Энэ оюутан залуу бол couchsurfing системд бүртгүүлж, аялагчидтай харилцаж, гэртээ ирэхийг зөвшөөрч ирүүлсэн анхны зочин байлаа. Түүнийг онгоцны буудлаас тосч авахын тулд үүрийн 3 цагт унадаг дугуйгаараа нисэх буудал руу очиж, ирэхдээ энэ залуу автобусаар, би дугуйгаараа ирж байсан үргэлж дурсагддаг.
Мөн манай гэрт хэн тоглох нь тодорхой биш, хүүхдүүдээ сураасай гээд авчихсан байсан Yamaha хөгжмөөр тоглож, манайханд хөгжмийн ая эгшгийг мэдрүүлсэн залуугаас хойш хүүхдүүд маань хөгжимд дуртай болсон гэж бид боддог.
Couchsurfers book
Date : 23/08/2008
I don't have any advice for couchsurfers; if you have made it here then you have already managed to find a wonderful couchsurfing host. You will already know how happy and well behaved all the children and if you do nothing except play with them then you will have a great time in Ulaanbaatar - I discovered they really like scary faces!
I don't know what else to say except maybe to make sure you go up the hill to see the view and look after the cow, make sure you try their urum and most importantly, relax and enjoy being with a really kind and generous Mongolian family. Thank you Begz and all your family!
I have been asked to write some travel ... her goes! It is hard to organize a trip ... Ger district so head into town and ... noticeboards (eg Khongor, Golden Gobi, ...) ... noticeboards in Cafe Bernard a ... Peace Avenue. If you are travel ...
guaranteed to find fellow travelers looking to share costs on a trip (for trips of all kinds).
Don't underestimate how hard to get to some popular places are - if you are hitching be prepared to wait! Hitching in the Gobi is really hard, but the center is ok. It is also very hard to find anyone who talks English outside Ulaanbaatar - your best bet is at tourist camps (ger camps might or might not have an English speaker).
Trying to organize your own horse trek (or just trek) without a translator is a task that shouldn't be underestimated. We spent half an hour arguing with on guide half way into a 3 day trek. The only problem is that we thought we were talking about where to camp and all he was saying was that we shouldn't swim in the lake!
My favourite area was the North, especially a 3 day horse trek in Khovsgol Nuur - I'd really really recommend doing that.
Otherwise, go out, learn a few phrases or Mongolian, have fun and don't forget something to give to Nomad families for the inevitable shops in Gers along the way, apparently anything from this of ser... to matches or candies are very much appreciated.
So that's it folks!
Have fun and let me know if you're coming to the UK and need a walk!
Chris
From his blog
I'd managed to arrange a host in Ulaanbaatar, and what a host he was. The man woke up at 3:30am, to cycle for an hour and a half across the city to be able to pick me up. Heroic. The buses didn't start until 8am, so he said we could walk a little to pass the time and see the Ger district of south of Ulaanbaatar. What he didn't mention was that he was going to quickmarch me 10km into town.
It was, quite possibly, the most dramatic arrival impression I've ever experienced. A grey drizzle covered everything and a taxi driver, apparently concerned (I never did work out if it was genuine or not) at a foreigner being accosted by a small man who was marching him about the place before heading off into the mist, followed us doggedly for a kilometre or two. As the mist cleared, I found myself walking red-dirt roads through a ramshackle suburb of wooden shacks and traditional round felt gers (yurts), a neighborhood unlike anything I could have imagined. Mangy dogs trailed behind us, hoping for scraps maybe, and a few surprised locals watched as I heaved my backpack up the hill after Begz, my host. We passed through the district and down a hill towards the river. Here we picked up a little puppy that had decided to follow us. Since it was a male, it was good luck, and we let it follow us, even going so far as to give it a ride in the bicycle's basket (bringing a female dog home is bad luck).
