24 October 2017 / leggypeggy

Mongolian homestay is a winner

army, cattle, cooking, girs, homestays, horses, Muslim, sheep, yurts

Poor John and Sherry watch as Sharon and Little Miss dance in front of our gir

Poor John waits as our mattresses are rolled out. Note the stove in the foreground

We’ve had homestays in quite a few different countries, with mixed success.

A few years back there were about 40 people sharing a homestay in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Some were sleeping in bunks in dorm rooms and others were camping in tents in a sodden backyard. I still remember a gal washing her clothes in a sink under a sign that said ‘Don’t do laundry in the sink!’

The Bolivians in a village on the shores of Lake Titicaca tried so hard to entertain 21 of us overlanders for an evening. They arranged a soccer game and a dance, and had us dress up in local outfits. It was fun but with no common language, there wasn’t much conversation. I remember sitting and watching as our hosts prepared dinner. I tried to help but was shooed away.

Our hosts in seaside villages in Papua New Guinea were so shy that except when they served us meals, we hardly saw them.

The TV is under the cloth on the timber chest and child’s cot is on the right

Kitchen is on the right and the sofa folds out to a bed. People also sleep on mats on the floor

So Poor John was a little wary when we learned that, in Mongolia, we had a choice of staying with a local Muslim Kazakh family or in a tourist camp. Either way, we’d be sleeping in a gir (the Mongolian word for yurt).

In the end, we opted for a family and what a rewarding choice it was.

I suppose the family option can be a mixed bag anywhere, because usually families take it in turn to host. In this instance and from the minute we arrived, we were made to feel at home and part of the family.

We started off with gift-giving, which is the custom when lobbing in on a family. We went shopping before heading out of Ulaanbaatar (had to visit two supermarkets to get the right things), and brought orange juice, applesauce, two pairs of kiddie socks and a 5-litre kettle.

Our gifts were received with great smiles and thank yous, and a certain two-year-old was quick to ask to have both pairs of socks (pink and purple) put on.

Snacks of fried bread, dried yoghurt and milk tea appeared almost immediately, and soon we were shown to the neighbouring gir they had for guests.

They rolled out thin mattresses for us, and the tour organiser had supplied us with sleeping bags.

Welcomed with fried bread, dried yoghurt and milk tea

Two versions of dinner

Dinner came soon after and our hostess kindly made two versions of a similar dish—one vegetarian and one for meat eaters. Both dishes included homemade noodles that were delicious.

Lack of language didn’t seem to be much of a deterrent to conversation. Our guide spoke English so could translate as needed, but it’s amazing how much you can communicate with hand signals and simple words (oh, and YouTube).

Dad had his phone out and was keen to have us search for videos of sheep dogs at work. I guess that’s not surprising, given that he herds sheep, cattle and horses. He’d even heard of the video done by LED engineers of sheep wearing lights on their backs. I found it for him and we watched it on his phone. Here’s a link.

Dad strums some tunes

Then he played a few tunes on his stringed instrument.

We were surprised to learn that their son (who is 18) was going off to the army the next day. He was to begin his year of compulsory service. Apparently he could have done it this year or the next. His dad wanted him to wait, but mum was keen for him to get it out of the way.

But the son was still happy to do his morning chores the next morning. He led the cattle to pasture and fed the sheep before having his breakfast and preparing to go.

Time to go to the army

Little Miss

Sheep in for the night

I think a certain Little Miss will miss her big brother desperately. It was obvious how much they love one another and how well he helped to entertain and mind her. Even as he was about to get in the car, she made it clear she wasn’t going to let him go to off the army without her going along for the ride. Oh, the tears!

The son hopes to serve on the border between Mongolia and China or Mongolia and Russia. That’s where the army patrols to keep rustlers from crossing the border and stealing livestock that belongs to Mongolians. In fact, most Mongolian farmers round-up their animals at night to reduce the chance of them being stolen.

Mum cooks breakfast while our driver watches

After the car left, mum set about making a breakfast of eggs, toast, jam, homemade butter and fried lunch meat. I think the photos are a good indication of how the family gir is set out. The family has electricity thanks to solar panels (they even have a TV), and mum cooks on a small gas camp stove. The toilet is an outdoor affair about 20 metres from the main gir. It has a great view across to the hills.

All too soon it was time for us to go.

This homestay will always rank as the best for us.

A quick aside. I forgot to mention that there was an option to ride a horse. I said I wanted to ride, but Poor John, Sherry and Sharon no. The guide said that was fine. She’d call ahead and have the family go catch a horse. It might be kind of wild, is that okay?

Having wrecked my shoulder in Belgium in June, I decided to pass on the horse. Sometimes my common sense kicks in.