MY „TRAVEL BLOG“ - MY „TRAVELBLOG“

With my trip to the Mongolia, I hope for a good start.

I hope my trip to Mongolia gets off to a good start.

I start on Wednesday, 14 May 2025, flying with my friend Markus from Frankfurt directly to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia!

The country lies between Russia and China and is more than four times the size of Germany (360,000 km²) with its 1,564,000 km². With only 3.5 million inhabitants, Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world. 50% of the population (1.7 million) live in Ulaanbaatar!

The flight from Frankfurt to Ulaanbaatar takes about 9 hours.

First of all: vastness. You can see up to 120 km to the left and right. From mountain range to mountain range while driving one of the countless tracks that the locals have created over the years. There are 10 or 20 tracks going in the same direction. The route is uneven, bumpy, and full of potholes, puddles, mud, or rocks. If you have an average speed of more than 40 km/h there, you are experienced.

Rivers, I wonder how the locals manage to cross them with their normal cars. Well, I did see one that had to be pulled out of the river.

You try out the tracks that seem the softest, it's like a lottery game and if you're unlucky, one of them turns in a completely wrong direction and you have to drive across to one of the neighboring tracks.

At first, it's a steppe-like, rocky area with herds of camels, horses, sheep, or goats (very emaciated in the drought areas), and then the mountains get closer from the side and I find myself in the most beautiful rock landscape. In a colorful one. There are red, green, gray, pink, red, yellow, and white rock mountains. I will research at home what kind of stones they are.

We passed by a traditional folk festival where traditional music is made and danced every year, clothing is worn, and competitions are held.

The people in the cities and in the countryside also dress traditionally. There, the herders drive their cattle wearing colorful coats and Mongolian felt boots, either on horseback or on motorcycles, or they go shopping in this attire.

We continue through mountains and through gorges, which are perfect for camping as they are sheltered from the wind, provide shade, and often have mountain streams with which I can wash dishes and myself. Yes, it's cold. Freezing.

Yes, and there is also a monument to Genghis Khan at the place where he is said to have found a golden whip according to legend. By the way, there is a lot of "Khan" here: streets, banks, stores.

And slowly the rocky mountain landscape changes and is replaced by the sand desert. I climb sand dunes, quite exhausting. We all get stuck in the shifting sand, have to let out air and dig ourselves out to continue driving.

Yurts are practically everywhere, the more water there is, the more yurts there are. Others have their neighbors many kilometers away on rock roads. I wonder what the children do in the solitude, how they go to school, if they go to school at all. There are also yurts in the cities, cramped between concrete buildings, old or new.

Arrived in Chowd today on 04.08. Taking a vacation from vacation. In the hotel. With a good restaurant. I have to admit that the off-road routes are very tiring and I feel like I've seen everything in Mongolia. Of course, in the nature reserve xy there is the umpteenth amazing rock formation, and yes, I would have liked to see the waterfall too. But it's not worth straining the machine and the man right now.

Since I believe I haven't had time or enough network for about 3 weeks to load websites. After finally getting a new converter, I can't connect it without effort now because a battery connection is jammed under the toolbox = under the 2 heavy aluminum boxes. I trust the next Russian border where they will empty the things again anyway, then I can expose the cable.

Here in Chowd there are vegetables! Vegetables! and good vegetables. Cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley roots, beetroot, spring onions, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, white cabbage. Occasionally, you could also find some vegetables in the large supermarkets, but not as diverse and fresh and of this quality. Home cooking is a bit monotonous in the long run.

Now a hotel with a shower and hot water, a restaurant, heated toilet seat (at temperatures of 30 degrees). And Wi-Fi.

17.07. Finally in Mongolia. Exiting Russia was time-consuming again, entering Mongolia was easier. Now I am in Ulaanbaatar for 3 days.

Horses and wide landscapes have always fascinated me. I live my love for horses every day. At the moment, I own a wonderful mare, a Connemara pony named Liah.

For almost 23 years, I traveled the world as a flight attendant for Lufthansa. I loved it very much and it helped me satisfy my wanderlust. However, a car accident abruptly ended this exciting life. After 3 years of reorientation (including 19 weeks of rehab, 5 weeks in the hospital), selling my house, moving, and starting anew, it was finally time to travel again.

