So after a day to recuperate from the bus journey I described previously, I headed out to Terelj national park with some friends for an outdoors weekend.
On Friday we picked up some horses and did a full day of riding. The views on this trek were absolutely stunning, with the rocks and the new green grass and baby animals abounding. The worst bit was that the poor horses had just survived a tough winter and obviously weren't really up to carrying a group of westerners around for the day. My horse at one point lay down (yes really) while I was on his back! I was rather unimpressed! And when we let them go at lunch time and then tried to catch them again, they tried to flee! So I did feel a bit bad - especially since by the end of the day I thought my horse was going to expire. But we all survived and made it back in one piece (and a local family got some badly needed funds from crazy westerners!). One of the funnier moments was when we had to go around a fence (yes of course in Mongolia the concept of fences is a bit strange) and this involved scaling a slight incline - the boys I was riding with weren't so confident and I had a lot of fun laughing at them!
Once we dropped the horses off we met up with the rest of our group and found a great campsite right on the very grassy riverbank. We built a big bonfire and even made smores (gotta love the Americans!). Although the weather during the days here is now consistently in the 20's, the nights get pretty darn cold, so I was very glad for my sleeping bag!
In the morning we packed up and headed off to the river. The term rafting (not white water rafting mother!) may have been an exaggeration - we were basically in blow up canoes. It was a great day but the wind made it tough in spots, as did the lack of water meaning I was in and out of the canoe and ended up completely soaked! But it was a whole part of the area near UB I had never seen before, and it was all starting to turn green, so another beautiful day, with some great physical activity. Unfortunately I put my suncream on before I took off my shoes, meaning that my feet and ankles fried. I am not kidding, on Sunday I couldn't walk, and they are still sore today 4 days later. I will not be forgetting the suncream any time soon!
What about work? From my past few blog posts you might assume I have been doing none! But no in the last few weeks I have managed 2 half day trainings, a proposal and a whole lot of report writing! I am finishing up my CMTU placement tomorrow, which is both sad and good. Sad because I have really enjoyed the work and the issues, and it has opened my eyes to another area of law. Good because I have very few weeks left in work, and I need to focus on my main placement and finish things up. I think I have about 6 weeks left in placement as I have 6 weeks of holidays and one week of VSO conference the rest of the time. The year has really flown in. I am going to be very sad to leave Mongolia, as I have learnt alot here about development, about myself and about this wonderful country. However I am looking forward to getting back to legal work which this year has clarified is the area I want to work in. And of course I am very much looking forward to catching up with all my friends and family.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Visit to the countryside
A whole post on a bus journey may have been too much, but I wanted to share the experience with you, and not post a mammoth blog post! So here is the second part, what I actually did on my holidays.
The first stop was Arvaikheer, the Aimag capital of Uvurkhangai. There are 5/6 volunteers based there along with 2 of their accompanying parters mostly working in Health and National volunteering. The size of the town fluctuates during the year (more in the winter, less in the summer) but it is around 16,000 people. It is a pretty small town which was just the kind of place I needed to go to clear my head!
The volunteers there were very welcoming. The first night we had ladies pizza night, which might not sound like much, but when your host has only one ring to cook on pizza becomes a lot more time consuming! It was great to catch up with all the ladies in Arvaikheer and hear what they have been up to.
Because my hostess is vegetarian I had a whole weekend of eating vegetables! (For anyone who knows me well this is not normal behaviour!!) And I learnt a lot about cooking veg and more practically cooking on one ring - I hadn't realised how easy I had it!
The two full days I spent in Arvaikheer it rained. This might sound like a point that would ruin a vacation, but as it was the first rain in 6 months it was fantastic! The first morning there we walked through the town to the look out and it was so nice to have the rain soaking my hair, my clothes and dampening down all the dust. The smell of rain, fire wood and earth was just such a reminder of home.
In the afternoon to get out of the worst of the rain we went shopping! The market is made up of 10's of shipping containers, which somehow got here! Each one sells a different thing ranging from clothes, to ger equipment to house hold supplies. One of the great things they sell is second hand clothing! Even me with my massive feet was able to find a pair of boots for about 7 pounds. My friend also got a pair of boots so it was a very successful trip!
