Mongolia #10 Day 4 of the Trek (29/09/15 am)

DSC01746 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01746 © DY of jtdytravels

I woke early and was up by 07.00… before the sun!

The herdsman’s ger looked a bit lonely in this seemingly endless landscape.

DSC01747 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01747 © DY of jtdytravels

Goats began to gather near my lonely tent.  Not much else was stirring.

DSC01748 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01748 © DY of jtdytravels

The ger we ate in seemed to come to life when a curl of smoke rose from its chimney.

DSC01749 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01749 © DY of jtdytravels

Some of the goats waiting to be rounded up for milking. 

DSC01752 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01752 © DY of jtdytravels

When the sheep joined in, there was quite a flock. 

DSC01753 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01753 © DY of jtdytravels

It was good to have a bit of time out here with the goats on my own.  But that could not last forever… the day had begun for everyone. I was called for breakfast.

We shared our breakfast with the family in their ger.  It was the usual porridge followed by scrambled egg, bread and green tea.

DSC01755 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01755 © DY of jtdytravels

This is what it’s like inside a typical ger. In the centre, there’s a stove for cooking and heating and two central poles – one yellow, one red in this photo. They are actually the same colour – the light was playing tricks.  These main poles hold up the ‘wheel’ that forms the ger which is itself held in position by the ascending smaller poles. It looks like the spokes of a wheel. The lattice that forms the walls is also visible.

DSC01757 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01757 © DY of jtdytravels

Outside, the family’s goats were about to be milked.  Every family member was involved in some way or other.  The goats are lined up with their horns interlocking. My driver, Pujee, was in there helping too. He’d obviously done it many times before.

DSC01761 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01761 © DY of jtdytravels

And he was obviously enjoying himself.

DSC01758 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01758 © DY of jtdytravels

This method of interlocking the goat’s horns holds the goats in position. 

What a contented lot!

DSC01759 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01759 © DY of jtdytravels

 An interesting view along the rows of locked horns.

DSC01769 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01769 © DY of jtdytravels

Both lines of goats were milked at the same time.

DSC01763 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01763 © DY of jtdytravels

The head of the family watched on.

DSC01767 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01767 © DY of jtdytravels

He was never far from his trusty steed.

It’s said that a Mongol without his horse is like a bird without wings!

DSC01772 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01772 © DY of jtdytravels

Tim looked a little worried, but there was nothing to worry about… the vehicle we’d left behind in town turned up during the night.

DSC01771 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01771 © DY of jtdytravels

Pujee posed beside his vehicle before we set off to drive to the starting point for the walking part of our trek. Because there were only a couple of tents put up, we were able to get on the road relatively early, at 09.00.

DSC01777 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01777 © DY of jtdytravels

We traversed some lovely country coming to a river with many larch trees dressed in their autumn gold.

DSC01778 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01778 © DY of jtdytravels

What a delightful view … an oasis in a brown, dusty landscape.

DSC01780 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01780 © DY of jtdytravels

But there was still plenty of dust as we climbed up out of the valley.

DSC01781 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01781 © DY of jtdytravels

This fascinating rock formation bordered the valley we drove up.

DSC01782 © DY of jtdytravels

DSC01782 © DY of jtdytravels

And then finally, we saw them for the first time, beyond a lake and beneath that huge blue sky, there they were, the snow covered mountains that we were heading for… the place where our cars could take us no further and we would have to walk!

More of that anon

David

All photographs copyright © DY  of  jtdytravels

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

www.dymusings.com

more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

www.jtdytravels.com

More of our travel photos are on

www.flickr.com/photos/jtdytravels

.

.

.

 

Leave a Reply