In 2017, I had the opportunity to travel to Mongolia with the German Equestrian Federation. A 12-day tour gave me a first impression and I was immediately captivated. Especially the Hustai National Park fascinated me. I still had the television images from the early 90s in my mind, when the first Przewalski's horses were reintroduced to their natural environment and habitat. Now I was there myself and could photograph these beautiful animals! I quickly felt that this would not be the last time...

And so it happened - in September 2018, I traveled to Mongolia again, but this time the sole destination was the Hustai National Park.

For 3 weeks, I volunteered as an eco-volunteer, collecting data by observing the herds daily, taking temperature measurements, documenting the feeding, resting, wandering, and mating behavior of the animals, and more. It was an exciting time! I was able to observe other wonderful animals as well, including foxes, countless marmots, the (unfortunately endangered) Mongolian gazelle, red deer, eagles, and vultures...

I stayed at the camp in Hustai Park, where a friend and I lived in a Ger (known as a yurt to us). In the evenings, we made fires because it got very cold at night. The camp team cooked delicious meals for us and we always enjoyed a tasty beer after work. Occasionally, we went out with the rangers to track down poachers, which almost always succeeded... We were supervised by a wonderful woman named Naraa - she is an ecologist and responsible for the eco-volunteers.

Time passed by too quickly and in a flash, I was back in Germany. What did I bring back with me???

Of course, the plan to return :-)

This time, I will travel by the Trans-Siberian Railway. It's happening on June 7th. I will fly to Moscow and board the train to Irkutsk on June 8th. The journey there will take four days, until June 12th. It has now become clear that upon arrival in Irkutsk, I will immediately continue to Bugul'deyka, where I will spend three days at the eastories farm. It is a family-run, ecologically managed farm that practices sustainable tourism. Then, on June 16th, I will continue by train to Ulan Bator (another 22-hour journey), where I will be picked up by staff from the Hustai National Park on June 17th. I will have 9 days to help again as an eco-volunteer. On June 27th, 2020, I will fly back.

Until then, I have to be patient. This time, I will embark on the journey completely alone, and I must say that it does not diminish my anticipation.

After our train started moving towards Ulan-Bator at 01:23 am, we stumbled into our compartment where we met a sleepy, initially confused and disheveled New Zealand couple. The two introduced themselves as Donna-Marie and Andrew and we quickly became friends with them. They also had a long journey ahead of them as they were on their way home from London, where they had both worked for a year, to New Zealand, and traveled by train through Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, China, and Thailand, to eventually reach New Zealand by cruise ship from Singapore. The pretext for this trip was Andrew's fear of flying, as he would not be able to endure a flight from England to New Zealand...

This train was not - as one might expect - manned by Mongolians, Russians or Chinese, but by Americans, New Zealanders, Italians, French and above all, as can clearly be seen from the Reuters backpack, the sandals, the dictionary, the two-piece trekking pants, the camera around the neck and the travel guide - Germans - occupied the cabins of the trains. So finally, after the previous rather bumpy small talk with the Russians in broken English and German, we could have longer and more fluent conversations (while avoiding the sandals with the Reuters backpacks). An Austrian journalist working for ORF was also on the train and interviewed us as he was working on a radio feature about train travelers on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Finally, the landscape changed and even the forest looked a bit different here (as forests look when they are on fire). Instead of the previous forest, we now had a good view of mountains, Lake Baikal, and later, the closer we got to Mongolia, also hilly grasslands. However, the enjoyment of this three-day train journey was limited, as we had to do without air conditioning, showers, power outlets, or soft beds.

After our first border crossing by train, where we were greeted by saluting soldiers, we finally arrived in Mongolia.

We spent the first night in Ulan-Bator in a typical Mongolian hut together with the four-member family living there, who welcomed us warmly and cooked for us. The hut, or depending on the definition, the tent, housed a room where we ate, slept, and washed ourselves. I could only stand in certain places. A makeshift wooden shack in front of the hut served as a toilet, which, however, offered a great panoramic view of Ulan-Bator and the surrounding hills.

