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.