We dropped adventurously down from the hillside over a small muddy cliff and onto the flat river plain. In the distance the city could be seen, a road leading to it a couple of kilometres ahead. Twenty minutes later we scrambled up onto the pot-holed road and turned left into town. Bemused drivers of ancient Russian trucks passed by , bemused at the sight of the disparate pair of us walking along a highway miles from anywhere. Mongolia is the only country I've ever seen where right and left drive vehicles appear in equal numbers, it's weird. I couldn't work out why, though it doesn't matter because only in town are there actually roads, never mind sides to the road. We'd been walking an hour now and the extreme pace, the weight of my backpack and a night with no sleep whatsoever were beginning to take their toll. I resolved not to say a word however, as when Begz had asked if I minded walking and I'd replied with a no, he'd then answered something along the lines of, "Well you're a young man, so you should be able to walk more than me anyway". Hmm. Considering the guy had once spent twelve hours carrying coal across the city for winter fuel (summer fuel would turn out to be dried cow dung), I wasn't so sure of that at all. Anyway. After two hours the first buses had begun to appear. By this time I am pretty sure we'd covered 10km without a break and my resolve was beginning to rebel. Luckily the right bus eventually appeared and I had my first taste of urban Mongolia - a mixture of half-built blocks of flats, open tracts of empty grass and derelict buildings and communist built offices and concrete boxes.
The bus took me through the heart of Ulaanbaatar and on to the northen Ger district where Begz lived with his family. Getting off at the 11th stop as instructed I waited for him to catch up on his bike. Two minutes up the hill and I was home.
I spent the next three days with Begz and his delightful family. He and his wife had four children, three girls of 1, 3 and 7 and a boy of 9. I have never met such incredibly happy, good natured and well-behaved children in my life. Truly, they were amazing. The little one grizzled occasionally, but the others were quick to smile and always happy to help. They seemed unconcerned that a strange man had turned up at 9am on a Saturday morning, totally unable to understand them and only able to communicate through smiles. At least he'd brought German biscuits though, which means a lot in any language.
My days there were wonderful. My mind is full of flashes of memories. The clear, fresh air on top of the hills North of Ulaanbaatar, the entire city and all it's ger districts spread out beneath my feet, empty hills running off to the South, to the North and East. Herding the family's cows with Begz and his boy and the old woman from up the hill with her cows. Learning how to read sheep's ankle bones to foretell your prospects for the day and trying to remember the myriad games you could play with them. Drinking thick milky tea and watching how to make öröm, one of the infinite numbers dairy products that Mongolians eat during the summer (in the countryside, nomads eat almost nothing but dairy products all summer, drinking airag - fermented mare's milk - and eating enormous amounts of cheese, and then nothing but meat, mostly boiled mutton, in winter). To do this, take unpasteurized fresh milk, straight from the cow. Heat it until reasonably hot and then sieve repeatedly until a layer of bubbles is formed. Leave to cool and scrape off the top. Eat with bread and resist the temptation to simply lick it off, leaving a pile of milky, half-licked slices of bread, as the children tended to do.
What else? A traditional hair cutting ceremony and all the festivities that accompanied it - the entire extended family gathering to watch as a young boy's hair is cut for the very first time. This happens sometime after the children turn two and is a very important event. Everyone present snips a little of the hair, yes, even the random Scotsman in the corner, which is then kept. Presents and blessings are given before everyone gathers for the requisite boiled goat and airag. An entire goat, skin and all, is carved up and placed in a metal container with a little water and a lot of hot stones - a very traditional dish called khorkhog. This is sealed, placed in a fire and left to cook for some unknown length of time. It's actually pretty good, though the blackened, leathery skin with two centimetres of white fat below it proved a bit much for even my adventurous mood. Songs, vital to all Mongolian occasions, were sung by every member of the party and much airag was consumed, though not by me. You can also make this at home. Simply take one part of full fat milk and mix with one part of vinegar. Drink straight up. Really, it's that bad the first time you try it, though it becomes almost tolerable after a month of politely sipping it - whilst trying not to gag too much - in various gers around the country.
To be honest, though, most of my time was spent playing with the children, from basketball to making scary faces and throwing them up in the air and then chess in the evenings. This game inspired my first, unknowing, Mongolian sentence. One evening I heard the three year old making a sound similar to the Woo-whoop that I made whilst tossing them as high as possible (and usually catching them again). I assumed that she was just copying a noise she'd heard, but it turned out to mean something along the lines of "What's going on?". Which is really a rather apt thing to say to a small child you're throwing into the air. Somewhat surreally, they also had an electric keyboard (this in a single-room, two bed homemade wooden house for six people with no running water) which meant I could play scraps of half learnt Chopin to the delight of the children.
