FEED ME

I just watched a Mongolian film where a woman killed a sheep then cooked it and ate it, as in gnawed every skerrick of life off massive hunks of bone. And it made me hungry, very hungry, for meat. What have I become?

Real Mongolian Art

Blogging has become a casualty of summer. Instead of hiding behind the Macbook, I've been out riding horses, drinking beer in the sunshine and watching men in minimal clothing wrestle each other. Yeah, summer is so very, very difficult here. This weekend however, I intend to up the word count and reconnect with the internet (and the kitchen for that matter. I have not cooked in months).

So, here I present the first in a number of posts set to grace your screen this weekend. Here are the four seasons of Mongolia packaged and presented in the form of nail art, as created by four different nail technicians on my street. I am currently rocking out the yellow + pink combo. It is 37 degrees + watermelon weather after all...

SPLAYED

This was my day today. How was yours?

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:

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.

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.

Throne Me

I'm going on a four-day camping trip tomorrow. I'm really not very good at the whole 'being outside with only a bit of canvas for a roof' affair. I am, however, hoping to catch a fish, climb a mountain and find an animal throne. Wish me luck.

Blooming

I'm still not sure this is really happening. Did I take the red pill + fall into a marmot hole? Is jesus's dad screwing with me because I don't take his son's birthday seriously anymore? Are the beetroots I've been living on for the past week actually magic? I ask all of these questions because the temperature has been in the 20s the past few days and:

Today I saw flowers in the Mongolian countryside for the first time.


Clearly a career in botany beckons.


Today, I smelt + felt rain in Mongolia for the first time. The ground looked like this before that happened though.


Today I rode a horse bareback for the first time. Its spindly winter battered frame supported my winter fattened body, and I felt like the most evil giant in the world... until I scored a saddle and galloped for the first time.


Yesterday, I drank beer outside in Mongolia for the first time. Andrew + Julian did too and were clearly very excited to be involved.

I think I like this floral, beetroot fuelled, springtime equine wonderland.

I scanned.

We conquered.