We spent the remaining nights in a hostel and explored the city (mostly in the rain). On our last day in Ulan-Bator, we booked a tour to one of Mongolia's national parks. Our driver picked us up from the hostel at 6:00 am in the morning and drove us 300 km west in foggy sunrise. Although 300 km may initially sound like a long distance, in a country that is five times the size of Germany in terms of area, it is not a great distance. On our way to the national park, we discovered how many facets Mongolia actually has. Around Ulaan-Bator and in the north of the country, we initially referred to Mongolia as "Scotland on a large scale and a bit spread out", in other parts of the country, you can find mountains with waterfalls that could remind you of the Alps. However, further west, you could think you were in the American grasslands of Montana, with grazing wild horses and cattle. A little further, it could also be the steppe of Tanzania that you are looking at, and when we arrived at the national park, you could claim that you were in the northern Sahara. The national park was an area of sand dunes and hills - basically a small desert. Excited by the sandy landscape, we explored it, saw some lizards and skeletons of cows, goats, etc., and took a two-hour camel ride through the dunes. After a bumpy negotiation with our driver, we returned to the city in the evening sun of Mongolia.

But back to our trip to Mongolia.

I have no idea how I came up with Mongolia. In any case, I liked the idea of traveling to Mongolia. Roy was equally enthusiastic about the idea, so we decided to travel to the land of the nomads for one month. We didn't really have a plan, as usual. We had, of course, informed ourselves about the most important things, so in retrospect, we were really well prepared and equipped. Especially the weather in Mongolia is quite diverse, even in summer. In some regions, it can get really cold at night, while in other regions, it can reach 30 degrees during the day.

After a short visit to the Taman Safari Bogor in West Java and the probably largest bird market in the world in Jakarta, we flew from there to Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, via Seoul. Ulan Bator has an optically rather Russian touch. Although Mongolia is influenced by various cultures, it cannot be pigeonholed in any way and is absolutely unique.

The dinosaur museum in Ulan Bator stood there sadly and alone, half overgrown. But it was in operation. Somehow a pity that we didn't go inside.

A typical residential block in Ulan Bator. Mostly dilapidated, the apartment buildings had seen better days.

In Ulan Bator, we visited various tour providers. However, we initially had no luck because most of them only offer fixed tours where you are shuttled from A to B for a few days. But we had almost a month, and we mainly wanted to see animals and nature. Traveling through the country by public buses was not an option for us because they only drive on the few asphalt roads and take several days for longer distances. There are hardly any alternatives, except to rent a car with equipment, but all cars were apparently booked out for a year. On the third day, we finally got lucky and found a guesthouse that also offers individual tours. There were 2 options: renting the complete package (car, driver, guide, equipment, meals, and accommodation) for about 100 euros per day, or just a driver with a car and self-catering for about 50 euros. The decision was easy for us. We didn't need a guide, 100 euros was too much, and somehow, the adventure was missing from the complete package. The guesthouse's organizer booked us a flight to Khovd, in the west of Mongolia, for the next day. From there, we would travel through the country for 14 days, slowly heading back towards Ulan Bator.

In Khovd, we met Bagi, our driver for the next 2 weeks. We went shopping a bit because we had to cook for ourselves. We didn't know how much or what to buy, and Bagi couldn't help us either because he hardly spoke English. After buying what we thought were the most necessary things, we searched for an internet cafe for ages to show Bagi a Saiga antelope because we really wanted to see it. Internet cafes, let alone Wi-Fi, are scarce in Mongolia, but we were lucky and found a rundown place with computers. After that, we left Khovd and headed to one of the five largest lakes in Mongolia. Most of the time, we wanted to camp and only occasionally stay in a ger camp to shower and recover. Ger camps are camps with several yurts that can be rented for overnight stays, like hotel rooms. However, we spent the first night in a tent near the lake.

Skulls of deceased animals were lying everywhere. In the background, there was a lake teeming with insects. Our first dinner. I was glad that there was also vegetables in Mongolia. Our tent was set up on the uncomfortable gravel (on the right side of the picture).

The next day, we continued along the lake because we wanted to see birds. During a stop in a settlement, Bagi spotted 2 gold diggers. We were allowed to watch them while they were panning for gold and we searched fascinated for gold nuggets. However, the rocks only yielded gold dust.

We then headed to a second huge lake (Char Nuur), not far from the first one. While we were observing birds at the water, Bagi talked to a family. And suddenly, he drove to the yurt of the family nearby. We didn't know what was going on and briefly thought he was just leaving. We then walked to the yurt and were immediately invited in for milk tea, pastries, and cheese. The mostly goat's milk is boiled and refined with tea and salt. The milk tea in Mongolia takes some getting used to and tastes different everywhere.

