I woke up to the sounds of rain ( <– Isn’t that a song lyric? ) early this morning! It’s the first substantial rain since I’ve been here. It is welcome as most of the land is barren and the grass needs to grow so the livestock can feed.
The world doesn’t stop just because it’s raining (or snowing or any other kind of weather). There is still work to be done and animals that need tending. The Nomads have very nice modern rain gear similar to a “jumpsuit.“ The foot portions are extra large so that they can fit over the horseback riding boots the nomads need to wear. Boots covering the ankle and lower shin are required otherwise the “stirrup” will dig into your shin (leg).
I wasn’t able to get an actual image in the nomad camp but the above is the closest thing I could find on the web. The Mongolian gear was actually yellow. I had no rain gear, but later resorted to putting a plastic bag that I had left over from Ulan Bator over my head (sorry no pics or videos).
Shortly after the morning goat sorting and breakfast, Durukh jumped on the motorcycle and left. I was just sitting around wondering what to do next and tried to keep myself busy in the Ger. As the rain died down a little, my addiction to the internet prevailed and I braved the cold and light rain up to the closest high hill peaks. Luckily it was not very windy. It usually takes several minutes to lock in a cell signal and then I could download any updates on email and social media.
Yes I know, I was supposed to be getting away from the digital society, but the idle time kind of pushed me to this point. After returning to the warmth of the Ger, the updates would keep me occupied for a whopping 10-20 minutes or so.
Walking back down to the Ger I was able to get this clip of the transition from rain to snow:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sl9caB44r8&w=560&h=315]
Well, as I said I caught up with the outside world briefly. Later Durukh returned on the motorcycle. He motioned for me to grab the saddle and bridle, but there were no horses outside! It turns out he was taking me to the horses on the motorcycle. I had to hold the somewhat heavy saddle in my left arm (supported by forearm) and had the bridle and tether rope wrapped on my right shoulder. This may not seem like a big deal (riding on the back of a motorcycle with no hands to hold on) but the Mongolian outback is rough and bumpy with many ditches. The whole ride I was thinking “If the rope or bridle gets caught in the rear wheel, it might rip my arm off”.
Well fortunately nothing like that happened. I bounced around on the back of the motorcycle and we reached the horses. Durukh saddled one of them and I jumped on the horse and led the other one back to the Ger. I was basically just transporting them to where they could be of use. In the following video, I intentionally left the struggle with the camera in just to make it a little interesting 😛
This evening, Durukh’s younger brother came to the Ger. Their satellite receiver was malfunctioning and they came to join us in watching “Mongolia’s got Talent”. See my previous post on evening entertainment.
Annjah, the young volunteer from Switzerland, came with them. It was again nice to have some English conversation. I am continually impressed with the ability of Europeans to speak 2-3 languages fluently!
She had heard I was ill a couple of days before and brought me a 1.0 liter bottle of Coca Cola to cheer me up 🙂 . I actually gave up drinking soda years ago but shared it with her and the other nomads. It was very nice of her and I appreciated it. Thanks Annjah!
The day can be summed up in part with this video I made the following morning:
As always, thanks again for reading! I would love to hear your feedback, so feel free to comment or contact me! Please subscribe to the blog as that would help me boast about readership. I have only 19 followers at this point so help a friend out! 🙂
Signing Out……….
-The Rover
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