One thing I found hard to deal with were the stray dogs everywhere. They were very friendly and generally harmless but a lot were starving, we even came across one little puppy who was so hungry he was eating cardboard. I was a real sucker and bought him some meat from a local stall, but I know it was just a stop gap. The thing is that due to the bad winter the people are starving, never mind the animals, so scraps are hard to come by because the people are eating everything they can get their hands on.
Later in the afternoon one of the volunteers who had bought a car drove us out to a local monument. Arvaikheer was named after a famous horse of the same name and a monument was built in the horses honour. Here the locals bring the heads of famous horses that have died. It was a bit creepy especially since there was a pretty fresh head which stank! They also stick sweets and biscuits in the eye sockets and other holes in the skulls which I found a bit gross!! But the view from the monument was spectacular, with the rolling land, the hills and just the absolute lack of anything surrounding us.
That evening we had a crazy thunderstorm. I had my fair share of thunder storms in Chicago, but this one was a doozy! At one point the thunder clapped so loud that the whole building shook - it sounded like a snare drum going off! It was also freezing now that the heating has been turned off so we curled up on the sofa with a DVD and a couple of duvets!
The next day I went into work with my hostess. She works at the Uvurkhangai Diagnostic center which serves 4/5 aimags, a massive area. People will travel for days to get treatment, often on the back of a horse! It just didn't compare to any of my experiences of hospitals in the UK/Ireland. There were cracks in the floors which were breeding grounds for bacteria, the number of patients and the queuing to see the doctors, the lack of toilets for patients, it was all just a little overwhelming. There is one working defibrilator in the hospital, and only 2 nurses work in the ER - there is no dedicated doctor there. But my friend is doing a lot of good work down there. She is improving the management practices and has applied for a large grant to build a new ER with better facilities. So there is a lot to be done, but progress is being made.
I then went for a walk out across the steppe which was just fantastic. To walk for 10/15 minutes and be literally at the end of the town, looking out across the fields was a great experience and then to just walk out across the endless plains was something I have been needing. I have been feeling very chlaustrophobic in the city and getting some time outside was needed. Because of the rains the grass was growing, the animals were eating and signs of new life were everywhere. It was still raining, sleeting, hailing and windy while I walked, but it blew the cobwebs away.
I attempted in the afternoon to go to the museum, however the power was out, and stayed out for a few hours, so everyone was sent home from work early! Gotta love Mongolia! I had seen some little side cars around attached to motorbikes so I got a ride home in a side car which caused great amusement to all the locals. There aren't many blondes in Arvaikheer so I already stuck out like a sore thumb!
In the evening another volunteer had her nightly soup night which is a great idea and gives volunteers a time to meet, socialise and relax in friendly surroundings. The only rule is you have to bring your own bowl and spoon!
The next morning the beautiful Mongolian blue sky was back in business and I got a good walk in before leaving up to the lookout, then along the ridge of the hills, looking over on one side to arvaikheer and on the other to the wide expanse of countryside.
After my interesting trip across country to Kharkhorum as mentioned in the previous post, I arrived in a much more touristy town. It was smaller than Arvaikheer and built around the ancient remains of Chinggis Khan's capital of his empire. The Capital itself, and Erdene Zuu monastry within are definitely worth a look. But the town itself is a little shabby and not of much note. In fact I had a dreadful time trying to find somewhere to stay. Nothing was open (its a Tuesday and only the very beginning of tourist season) and anywhere that was was too scary for me!!After walking around for a while I found the tourist ger camps and gave in and took a ger for the night.
In actual fact it turned out very well. The camp was right on the bank of the River Orkhon, about 2 km outside the town (yes I did a lot of walking that day!). It was a beautiful area, much nicer than the town, and allowed me to spend the evening walking and then watching the sunset and the stars come out! On the top of a nearby hill there is a map monument showing the old Mongolian empire, which is pretty fascinating. But the main attraction for me was the view down over the valley, absolutely stunning!
