How much can you live without?

One of the most important thing I learnt from traveling is how to live simple and flexible. In a small backpack you could only bring what is necessary and can't live without. It was a compact 50L backpack to most people but still quite heavy for my size.

On the Gobi trip it was interesting to see what others brought with them. Although 3 meals are included, they still had the family sized coffee, milk powder, salt and pepper, chili sauce, whiskey and honey with them. It was nice to have though. But for me it does not bother me much to eat just what was offered. I am not a snack person so it took me weeks to finish a pack of Oreos cause I always forgot to eat them.

I'm still struggling to leave anything unused behind. When I pack I always want to have my favorite brand of shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen with me (I have a sensitive skin and my hair gets oily with other brands) I've packed supplies that last for months but now I'm looking forward to replace them soon. I can buy them even in Mongolia. Or maybe I can adapt to what the locals use, or not use at all!

Mongolia Wrap up

People

Karim, Uranus So, Rieke & Sandra, Diane, Vio & Kenny, Kan, Will

I stayed in the UB guesthouse in Ulan Bator and it was where I met most of the people. It was like a secret underground club where you found you are not the only person who have quit your job and travel the world. Many of them are experienced travelers either going to Russia or China by trains. You are at odds here if you travel by planes.

The other night I was moved to another apartment from the main one as the guesthouse was full. It felt like home now with my warm hearted roommate Diane. And the other people I have shared a good time with made my stay in Mongolia wonderful.

I admired a lot the Mongolian people and their animals for they are so strong and tough, but never rude. They don't care so much about money and are good with animals and nature. It seems we have a different definition of "harsh" as nothing is difficult for them. Plus Mongolian men on horses are simply too cool.

For Mongolians in the city it is another story. They are much influenced by Korean culture. Boys and girls dress so fashionable that you can't connect them with the word tough found in Mongolian nomads. Though I did not have negative experience but most say Ulan Bator is not safe especially at night.

For animals, camels and horses are so patient like they don't care. And the way the cows and camels look at us foreigners like chewing gum saying "what's up dude?" are so adorable.

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Adventures in Gobi desert

30 Aug to 5 Sep (7 days 6 nights)

Before the trip the hostel owner Bobby said it would be the toughest trip of all routes. With no showers, no toilets as expected, we had to bring all the food and water supplies along. Plus I was the only one in the group who had not been on other trips so I was a bit worried.

The first day was not that bad. We had 2 German girls, 1 Swiss man and a Spanish couple who hardly speak any English. So I was with the German speaking group but all I can speak was just "Ich kann kein Deutsch" (I can't speak German).
We spent most of the time on our great Russian minivan. It took two days to go into the desert. Lunch was in the middle of nowhere. Our great guide Moogii prepared for us quick and delicious non-meaty dishes just behind the van. I would like to learn some too.
While we waited we went far out to pee in the nature, played games with stones, and picked up nice stones for souvenirs. I had a device to pee standing so it was not a problem ;-) but better not to look around for someone or you will see something you don't want to see.

We visited a nomad family with many kids and they served us goat cheese and a big bowl of horse milk. We each took a sip and passed to another for a few rounds. At last our great guide Moogii helped us finish it all or we would all get drunk before the night.

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Horseriding in Mongolia

Back from the Gobi I have been staying at the hostel to relax and plan for the next trip. I have not yet ridden a horse in Mongolia. It makes no sense right? So I have to do it, by a short trip to Terelj National Park.

The hardest part of traveling alone is when you have to find someone to do things together. The tour to Gobi was nice. But having everything organized for you is not that fun. So when it is possible to go by myself I would. Or I should say, when there is one more person going with me, I would definitely take the more risky but fun way.

So I was lucky to be able to grab 2 guys to come with me. One from the Uk and the other from Beijing. They turned out to be nice people. 

The bus schedule was not the same from every source on the Internet. And there was no number for the bus and there was no English. We waited at the Pepsi stand on the west side of peace avenue and at 12pm we got on the bus. 

As for accommodation, we planned to (or should I say I plan to?) randomly ask some gers for a night's stay. But we were taken to one of the gers with someone speaking English which we did not like much cause there were too many settlements around.  We would prefer one that stands alone in the park. At last we did not stay and just do the horseriding. 

The park was much more non-touristy and scenic than I had expected tough. I thought I had done the Gobi and it must be better than the more touristic Terelj park, which is not far from the city. In this time of year (early September) the leaves are turning yellow and the area was covered in different colors. It was stunning even without a bright sun. 

The horseriding trip was a highlight of my stay in Mongolia. I have done horseriding in Tuscany of Italy and Cambodia and this definitely was the  most scenic and fun ride I have ever had! It was just 10 USD for 2 hours which was crazy. The Mongolians must be thinking, why would someone pay for riding a horse when they are born to be horseriders? We did not wear any helmets and the Mongolians just brought us the horses and there we went! Help yourself, which I'm pretty used to it.

The Mongolian horses are superb. They have their own way. When they like to trot, they trot. To canter, they canter. They are super tough. We went through slopes, forests, swamps, rocks, rivers. Half of the horse was in the water when we pass through the river so we all had our shoes wet, which was very fun. The area was very beautiful. And we felt so free as we had no strings attached and we could just trot or canter as we like in the grassland. Our guide, a tough Mongolian horse man, would just come along when he had to and sometimes just singing on his horse in the peaceful nature.

We had such a good time on the horse and glad we did that.

Trans-siberian must have: Dry Shampoo

Background: A trans-siberian train from Mongolia to Moscow takes 5 days...

seat61.com

Captured from Man in Seat 61, a very useful website for train information. I especially like the lines that read "Remember that the need to take a shower every single day is a relatively recent western social trend, not a human necessity". Okay! Sometimes we are trained to assume it a must.

So here is my way to keep my hair clean: the dry shampoo

click here for product information from Amazon.com

It is hard to find and the only brand available in the shop. From my research it is sometimes used by stylists to add a little bit of volumn to the hair. Spray a little on the hair and rub and blend until it absorbs all the oil and it is done! Looking forward to give it a try!

The Mongolian dream

picture from volmongol.org

My Mongolian dream stems from a book called Wolf Totem I read about 10 years ago. Though it was about inner Mongolia the picture of endless grass steppe and stand alone mongolian ger were deeply embedded in my mind. I have decided to go once at least in my lifetime and although not expected to be so soon, it is now.

And since it is a must go I do not mind postponing it til a perfect time (no idea when). The only travel friendly months are July and August and being so close to Hong Kong it would be a pretty good starting point of world travel. So why not now?

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