7 April - Bogd Soum, Bayankhonger Aimag
No wind - very unusual they say. I sat on top of a sand dune, looking at snow dusted mountains rising abrubtly behind herds of goats/sheep/camels wandering in between. The weather was so warm I was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. My staff member told me that it is usually impossible to sit and relax on the sand dune due to the winds. He was disappointed, as he brought his super-sized kite all the way from Ulaanbaator.
We had attempted to drive to a crystal-lined cave about 90 kilometres from Bogd, but after 30 minutes of some of the worst roads I have seen in Mongolia we decided to turn back. Above is a photo of the discussion among the men to convince them to turn back....Below is a photo of Tamara (Tamara is a new volunteer who arrived recently from Australia to help us peform better in the area of environment impact) riding a camel.
Later we did a cold call on a family to taste fresh camel milk - picture two 4WD pulling up unannounced (other then we could be heard and seen from miles away) and a pile of 10 people spill out, three expatriates. The lady of the ger smoothed her hair back, pretended she wasn't wearning her grotty camel herding tracky dacks, sat us all down on little stools and ladled out small bowls of fresh camel's milk. Apparently it had been freshly milked that morning, but both Tamara and I felt that the milk had a definite 'boozy' smell and taste. I really didn't like it and only managed a few polite sips. Our guide (who looked a bit boozy himself) drained one bowl in a few gulps then drained another. This family has a big herd of camels. On their ger shrine there is a photo of a gnarly bull camel with his mouth bound. This is apparently the sire of their herd. They said they had 170 camels. I didn't count them, but there were plenty around - lots of babies.
Later in the evening we visited some households that are participating in the family gardening project. This lady wanted her photo taken with us. At some point in her life she has suffered from rickets, shown by how her legs are bowed apart.
In Bogd we slept in a new guesthouse. It was two small neat rooms on the end of someone else's house. The lady who operates it speaks some English and was happy to have us as guests. There was a big main gate into the property but we only used this small gate in the fence....During the night I had to go to the outhouse. The dogs were barking at the full moon. We have to stay away from dogs due to the threat of rabies. One of the dogs barked angrily when I walked out to the toilet. I ignored it, assuming it was tied up. When I was walking back a man called out to the dog, which promptly ran down the yard straight to him! Perhaps I looked so frightening under the full moon that it was enough to keep the dog away from me!
8 April - Jinst Soum, Bayankhonger Aimag
Last night we slept in the local hospital, proudly provided by the Asian Development Bank. I don't think we displaced any patients, but I am not sure. Jannie (Food Security Coordinator) cooked up a feast in the hospital kitchen after a slight fuss over the lcoation of the food we thought we were carrying (we thought wrong). After raiding the local shops we had a great meal of millet with onion, garlic, tinned fish and chilli sauce - with chips on the side. Our room comes complete with an IV stand and a medical chart on the wall. Surprisingly the hospital was a very quiet place to sleep - even though one woman was scrubbing the floor in a room at 2am when I had to visit the outhouse.
We have been visiting households who are participating in the food security project (family gardening) and meeting with local government representatives. It always amazes me how people make a life in this seemingly lifeless place. Looking out the hospital kitchen window all I can see are mirages on the horizon.
We have seen some seedling beds, as it is too cold for much else to be going on with the gardens. Tiny cabbage seedlings are clawing their way through the soil (seemingly heavy soil so they were having a hard time of it). The seedling beds are outside, dug about 30cm into the ground and covered with cold frames. The technical term, I am told, is "hotbed". The families we have interviewed have each grown between 50-200 kgs of vegetables last summer. We are working with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in the communities, so it is a wonder they grow anything at all in a place where gardening is a completely foreign concept. I find myself wanting to hang around longer and help them out with my own new enthusiasm for growing things.
Jannie made French Toast for breakfast, which we ate with peach compote from a jar and Russian yogurt (the stuff that doesn't need to be kept cold and travels for miles, so maybe it is only yogurt in name...) Jannie said that three years ago it would have been impossible to get eggs here. Bek was impressed and got the recipe (on our return to UB he told me that he had cooked it twice at home and loved it). We had extra French Toast, so Jannie coated it all in hazelnut chocolate spread and Bek (Food Security Project Manager) dispensed it to the patients and staff. This gift was soon returned by a big bowl of dried curds. Yum.
At 9am the hospital day shift staff arrived, and the first lot of outpatients. We didn't need to leave until 10am, so we were a point of interest for everyone. The cleaner stood in the door of our room and politely said something. Tamara and I didn't understand so she repeated it. I went to get Bek to translate. He said she had wished us good-morning. I disagreed, as I know good morning in Mongolian, so Bek asked her again. She had actually wished us good morning in Russian. I guess that is a fair enough assumption, given that in the past expats to come through would have been mainly Russians. Outside there was a haze from horizon to horizon, enclosing us in an expanse of nothingness. We couldn't even see the big mountains to the north that we visited yesterday. There was still no wind, but perhaps the haze was from dust blown in from further south in the Gobi Desert. A herd of goats had come in during the night and was sitting in the stones around the hospital. There were many kids. How far do they have to wander to find enough to eat.
Last night the plan was for the vegetarians (Jannie and me) to cook for ourselves and our local staff member would cook for the others. Jannie cooked enough for all 5 of us, so we decided to walk across the rocky plain to the river. We were almost to the river (about 1km) when a motorbike set out from the soum and came our direction. I thought it might be some local hoons, but it was our staff member (still in her suit from greeting us earlier in the day) hitching a ride on local motorbike to summon Bek, Doc and Tamara to dinner. They all decided to keep walking to the river. She was disappointed but returned to the soum. She was not out-done though, later that evening a big jar of dumplings in broth was delivered to the hospital. It is still sitting on the window sill this morning, the fat congealing on the top.
Today we travel back to the city of Bayankhonger, which means the same hard beds, no shower, but the luxury of a toilet.
This is Turuu (our driver) standing on top of a wall of an old Chinese fort near one of the garden sites
