Darhan City: Ger to Ger = Five Days and Six Nights and 12 Pounds of Cheese

I'm back! Now I have two days in UB before I'm off to the Gobi. I'm supposed to be doing a 12 day trip to the desert, but I had so much fun in the greenery, that I might want to do some more west before I commit to the Gobi for the rest of my trip. I'm so lucky to have these decisions to make. :)

Either way, I took a public bus to Darkahn (sp?) city, where I was met by my guide. We went around to various places in the city before we saw a Mongolian operatic concert put on by these two babies (6 and 8 years old). It was so beautiful I cried. I've never heard opera in real life, and it was really powerful. Then, I became acquainted with my two fellow travelers: Alison Smith and John Lords Booth III. They went to Yale together. I met John in his outdoorsy pants, quick-dry shirt, mosquito repellent bandana, and indiana jones hat. Alison was in a quick-dry yellow outfit. Both of them were carrying their horse riding helmets. They were both delightful and well-prepared, something that came in handy on the trip, AND as it turns out, John went to Hotchkiss. Ha. We found out on the last night and stayed up reminiscing. Alison is an environmental consultant of some sort, so she was awesome to have on the trip as a provider for geological and industry information.

We stayed with two beautiful families, both with sheep and goats and cows and horses and the cutest children ever. We probably ate the equivalent of two full thanksgiving sized meals per day. This mostly consisted of the local foods, cheese and curds from the milk of every kind of animal, rice or noodles, dried jerky meat, and the occasional onion. Imagine... a turkey made of cheese curds, muliply that times two (per day), multiply that times 4 (the number of days we ate like this). Needless to say, I'm stopped up for quite a while. My favorite food, coincidentally, was fresh cream with sugar on a lump of soft cheese curd. AH! Cheese on Cheese!!

We went to some meditation caves, where monks hid out to escape torture and death when the soviet regime cracked down on religion. Besides being full of snakes and spiders, it was cool and peacefull. We also swam in the Orkhan river, a needed shower-type break. We helped with the family's vegetable garden and milked cows, made some cheese, and stirred some fermented mare's milk. We camped outside everyday and broke our tents down and moved during the day. The families were really supportive of our nomad lifestyle, and they often helped build and break down our tents as a type of ritual. It was so amazing to spend time with these families.

I posted some pictures on Facebook. Sending love and joy from where I am to wherever you are.

<3