The yurt of the family from a distance. Located directly at the lake, where there were several cormorants, swans, ducks, herons, and seagulls.

The yurt up close. Cheese is being dried on the roof.

When the family started herding their goats and sheep, I joked that they were going to slaughter a goat just for us. Not even 30 minutes later, one of the goats was lying dead in the yurt and was expertly cut into pieces.

For dinner, we had the best part: the innards. Cooked stomach, heart, liver, and I don't even know what else. Everyone helped themselves directly from the bowl. Fortunately, I found some meat somewhere in between. I don't like goat and sheep meat at all, let alone innards, but I had to eat something.

The rest of the goat was distributed throughout the yurt for drying or storage. Only a few rural residents have refrigerators, and it was too hot and full of insects outside. The yurt itself was relatively small and sparsely furnished. If you can afford it, you buy a yurt with 5 wooden lattice sections, but if you can't, you have to make do with 4 sections (you can see the end or beginning of two sections behind the blue bag). A yurt can cost several thousand euros. Our family of six lived in this small yurt.

In the late afternoon, the goats were herded together to be milked.

And Roy got to ride the family motorcycle. Everything used to be done on horseback here, but even in Mongolia, people prefer modern aids.

At this point, I crashed. I was still in Bali and wanted to continue writing the post there, but then everything changed. I decided to return to Germany earlier than planned and completely lost track of the blog there. Now that I'm in Costa Rica and reviving the blog, I've decided to complete the post about Mongolia at least with the photos since they were already uploaded. Now follow the remaining pictures of the trip with explanations and anecdotes. I had written way too much anyway 😅

Let's go...

 After the nerve-wracking night in the tent, where the goats kept ramming our tent (which was really scary), we continued our journey, looking for Saiga antelopes. During a stop in a smaller town to run errands, Bagi spotted 2 gold miners. We were allowed to watch them while they were panning for gold and we were fascinated and searched for gold nuggets. However, the rocks only yielded gold dust.

There are only proper supermarkets in larger cities. In small towns, there are these stores where everything is on shelves behind a counter, and you have to point to get it. I have no idea why Roy is behind the counter.

After what felt like hours driving through the beautiful but deserted area, we finally saw them: Saiga antelopes 😍 A whole herd of mainly females with young. It was scorching hot, and the flight distance of the saigas is very high, so my camera couldn't capture better pictures. But we saw them. A great feeling and an unforgettable experience.

We spent the night in the tent near the lake in this breathtaking area. In the evening, we cooked and played cards.

The next morning, we climbed the mountain and had this great view.

You can't estimate distances in this vastness at all. Our car may have been 1 kilometer away here.

Semi-wild horses in the middle of nowhere.

After several days without a shower (in retrospect, I don't know how we managed that), we stayed in a ger camp (at the same lake as before, but this time on the south shore). Finally, a proper toilet and a shower. For dinner, we had noodles with tomato sauce.

This is what a 'hotel yurt' looks like from the inside. At night, it got extremely cold, so we had to make a fire often. The stove always stands in the middle of the yurt, directly under the opening at the highest point. Mongols prepare their tea and food on the stoves.

We continued along the lake and saw cormorants among the domestic cattle.

Our driver Bagi always kept an eye out while driving and stopped when there were animals to be seen. Sometimes he sped up to get closer, which was completely counterproductive, so we quickly taught him not to do it anymore.

A quick stop at a service area after we had to take a big detour because some bridge no longer existed or had collapsed. By the way, this is the view of the restaurant from the 'toilet'. We ate as usual something with goat, and we ate it in the little corridor to the right of our car.

Bagi wanted to take us to a very specific place, but we couldn't go any further at one point because the road was blocked by debris, and the car was sometimes on the verge of tipping over. But then he took us to this cave surrounded by pika.

It took a lot of patience to take pictures of the small and agile pika.

We spent the night at the foot of this beautiful mountain and climbed to the top the next day. What a view.

Bagi claimed there were snow leopards here, but we had our doubts. We did find goat and sheep droppings everywhere, though.

