A Night in a Ger

April 14, 2012

First Stop; Ulaanbaatar

I am continually amazed at the new experiences I have daily on my travels. Every so often it just hits me how lucky I am and/or how crazy it is that I’m in a particular place or doing a particular activity. I had that feeling at least six times yesterday. It began with just being in Mongolia. Mongolia. Really, who goes to Mongolia? It’s a country the twice the size of Texas with a population of less than three million, and there I was. On my way to spend a night in a ger, no less.

We stopped off at a grocery store for any supplies
we might need for  the night in the ger.
What did we find? A $2 "Bust Roller."
How do you pass that up? 

Mongolians are a traditionally nomadic people who live in rounded tents that can be erected in as quickly as a couple of hours. Of the 2.9 million people living in Mongolia, about 1.2 million live in Ulaanbaatar, the capital. Even there, 60% of the population lives in gers. The average house price in UB is $1200/square meter, whereas a basic ger, with sleeping room for up to six, can be purchased for $2000. Gers do not have running water or central heating, and there is fire danger in ger communities as dwellers use stoves to heat their homes and then throw the ashes out while they’re still hot. Residents are also dependent on one well for water for every five streets of gers, or about 500 families. Because of this situation, an individual living in a ger uses considerably less water than his house or apartment-dwelling counterpart—about seven liters a day versus 100. Our guide was quick to clarify that despite these conditions, ger communities are not slums because people living in these communities own their own land.

Mongolian countryside

Of the 2.9 million people living in Mongolia, 1.1 million people live in the capital, a million live in one of the 21 provincial city centers, and the other 800,000 are living in the countryside as nomads. The country also has about 45 million animals, one to two million of which die from cold or starvation each winter. (Our guide explained that clever nomads observe their animals to determine which are unlikely to make it through the winter months and then slaughter them in the fall to sell their meat and fur—I’m not sure why more people haven’t caught on.)

The gers we were staying in were a couple of hours’ drive outside of UB in a national park.  Along the drive, Nemo, our fantastic Mongolian local guide, shared some information about the country. Mongolia has had a hard time economically and socially since the fall of communism and the end of strong Russian support in 1990. Nowadays, 5% of the population—around 250 families—is extremely rich, while half the country is poor. The government vacillates between democratic and communist party rule as the party in power changes each election. After the 2008 election, five civilians were killed and thousands were injured in the mayhem that followed the announcement of election results as many viewed them to be fraudulent. Investigations into what happened are still ongoing, and our guide fears that there could be riots following this year’s elections as people are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the government’s ability to solve problems and progress the country. (The government has moved the date of the election in an attempt to discourage any commemorative-type repeats of the 2008 problems.)

Nemo also shared a bit about his own life. He was actually trained as a doctor, but after eight years of medical school and another year and a half volunteering his time in a hospital, he was making only $11/month. And this was 1997! After five years of practice his salary rose to a measly $17/month. In comparison, a friend of his who worked at a power plant as an unskilled worker was making 10 times that amount. So Nemo quit doctoring and became a driver. And after a time he transitioned to tour guide. Why doctors are paid so little in Mongolia is not quite clear to me or to the Mongolians.  

We stopped several times on our way to the ger. The first was in front of a couple of eagles and a vulture. The eagles are used by the nomads for hunting, but during the off-season, one man was letting people hold the birds, which I did.

I'm a natural.

Yes, that's a golden eagle on my arm.

Our next stop was to walk around a shrine of stones and prayer flags. Mongolia is 70% Buddhist and our guide explained that horoscopes are read at the beginning of newscasts and found daily in all the newspapers because of this. Bhuddists also consider odd numbers happy and good, so we were instructed to circle clockwise around the shrine three times, throw a stone onto it, and then make a wish. (I certainly am hedging my religion-bets on this trip!)

Hedging my bets.

Our final pre-ger stop was when we saw some camels by the side of the road. My first camel ride was on a gentle, hairy, two-humped guy, and I have to say I think I’m a natural.

I think he likes me.

Closeup

When we finally arrived at the gers, I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable and spacious they were on the inside. Ours was also surprisingly warm with the stove going in the middle We ate a delicious Mongolian lunch and then went on a hike through the park to a Buddhist monastery.

Our ger home

Views on the hike

Things seem to be hairier in Mongolia.

We had to sneak into the monastery. Felt a little funny to me,
but our guide assured us it was fine--just not tourist season yet

The evening consisted of making dumplings and then eating said dumplings for dinner. (While they were quite tasty, I don’t anticipate making them on my own at home.) After dinner we sat around talking, telling riddles and jokes, and learning about life in Mongolia.

Nemo pretending to open a beer bottle with his eye.

Nemo using the pounding method to really open a bottle of wine.

Dumpling-making

I've got the folding action!

After breakfast the following morning we headed out to try archery. My skills definitely leave a bit to be desired, but I was one of the two in the group that managed to hit the target. We blame the wind.