After three days though, I'd soon realised that attempting to plan the rest of my time in Mongolia whilst based in a single-roomed wooden hut 30 minutes from the centre of town was going to prove difficult. The guidebook basically informed me that independent travel was technically possibly, but frankly not worth. Hitching would get you so far (actually hitching is a very common way of getting around, even in the city, as public transport is practically nonexistent) and then you'd be in the middle of nowhere in a nothing town and you'd still have to hire a jeep to go somewhere interesting. So I headed into town...
source: https://journals.worldnomads.com/climberchris/story/22827/Mongolia/One-Month-in-Mongolia-Part-1
Feedback on Couchsurfing
Chris:
Who else would get up at 3am and then cycle all the way across Ulaanbaatar for more than an hour, just so they can meet you at the airport at half 5 in the morning! What a great host and what a lovely family - his children are three of the nicest and most well behaved children I have ever met, they're really amazing. I am so glad to have the chance to see something of life in one of the Ger districts of UB and to have stayed with a wonderful host.
Begzsuren:
Thank you for your staying first 3 days in Mongolia with my family (26-28th July 2008) and coming to say goodbye before leave Mongolia (23th August 2008).
I know that you can walk, loves children, a good piano player, and a young man with good discipline. Please, example/describe us what are interesting/need to change things in my family/Mongolia. Thank you again in your money support for breakfast and dinner.
Good luck in your Ph.D study and good wishes to your life.
See you again!
Бидний харилцаж байсан имэйлүүдээс
I am not sure how long I will stay, but I want to see a good bit of the country, so who knows. I liked your profile - your family look so nice, and I love children (though I don't have myself, I am still too young)! I am a very easy going traveller, I like to stay off the beaten path and find my own way, see where it takes me. I am happy to help in the house, to see the things that are important to you and you family and am easily able to entertain myself if you are busy.
Well, I hope I can get the chance to meet you and see Mongolia,
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Thank you very much for the offer of your couch. I have a flight to Mongolia, arriving in Ulaanbataar from Berlin on Saturday 26th July at 05:00. Don't worry I will wait until you wake up before coming to meet you!! Can you send directions to your house or to somewhere I can easily meet you? Thank you very much for your kindness. I look forward to meeting you and your family, see you on Saturday.
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Thank you very much!! I am worried that it is too early for you, I don't want to wake you up at 5am! If you are sure that is ok, then thank you very much, you are very kind. But it is really no problem if it is easier for me to wait or to get a bus into the city. Wherever I meet you I will be wearing grey trousers and a grey top and I have a blue and grey rucksack. I also have glasses!
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I am leaving on Sunday morning, very early, so I would like to come and see you and your family and say goodbye on Saturday (tomorrow). I will come in the afternoon, around four, if that is ok. I am staying in a hostel in the centre of town, because I need to get a taxi very early on Sunday morning and it is easier from here. But I really want to see you before I go and maybe have a game of chess or two!! Hopefully I will also be able to show you some photos of your beautiful country.
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Hello! I'm glad to hear that you are all well. I am well, thank you. My work is going well and I am hoping to finish my PhD in the summer. I have a new job in Virginia, in the US, starting in October. It's a job for three years to do physics research.
Life in Cambridge is very nice, spring is coming and it is starting to get warmer. Though it wasn't as cold as Mongolia I'm sure! Democracy is doing ok too, though it isn't perfect, but better than some places I think;)
I hope everything is going well in Mongolia. How are your family?
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How are you? How are your family? I am well, but busy here in Cambridge. I am nearly finished my studies, I will submit my dissertation at the end of August and leave Cambridge:( It will be sad to leave, but I am excited to be moving on to something new. How is life in Mongolia? It was Naadam recently, right? I hope you had a good festival!
I hope you and your family are all well and happy.
Харилцах
Фасебуук хуудас: Бүтээлч, хоост айл БийСоё - Host family BeeSoy
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