For some reason, we wanted to go horseback riding. Bagi drove around for ages to find someone with horses. The travel guide said to ask for a proper saddle for horseback riding tours. But when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, without any tourist infrastructure, you have no choice. So we got a wooden saddle. Roy has experience with riding and got to lead his horse. I, on the other hand, was led by the Mongolian who accompanied us on my horse. After a while, everything started to hurt, and our mood worsened. After 3 hours, it became torture, and we hoped to reach our starting point behind every hill. Suddenly, the Mongolian I was with started herding a herd of horses, and I had to follow. Those were some of the worst 10 minutes of my life. Galloping after a herd, on a wooden saddle and in completely unsuitable shoes. After that, everything hurt, and I had sore and open spots.

One of the last places where we stayed overnight. Again, in a ger camp and again without a shower.

Everywhere, there were these cute long-tailed susliks.


Now, as I have continued writing the post and relived the trip for the second time, I once again realize that this trip was the most extraordinary, eventful, and beautiful I have ever experienced. Mongolia is definitely a country I will visit again.

Oh boy, if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!
























































































































































































































































































































































































]]>https://vakantio.de/en/blog/vogelfrei/860ffa94-49e7-4d32-a6fc-404af61996echttps://vakantio.de/en/blog/vogelfrei/860ffa94-49e7-4d32-a6fc-404af61996ecTue, 17 Sep 2019 01:25:00 GMT47.88639879999999106.90574390000006

It took us 9 hours for 230 km, an adventurous ride. The Mongolian government must have decided to renovate the road and already remove the old asphalt surface on almost the entire route. Alternatively, you were now allowed to drive on an off-road track next to it. Since it was raining, this tour turned into a mud battle. The bus lost its bumper in a deep pothole. At times, we couldn't be sure if we would make it.

We stayed at the Comfort Hotel in Darchan, which the Russians built many years ago.

It exudes a certain charm, but we have not been able to discover the comfort yet.

We were allowed to stay in the camp and enjoy nature until the afternoon. During a visit to a nomad family (180 horses, over 1000 grazing animals), we were able to take a look inside a 'real' yurt and learn a little more about nomadic life. The hostess of the house also offered a small tasting of her dairy products, including fermented mare's milk (not bad at all) or dried cheese on the yurt roof (similar to Parmesan).

At the farewell, we were served the local delicacy, lamb in the milk can, at the camp.

In the evening, we reached Ulan Bator. We didn't expect a beautiful city (1.5 million inhabitants), and this expectation was also fulfilled.

We will be staying at the Kempinski for the next two nights, which is a relief after the yurts.

Right at the departure from the camp, the bus got stuck on the bumpy road. But the guys managed to free the bus pretty quickly. Then it went through a monotonous steppe landscape to the Gorkhi Terelj National Park. Green mountain flower meadows, trees, rocks, almost like in the Alps. In addition to cattle, sheep, goats and horses, there were also yaks grazing here. There was a short stop at the Turtle Rock.

This time, the bus didn't even try to drive all the way to the destination, instead a 30-minute walk was required. This yurt camp was significantly more "luxurious". The location - fantastic.

The border crossing from China to Mongolia was unusual. Thanks to our two Polish bus drivers who flirted with the Mongolian border officers in Russian, it went exceptionally fast, taking about 3 hours.

Between China and Mongolia, we experienced a significant culture shock. In China, the roads are extremely well-built (one never knows if a megacity will be built there someday), while in Mongolia, the roads are at best full of potholes and often off-road. Eventually, we reached our yurt camp near Sainshand. There was a lot of desert and nothingness, but still a fascinating atmosphere. This time, we were able to stay in very simple yurts. They were crawling with beetles, but we were able to keep them to a tolerable level. Only one had made itself comfortable in my sleeping bag, but we agreed on peaceful coexistence...

The people are extremely friendly. For food, there is almost only lamb in all variations, although the meat doesn't taste as "lamb-y" as it does in our home country.

As a contrast, our bus drivers spontaneously threw a Schlager party, which was surreal in this environment, but then again, it was good fun.