Unfortunately I had to come back to UB, but tomorrow I am heading out camping and rafting so there will be more tales I am sure on my return!
The first stop was Arvaikheer, the Aimag capital of Uvurkhangai. There are 5/6 volunteers based there along with 2 of their accompanying parters mostly working in Health and National volunteering. The size of the town fluctuates during the year (more in the winter, less in the summer) but it is around 16,000 people. It is a pretty small town which was just the kind of place I needed to go to clear my head!
The volunteers there were very welcoming. The first night we had ladies pizza night, which might not sound like much, but when your host has only one ring to cook on pizza becomes a lot more time consuming! It was great to catch up with all the ladies in Arvaikheer and hear what they have been up to.
Because my hostess is vegetarian I had a whole weekend of eating vegetables! (For anyone who knows me well this is not normal behaviour!!) And I learnt a lot about cooking veg and more practically cooking on one ring - I hadn't realised how easy I had it!
The two full days I spent in Arvaikheer it rained. This might sound like a point that would ruin a vacation, but as it was the first rain in 6 months it was fantastic! The first morning there we walked through the town to the look out and it was so nice to have the rain soaking my hair, my clothes and dampening down all the dust. The smell of rain, fire wood and earth was just such a reminder of home.
In the afternoon to get out of the worst of the rain we went shopping! The market is made up of 10's of shipping containers, which somehow got here! Each one sells a different thing ranging from clothes, to ger equipment to house hold supplies. One of the great things they sell is second hand clothing! Even me with my massive feet was able to find a pair of boots for about 7 pounds. My friend also got a pair of boots so it was a very successful trip!
One thing I found hard to deal with were the stray dogs everywhere. They were very friendly and generally harmless but a lot were starving, we even came across one little puppy who was so hungry he was eating cardboard. I was a real sucker and bought him some meat from a local stall, but I know it was just a stop gap. The thing is that due to the bad winter the people are starving, never mind the animals, so scraps are hard to come by because the people are eating everything they can get their hands on.
Later in the afternoon one of the volunteers who had bought a car drove us out to a local monument. Arvaikheer was named after a famous horse of the same name and a monument was built in the horses honour. Here the locals bring the heads of famous horses that have died. It was a bit creepy especially since there was a pretty fresh head which stank! They also stick sweets and biscuits in the eye sockets and other holes in the skulls which I found a bit gross!! But the view from the monument was spectacular, with the rolling land, the hills and just the absolute lack of anything surrounding us.
That evening we had a crazy thunderstorm. I had my fair share of thunder storms in Chicago, but this one was a doozy! At one point the thunder clapped so loud that the whole building shook - it sounded like a snare drum going off! It was also freezing now that the heating has been turned off so we curled up on the sofa with a DVD and a couple of duvets!
The next day I went into work with my hostess. She works at the Uvurkhangai Diagnostic center which serves 4/5 aimags, a massive area. People will travel for days to get treatment, often on the back of a horse! It just didn't compare to any of my experiences of hospitals in the UK/Ireland. There were cracks in the floors which were breeding grounds for bacteria, the number of patients and the queuing to see the doctors, the lack of toilets for patients, it was all just a little overwhelming. There is one working defibrilator in the hospital, and only 2 nurses work in the ER - there is no dedicated doctor there. But my friend is doing a lot of good work down there. She is improving the management practices and has applied for a large grant to build a new ER with better facilities. So there is a lot to be done, but progress is being made.
I then went for a walk out across the steppe which was just fantastic. To walk for 10/15 minutes and be literally at the end of the town, looking out across the fields was a great experience and then to just walk out across the endless plains was something I have been needing. I have been feeling very chlaustrophobic in the city and getting some time outside was needed. Because of the rains the grass was growing, the animals were eating and signs of new life were everywhere. It was still raining, sleeting, hailing and windy while I walked, but it blew the cobwebs away.
