This was my day today. How was yours?
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
I Gave Birth...
... to winter. Then I forgot about how hideous it was because summer is so glorious that any of the pain associated with releasing winter disappeared with the arrival of sunshine and an abundance of dandelion seeds in the air. Check the pics on my Flickr for lots of delightful dandelions and frolicking:
Francis is below demonstrating how one might lose an arm to the wonders of Khorkhog. There's no holding back: get in there and retrieve some meat or risk being stuck with bones + spring onion.
Then smash that meat like you've never smashed meat before...
Following said BBQ, you are entitled to retire to a delightful Mongolian beach + feel the sand between your toes... while avoiding broken glass and prickles. On a riverbank.
More BBQ adventures to come this weekend when it's slated to hit 36 again. BRING IT.
Super summer also means the REAL Mongolian BBQ comes into play. This sucker is called KHORKHOG, and from what I have gathered (and tasted) it involves heating up some rocks until they're red hot (literally glowing) then throwing a sheep or maybe a cow? into a metal pot with oil + vegetables, sealing that puppy + allowing it to pressure cook for a while. Evidence thus:
Francis is below demonstrating how one might lose an arm to the wonders of Khorkhog. There's no holding back: get in there and retrieve some meat or risk being stuck with bones + spring onion.
Then smash that meat like you've never smashed meat before... 
Following said BBQ, you are entitled to retire to a delightful Mongolian beach + feel the sand between your toes... while avoiding broken glass and prickles. On a riverbank.
More BBQ adventures to come this weekend when it's slated to hit 36 again. BRING IT.Monday, June 7, 2010
I Camped + Did Not Die
Yes, I camped in the Mongolian countryside, and no, I did not die from the experience. I actually had a lovely time. Even more surprising was the fact that it was hot + the waterfall we visited was blasting out the good stuff (ie water). There were 12 of us who visited this wondrous region as a bit of a farewell adventure for our buddy Bec who is heading back to AU soon.
The trip was not without drama. On the first day we busted a tyre + had to play rugby while we waited for the tyre to be changed. Rugby? OHGOD moment #1. I did get taught how to correctly throw the 'ball' though... then I stacked it on the grass and scored a million prickles in my hands and tights. Awesome.
OHGOD moment #2 occurred some hours after this when we arrived at the campsite after a detour to pick up a spare tyre in Kharkhorin. Dudes in the first car had set-up the camp site down in a gully by the river. It was nighttime when we arrived and there was a drop of many, many, many, many metres to the tents. I was tired, hungry and concerned for my well-being ergo I firmly but politely refused to rock climb to get down there. Sonja said it was the first time she had heard my scary voice. With some coercion, I schlepped my many, many, many bags down the mutha truckin cliff face. It was not fun but I did not die.
Next day I saw why we were down there. It was pretty.
We played many games of 500, burned things in a fire, ate, drank, rambled and sucked up some seriously fresh air. We also saw a whole lot more colour than we'd seen in a long time. Look! The grass is green! The sky is blue!
Day after we trekked up a pine forest mountain to visit Tuvkhun Monastery where Sonja and I were excited to see Zanabazar's rock chair. Dude had a killer view.
Interesting flora was on display in the region.
On the trip, some of the team also rode camels, burned down a house, ran naked up the cliff face (clearly money was involved), gave dating advice and barked non-stop for four days (yeah, we had canine companions too). I avoided sharing a car with the OHGOD moment #3 canine companion that was on heat, but I did get sandwiched between Sam + Pete for the majority of the car journey. Enlightening is one way to describe it. But yes, I will go camping again this summer. I'll just avoid steep inclines, bleeding dogs and tents that don't have doors.
The trip was not without drama. On the first day we busted a tyre + had to play rugby while we waited for the tyre to be changed. Rugby? OHGOD moment #1. I did get taught how to correctly throw the 'ball' though... then I stacked it on the grass and scored a million prickles in my hands and tights. Awesome.
OHGOD moment #2 occurred some hours after this when we arrived at the campsite after a detour to pick up a spare tyre in Kharkhorin. Dudes in the first car had set-up the camp site down in a gully by the river. It was nighttime when we arrived and there was a drop of many, many, many, many metres to the tents. I was tired, hungry and concerned for my well-being ergo I firmly but politely refused to rock climb to get down there. Sonja said it was the first time she had heard my scary voice. With some coercion, I schlepped my many, many, many bags down the mutha truckin cliff face. It was not fun but I did not die.
Next day I saw why we were down there. It was pretty.
We played many games of 500, burned things in a fire, ate, drank, rambled and sucked up some seriously fresh air. We also saw a whole lot more colour than we'd seen in a long time. Look! The grass is green! The sky is blue!
Day after we trekked up a pine forest mountain to visit Tuvkhun Monastery where Sonja and I were excited to see Zanabazar's rock chair. Dude had a killer view.
Interesting flora was on display in the region.
On the trip, some of the team also rode camels, burned down a house, ran naked up the cliff face (clearly money was involved), gave dating advice and barked non-stop for four days (yeah, we had canine companions too). I avoided sharing a car with the OHGOD moment #3 canine companion that was on heat, but I did get sandwiched between Sam + Pete for the majority of the car journey. Enlightening is one way to describe it. But yes, I will go camping again this summer. I'll just avoid steep inclines, bleeding dogs and tents that don't have doors.
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