Today we’re getting off the paved road and onto the main dirt track that will take us deep into the Taiga. The “road” has severely rutted and muddy sections but Ganbaa navigates it like a pro. We’re driving through all types of terrain and climates. It’s ranging from rolling plains to forested tracks to mud bogs. Heavy rainstorms, snowfall, cloudy skies and sunshine. The temperature is chilly and I’m bundled up against the elements when exiting the Beast.
As we’re going through a particularly muddy creek crossing we see a large army surplus truck embedded in the mud. The two occupants have buried the tires into a deep bog in their attempts to extricate the vehicle. Ganbaa provides a shovel to dig away some of the mud from the tires and I suggest placing rocks underneath so the tires can gain some traction. I’m surprised the men don’t have any equipment with them in the event they do get stuck. This is a main road, but this is the first vehicle we’ve come across in over an hour. The driver puts the vehicle in drive but other than a small rocking motion the truck doesn’t move. I can hear John muttering that the driver doesn’t know what he’s doing and isn’t making good use of our rock traction. Ganbaa says we have to get on our way as the weather is making the roads difficult to navigate and we don’t want to get stuck too. We wish the men good luck and leave them. The road is so rutted and mud-bogged that my body feels like it’s being put through the wringer. Padraig has his airplane pillow wrapped around his neck as a brace.
We stop at the official entrance to the taiga where there is a gateway of numerous cairns with prayer flags. Locals have stopped to give offerings for a safe journey and a large group asks me to take a photo of them.
Padraig and John are getting in tune with my hot flashes and open all the windows as soon as I start fanning my face. With all the layers of clothing I’m wearing when I’m out in the elements, it takes me a minute to rip it all off and get cool again.
We come to a section of the road that’s running beside a lake that is especially muddy with a slight drop-off on the lake side. Grey Beast starts to slide and is leaning precariously towards the lake. We fishtail slightly and slide a bit more towards the lake. I’m getting nervous as the thought of the van tipping over and rolling runs through my mind. I trust Ganbaa’s driving but the mud may have a mind of its own. I beg to exit the Beast and Ganbaa stops as we all bail out. Now that I’m outside it actually doesn’t look as bad as it felt. Ganbaa gets the Beast past the drop-off and stops to wait for us on the flats. G
Up ahead I see two horsemen trotting their mounts alongside the edge of the lake and I ask Ganbaa to stop for the photo opportunity. The men turn the horses around and suddenly start racing at a gallop. The horses are neck and neck, snorting and tossing their heads as they race past us.
We drive through vast vistas – gers dotting the landscape, herds of livestock small specs on the plains, lonely leafless trees on the sides of mountains and creeks weaving their way between the mountains and the road. We come to a bridge crossing and there’s a gate and “toll booth” (a small shack with a sole employee). Ganbaa pays the toll and we slowly make our way across the wooden bridge to a small village containing a store, hotel and a few small cabins. Padraig, John and I head for the store to purchase some road snacks. The elderly woman proprietor takes a shine to Padraig and tells Unuruu that he’s a handsome man. I briefly consider offering Padraig to her in trade for snacks. I give two young boys sitting beside the bridge balloons and pencils. Their faces light up and they race to one of the cabins to stow their booty.
It’s lunch time so we stop near a yak herd, remove the kitchen boxes and stools from the back of the Beast and Unuruu cooks up ramen for us. I go for a wander to get up close and personal with yak and find a gentleman repairing a flat tire on his motorbike. He says something in Mongolian I don’t understand but I think he’s asking where we’re headed to, so I say, “Reindeer” and mimic an animal with antlers. Not sure if he understood my poor charades skills. I leave him to his business and go in search of yak until lunch is ready. After lunch Padraig, John and I help with the dishes and replace the contents to the kitchen boxes.
After nine hours we arrive at the ger camp and meet our horse guides for the next week, Narankhuu and Erdenee. We’ll be staying overnight with Narankhuu’s family and they welcome us in their ger with bowls of milk tea (cow’s milk, a bit of salt and a touch of animal fat) and freshly made “donuts”. They’re both delicious and after a long day in the Beast, most welcome.
Narankhuu’s granddaughter is the cutest little thing with chubby, red cheeks and wearing a purple puffy jacket and colourful leather lace-up boots. She clearly has him wrapped around her little finger and he dotes on her. Her mother is beautiful and she is often at Narankhuu’s ger as her husband, their son, recently passed away. They look after the two now.
Unuruu asks me if I would like to join Narankhuu on his motorbike to go look for a stray baby lamb and I immediately hop on the back of his bike. We locate the lamb amongst a herd of cattle but catching him is no easy feat. I’m wearing a black jacket and he heads straight for me thinking I’m his mom, but as soon as he’s within arms reach, races off. Narankhuu is making soothing noises as he creeps toward the lamb and once again, within arms reach, the little bugger takes off again. Narankhuu hops back on the bike and motions for me to start walking in the direction of the gers and the lamb starts to follow me with Narankhuu behind. We make it partway back and then the lamb has different ideas and runs off again. Erdenee and Narankhuu’s wife arrive on motorbike to assist us and within a minute, she’s grabbed the lamb by a hind leg and swung it up onto the bike. How did she do that so quickly?? I hop on behind Narankhuu and she hands me the lamb to hang on to for the ride back to the ger. When we arrive Narankhuu’s wife motions for me to set the lamb down and it calmly walks behind her into the ger. I find out from Unuruu that the lamb recently lost its mother and now thinks of Narankhuu’s wife as its mom. She feeds him by hand with a large bottle and tonight I’m playing mom. The lamb tugs at the nipple on the bottle and guzzles the milk within seconds.
We have a late alfresco dinner beside our ger and then I join the daughter in-law to herd the family milking cow back to the corral beside the gers. She brings her little girl and I snap a few photos of them as we look for the stray cow. She’s spotted hiding in the low brush and slowly makes her way to us with some encouraging sounds from the daughter in-law. When we return to the ger, I print off the photos I took of the little girl and her mom and she’s thrilled. The locals all have cell phones but there isn’t anywhere to print a photo so it’s a treat to have an actual photograph.
It’s time for bed and we’re all sharing the ger, other than Ganbaa, who opts to sleep on the pullout bed in the Beast. The ger’s interior is warm while the little stove is lit and we climb into our sleeping bags. I wake in the middle of the night for a bathroom run and upon removing one of my earplugs, I’m greeted with a cacophony of snoring from the three boys. Thank god for industrial strength earplugs! It’s gotten frosty during the night and despite wearing my thermals and having a sleeping bag and two thick blankets, I’m cold. I bundle up in my down jacket and toque and jump back under the covers.