I attempted in the afternoon to go to the museum, however the power was out, and stayed out for a few hours, so everyone was sent home from work early! Gotta love Mongolia! I had seen some little side cars around attached to motorbikes so I got a ride home in a side car which caused great amusement to all the locals. There aren't many blondes in Arvaikheer so I already stuck out like a sore thumb!
In the evening another volunteer had her nightly soup night which is a great idea and gives volunteers a time to meet, socialise and relax in friendly surroundings. The only rule is you have to bring your own bowl and spoon!
The next morning the beautiful Mongolian blue sky was back in business and I got a good walk in before leaving up to the lookout, then along the ridge of the hills, looking over on one side to arvaikheer and on the other to the wide expanse of countryside.
After my interesting trip across country to Kharkhorum as mentioned in the previous post, I arrived in a much more touristy town. It was smaller than Arvaikheer and built around the ancient remains of Chinggis Khan's capital of his empire. The Capital itself, and Erdene Zuu monastry within are definitely worth a look. But the town itself is a little shabby and not of much note. In fact I had a dreadful time trying to find somewhere to stay. Nothing was open (its a Tuesday and only the very beginning of tourist season) and anywhere that was was too scary for me!!After walking around for a while I found the tourist ger camps and gave in and took a ger for the night.
In actual fact it turned out very well. The camp was right on the bank of the River Orkhon, about 2 km outside the town (yes I did a lot of walking that day!). It was a beautiful area, much nicer than the town, and allowed me to spend the evening walking and then watching the sunset and the stars come out! On the top of a nearby hill there is a map monument showing the old Mongolian empire, which is pretty fascinating. But the main attraction for me was the view down over the valley, absolutely stunning!
Unfortunately I had to come back to UB, but tomorrow I am heading out camping and rafting so there will be more tales I am sure on my return!
A bus journey in Mongolia
A bus journey in Mongolia is an intriguing experience! To many it is purely a method to get from one point to another as efficiently as possible. However in my last few days of travelling around the countryside I have found the bus journeys to be fascinating from the views of the countryside to the people I have met. So here are some thoughts on bus journeys in Mongolia.
Getting onto the bus, getting a seat and having any leg room are all difficult to accomplish, especially if your Mongolian is as bad as mine is! Bus tickets go on sale 24 hours before the bus leaves, but there are sometimes a few seats at the front of the bus that aren't ticketed - these are first come first served before the bus leaves. I ended up in one of these seats, through no skill of my own, but due to a very nice man who grabbed my backpack, pulled me through the crowd and deposited me in the seat next to him. I of course had no clue what was going on, which bus I had been put on or how to pay! It was all absolutely fine and I was safely on my way.
However sometimes the bus driver will allow a few extra people on the bus to stand (for a 6-8 hour bus journey). They go in the aisle, where alot of luggage is stored and try to squeeze a space on a somewhat comfortable spot - I was certainly glad it wasnt me.
The luggage holds seem to be quite small - I certainly have no idea what goes under the bus as most of the luggage I saw was put on the bus - in the overhead bins, under the seat in front or in the aisle. It is all perfectly safe - all my stuff made it to and from Arvaikheer in one piece! It just means that leg room doesn't always exist!
The leaving time is another fluid concept depending on the driver, his friends, the weather, whether the bus is working and how many spare seats there are. I was only 15 minutes late leaving UB, but leaving Kharkhorum the bus left 1 hour late!
Once the bus is on the move the entertainment begins. Of course my companions were very keen to try out their English skills, and ascertain where I was from, what I was doing etc. The fact I was carrying a 10 pack of toilet rolls (for a friend in Arvaikheer) apparently meant I wasn't a tourist so this caused even more interest! Aside from my companions the bus driver likes to play his favourite Mongolian music at full volume as you drive. If you are very lucky you might even get treated to the music videos on a TV screen at the front of the bus. This certainly kept me entertained making up stories for the videos which are full of traditional costumes, green rolling hills and horses. One particular video that stood out was of a military man coming home from his military service and he gallops across the fields on his noble steed, but it was comical because his legs were nearly dragging along the ground, because of the size of the horse (or pony!). When the popular songs come on the whole bus will serenade you with their (off key and out of tune) rendition!