Trans-Siberian Railway Part 2

On the third of December we arrived in Mongolia early in the morning. It was quite interesting to cross a country border with something other than a plane. Especially because you go through the same process twice: passport control, customs, and drug search dog when leaving Russia and then again when entering Mongolia. After spending a long time in Russia, it was somewhat difficult for us to find our way around in the new country. After waiting for the bus for an hour, we didn't manage to find or catch it and took a taxi to the hostel instead (it didn't even cost 2 euros in the end). It was really amazing, right on the main square at Chinggis-Khan-Square in Ulan-Baatar, the main square of the capital and that on the 22nd floor with a view over the city. And because the stars were aligned for us, we were the only guests in our four-bed room.

In the first two days, we explored the city a bit. We went to the Gandan Monastery, a Tibetan temple, and were enchanted by the large, gilded statues of deities. We climbed the many steps to the Zaisan Memorial, which was built to honor Russian and Mongolian soldiers of the Second World War. The climb was worth it, the view of the city between the snow-covered hills was truly unique. And the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum was interesting as well, although disappointing in the sense that we had hoped to warm up a bit in the museum. The museum was mostly outdoors and we were frozen to the bone afterwards.

The absolute highlight in Mongolia was, of course, the two-day tour in the national park that we booked. We started early in the morning with a car to the national park and went directly to the husky farm to prepare for dog sledding. The huskies were adorable and they made every effort to go full speed on the frozen river. We were allowed to drive separate sleds, which worked out quite well. In between, we had a barbecue by the wayside in the snow. The wood, like the snow, is so dry that making a fire is child's play. After that, we went to a nomad family to pick up horses (albeit very small ones) and went horseback riding. It was simply breathtaking, through snow and valley and galloping uphill, until the poor horses had sweat freezing on their fur. When we arrived at our guest nomad family, we learned how to prepare real Mongolian dumplings, which were diligently eaten and incredibly delicious. After that, we played a card game called "20 ab" with the boys. The great thing about a nomadic ger is that the environmentally damaging coal stove can heat up very quickly. The drawback is that the temperature is difficult to regulate. So when we arrived, it felt like 50°C and in the evening when we went to sleep, it was only 10°C, so we bundled up thickly in our sleeping bags. Unfortunately, at some point during the night, our host mother came in to heat up the ger and we woke up drenched in sweat and rushed outside to cool off. With an outside temperature of -30°C, airing out actually worked quite well, but unfortunately Jolene accidentally left the door slightly open, so a few hours later we were back inside the ger at -10°C. It was a challenging night. The next morning, we helped clean the stable, which is much more pleasant than at home because all the manure is frozen and doesn't give off any smell or really make a mess. After lunch, we went to the oversized Chinggis Khan statue and then relaxed and went home. We strolled through the Black Market, which is big enough to get lost in, and packed all our belongings for the last train journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The train journey was really eventful because it was relatively long and uncomfortable in many ways. Fortunately, we had the four-bed compartment to ourselves again, but in the evening it started with leaving Mongolia, entering China, and then additionally changing the carriage, so the toilets, hot water, and all other amenities on the train were inaccessible for six hours and therefore a good night's sleep didn't come until very late. Yes, you read that right. The railway system in Russia and Mongolia is so different from the Chinese system that the carriages have to be changed to match the track gauge. How does it work? By decoupling each carriage, elevating it five meters high with the help of two lifts, then driving away the old carriage, positioning a new one underneath, and lowering the carriages onto it again. It's really fascinating, if it doesn't keep you from sleeping 😉

Video dog sledding: https://vimeo.com/251595948

Video of driving on ice: https://vimeo.com/251596375

On the train journey to Mongolia, we wanted to get a last sniff of Russian air in Ulan-Ude. Here live the Buryats, who already look very Mongolian. We visited the Ivolginsky Datsan. This monastery is the center of Russian Buddhism. We also saw our very first opera - Puccini's Tosca - in the opera house and were completely thrilled. We 'treated' ourselves to the best seats for about 10 francs.

On the funny train journey to Mongolia, we involuntarily became smuggling accomplices of the Mongolian train attendants. Early in the morning, we arrived in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. On the same afternoon, Batsuk - a former Mongolian classmate from Zollikofen - took us on a private sightseeing tour of the city and we got to know the very meat-rich Mongolian food.

