Mongolian Journey - An Intense Cultural Encounter

We've left the sands of the desert for the high cliffs of Yolyn Am, meaning Valley of the Vultures or Valley of the Eagles, depending on who's doing the translating.

The cliffs shade parts of the canyon year-round, meaning ice lingers here from October until the middle of July. You'll notice the ice at the bottom of the right side.





After another night's stay in a ger camp,

we flew back to the capital Ulaanbaatar, where we stayed with a Couchsurfer, which is one of my favorite things to do but something my girlfriend Alexandra had never experienced. I have to hand it to her. Couchsurfing homes can be quite lavish, but Ulaanbaatar wasn't an easy Couchsurfing introduction.

Our host, Berz, is committed to maintaining a connection with Mongolia's traditional way of life, although he resides in an urban setting. He, his wife, and their four children live in a small ger just outside the city limits in an area some might describe as impoverished.

When our taxi driver dropped us off, he looked at us as if we were crazy, and when we got picked up the next morning, the driver said she brought along her sister because she was intimidated to go to the neighborhood alone, a section known as the ger district.

Mongolians continue to flood into the capital in search of work, often preferring to remain living in their movable homes.

When we arrived, Berz welcomed us warmly and congratulated me on my recent 50th birthday.

"I hate to ask you on this special occasion, but can you pick up a shovel and help me collect cow caca?" he asked.

The family, by obtaining special permission from the government, is able to raise 10 cows in their yard, and cows require a lot of upkeep, including disposing of their digestive byproducts.

I'm always happy to lend a hand.

As you might imagine, Alexandra relished watching me carrying out my less than desirable task, but she got her turn later when she was asked to milk the cows, as well as help roll out handmade noodles for dinner.

Although we were unaccustomed to the environment, especially the community outhouse, the different level of hygiene, and six of us sleeping on the floor of the family's ger, we could not have asked for a more loving family and a better way to experience a facet of Mongolian life that most travelers never see.

One of the highlights for us was watching the two daughters perform traditional dance and hear the son play a Mongolian horse-head fiddle.

I must admit I also enjoyed helping one of the daughters work on her English.









We didn't perform, but since the kids love games, we gave them the stacking game Jenga, which the children and their father couldn't stop playing.

The next morning, the family hugged us goodbye and we headed off to our next stop  – a horse camp near Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, nestled in forest-covered mountains about an hour from the capital.