Of course the roads are interesting. Luckily the majority of the roads I was on were paved, but due to the frost there were many potholes ranging in size from a football to the width of the road. Where they were really big the road would be closed and we would have to venture off across country. Some of those paths had nearly as bad potholes and due to the size of the bus we had to go pretty slowly at times
For me the best part of the bus trip was the scenery. Going south to Arvaikheer (and back again) the scenery changed drastically. About an hour outside UB there was suddenly green grass popping up. The hills around UB give way to rolling steppe which is dotted with little white gers, herds of animals and the occasional Stupa! I even passed Mongol Els, the longest sand dunes in Mongolia which was pretty impressive!
Unfortunately due to the dreadful winter the animals in the Uvurkhangai aimag (which was particularly badly hit) were pretty scraggly looking, and a lot of the horses had bones showing. I also passed a lot of dead animals on the side of the roads, some piled up for collection, others lying where they died. It was a very depressing sight, and something which brought home to me the reality of the Dzud, something I have been very removed from.
While I was in Arvaikheer we had our first 2 days of rain in almost 6 months (it cheered me up considerably!) and on the trip back I saw a lot of herders driving their 10's or 100's of animals to the nearest puddle to water them. The herd can include everything from horses, cows, yaks, sheep, goats and even camels! And the babies are all absolutely adorable, especially the baby goats! Due to the rain I even saw some little yellow flowers on the way home - a really exciting event as I have been missing the spring flowers.
Anyway on with the bus trip. Half way through you stop for food at the equivalent of a motorway service station. Now this is Mongolia so it comprises a row of small cafe's or in some cases gers, and each day the bus stops at a different one and herds all the passengers inside. Again this is Mongolia so the conveniences are few and far between. The outhouses usually have only 3 walls, the open one facing the road (of course!) and they are of the long drop variety. But this is a luxury compared to the toilet stops which usually occur in the middle of the flatest field the (male) bus driver can find. There is no consideration of women and we just have to shield ourselves with a draped coat! Lovely!
For all its foibles I really enjoyed my journey to Arvaikheer and back again!
Just as a post script the other form of travel I tried out while on my adventure was the shared car. A lot of the soums are not connected together, but rather the public busses just run to and from UB. I decided to go from Arvaikheer 3 hours across country to Kharkhorum, the ancient capital of Mongolia. This involved turning up at Arvaikheer market and finding a car with a Kharkhorum sign in the window. Drivers who need to travel between the two towns often want passengers to help pay the fuel so they wait in the market until they have enough passengers to make the trip worthwhile. I was lucky, the car I chose was leaving immediately (immediately can mean any time from now to 4 hours time, but this one left there and then) and we only had 4 passengers in the car rather than crushing ourselves in like sardines.
It was a mostly off road adventure, and due to the rains we passed a number of larger trucks stuck deep in the mud which was a little off putting (as were the state of some of the bridges we crossed!). We had the obligatory mid point stop, where my fellow passengers produced the requisite vodka, snuff bottles and chocolate, and polite refusals were not allowed. I did make sure the driver did not have too much vodka!
The "roads" you follow when you go off roads, aren't roads as such, they are dirt tire tracks which I have no idea how the drivers navigate. At one point we were definitely driving in circles with everyone except me giving their opinion on where we should be going. The only tip I have been given is to follow the electricity pylons which connect the towns together. But even this can be hit and miss!
At one point in the journey we did stop to pick up a goat. Not as I would have assumed to put it in the car (I have become acclimatised to this!) but to set it back on its feet. It was merely lying on its side, so I have no idea why we did it, but that is another one of the mysteries of Mongolia!
Getting onto the bus, getting a seat and having any leg room are all difficult to accomplish, especially if your Mongolian is as bad as mine is! Bus tickets go on sale 24 hours before the bus leaves, but there are sometimes a few seats at the front of the bus that aren't ticketed - these are first come first served before the bus leaves. I ended up in one of these seats, through no skill of my own, but due to a very nice man who grabbed my backpack, pulled me through the crowd and deposited me in the seat next to him. I of course had no clue what was going on, which bus I had been put on or how to pay! It was all absolutely fine and I was safely on my way.