In Mongolia, many roads are very bad and it is difficult to get around with public transport. Therefore, at the beginning of the week, we set off on a two-week tour to the west with a driver and a guide. First, we bumped with our Russian UAZ all-wheel-drive minibus into the Kustai National Park, where we were lucky to see wild horses. We could always spend the night in guest yurts, i.e. we had our own yurt next to a family's. Usually there was a stove, which was heated with plenty of dung (wood is usually not available.), which surprisingly did not smell and was very warm.

Afterwards, we continued to the Orkhon Valley to see the famous waterfall. River crossings and steep sections posed no problem at all for the UAZ. With the minibus, we drove further into the valley to a family. Now the path became so steep, inclined and narrow that only a Schilter could get through at home. The three brothers - 15, 17, and 23 - all look after the yaks and horses here, run the yurt camp, and do horse tours, while the parents live in a village two days' ride away. The 17-year-old Mischiel took us on a three-day horse tour to the 8 Lakes region. Neither of us had ridden before and we had some concerns (especially about our backsides). My horse was a bit afraid of water and demonstratively stopped before every river, while Andreas' horse preferred to eat everywhere rather than walk. In the evening, we arrived at a very nice family's place, where we immediately got yak butter (very tasty) and milk tea. At around 2300 m above sea level, it got really cold at night, but our yurt was heated up properly - in the fertile valley, there is a forest and thus wood. The pain was very bearable and we recovered quickly.

The most fascinating thing about Mongolia is agriculture: there are no fences. The sheep, goats, horses, yaks, and cows roam freely in herds, and the young animals naturally always stay close to them. This looks deeply natural and is very beautiful to see. The goats are often kept only for their meat and cashmere wool. Some families always stay in the same place but can only keep a few dozen animals due to the feed. Other families keep 600 goats and 100 cows and have to move every few weeks. The milk is initially processed into yogurt and then dried. The rock-hard yogurt cheese has nothing to do with cheese. The mare's milk is fermented into airag, a delicious alcoholic, carbonated drink that is drunk like beer in the yurt.

Mongolia is scenically very diverse. The mountain world has been replaced by endless steppes all the way to the Gobi Desert (where, unexpectedly, there was snow!!!). Here we climbed the Flaming Cliffs - a canyon - and sand dunes, where we also rode camels, of course. Then we continued to the Yol Valley (Vulture Valley). We saw some large birds and an ibex. But above all, an overpopulation of so-called Mongolian pika. They look like fat hamsters, nervously run around between holes, and conveniently announce their arrival with whistles.

Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the tour were the last two days that we could spend with Gera's family - our guide. The parents were visibly happy to see their daughter from the city again and a goat was immediately slaughtered for us. For lunch, a soup was cooked from the offal (even the intestine), but luckily for us, we had Buuz - fresh ravioli, which Andrea helped to make. In the evening, hot stones were prepared in the oven and cooked together with goat meat, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots in a pot. This Mongolian BBQ was a culinary highlight! In general, we were spoiled with culinary delights by Gera on the tour and unexpectedly received a lot of vegetables.

Back in Ulaanbaatar, we had to take care of the Chinese visa again. On the third attempt, we went all out and waited almost 3 hours in front of the Chinese embassy, almost 3 hours before opening time, we actually made it to the counter and got our visa, but as Swiss, we still had to wait for 6 more days. While waiting at the embassy, we met many fellow sufferers. We drove to the Chinngis Khaan statue with a Colombian couple the next day and later we were supposed to continue to China with Lüku from Bern.

A Sunday trip with Batsuk's family was another highlight. We drove to the Terelj National Park about 80 km outside the city with his wife and three children - the youngest is only 6 months old - (all!) in his off-roader. Three befriended families spontaneously joined us in their off-roaders. In the park, we looked at the famous Turtle Rock and the Aryapala Monastery together, played soccer with a dozen children, had a picnic, and drank. Suddenly the women produced a pot of Buuz and cooked it on the fire. On the way back, we stopped here and there with relatives and everywhere there was plenty of food and drink again. A wonderful Sunday!

Throughout the country, we have experienced the incredible hospitality of the Mongolians. Everywhere, we were immediately received as if we had known each other forever. We would like to express our special thanks to Batsuk and his family for the great time. Also, a big thank you to Marat, who drove us to the Genghis Khan Statue and invited us for tea, and in return, only wanted to speak English with us. Thanks also to Gera and her family for their friendly hospitality, the great yurt, and the delicious food.