However sometimes the bus driver will allow a few extra people on the bus to stand (for a 6-8 hour bus journey). They go in the aisle, where alot of luggage is stored and try to squeeze a space on a somewhat comfortable spot - I was certainly glad it wasnt me.
The luggage holds seem to be quite small - I certainly have no idea what goes under the bus as most of the luggage I saw was put on the bus - in the overhead bins, under the seat in front or in the aisle. It is all perfectly safe - all my stuff made it to and from Arvaikheer in one piece! It just means that leg room doesn't always exist!
The leaving time is another fluid concept depending on the driver, his friends, the weather, whether the bus is working and how many spare seats there are. I was only 15 minutes late leaving UB, but leaving Kharkhorum the bus left 1 hour late!
Once the bus is on the move the entertainment begins. Of course my companions were very keen to try out their English skills, and ascertain where I was from, what I was doing etc. The fact I was carrying a 10 pack of toilet rolls (for a friend in Arvaikheer) apparently meant I wasn't a tourist so this caused even more interest! Aside from my companions the bus driver likes to play his favourite Mongolian music at full volume as you drive. If you are very lucky you might even get treated to the music videos on a TV screen at the front of the bus. This certainly kept me entertained making up stories for the videos which are full of traditional costumes, green rolling hills and horses. One particular video that stood out was of a military man coming home from his military service and he gallops across the fields on his noble steed, but it was comical because his legs were nearly dragging along the ground, because of the size of the horse (or pony!). When the popular songs come on the whole bus will serenade you with their (off key and out of tune) rendition!
Of course the roads are interesting. Luckily the majority of the roads I was on were paved, but due to the frost there were many potholes ranging in size from a football to the width of the road. Where they were really big the road would be closed and we would have to venture off across country. Some of those paths had nearly as bad potholes and due to the size of the bus we had to go pretty slowly at times
For me the best part of the bus trip was the scenery. Going south to Arvaikheer (and back again) the scenery changed drastically. About an hour outside UB there was suddenly green grass popping up. The hills around UB give way to rolling steppe which is dotted with little white gers, herds of animals and the occasional Stupa! I even passed Mongol Els, the longest sand dunes in Mongolia which was pretty impressive!
Unfortunately due to the dreadful winter the animals in the Uvurkhangai aimag (which was particularly badly hit) were pretty scraggly looking, and a lot of the horses had bones showing. I also passed a lot of dead animals on the side of the roads, some piled up for collection, others lying where they died. It was a very depressing sight, and something which brought home to me the reality of the Dzud, something I have been very removed from.
While I was in Arvaikheer we had our first 2 days of rain in almost 6 months (it cheered me up considerably!) and on the trip back I saw a lot of herders driving their 10's or 100's of animals to the nearest puddle to water them. The herd can include everything from horses, cows, yaks, sheep, goats and even camels! And the babies are all absolutely adorable, especially the baby goats! Due to the rain I even saw some little yellow flowers on the way home - a really exciting event as I have been missing the spring flowers.
Anyway on with the bus trip. Half way through you stop for food at the equivalent of a motorway service station. Now this is Mongolia so it comprises a row of small cafe's or in some cases gers, and each day the bus stops at a different one and herds all the passengers inside. Again this is Mongolia so the conveniences are few and far between. The outhouses usually have only 3 walls, the open one facing the road (of course!) and they are of the long drop variety. But this is a luxury compared to the toilet stops which usually occur in the middle of the flatest field the (male) bus driver can find. There is no consideration of women and we just have to shield ourselves with a draped coat! Lovely!
For all its foibles I really enjoyed my journey to Arvaikheer and back again!
Just as a post script the other form of travel I tried out while on my adventure was the shared car. A lot of the soums are not connected together, but rather the public busses just run to and from UB. I decided to go from Arvaikheer 3 hours across country to Kharkhorum, the ancient capital of Mongolia. This involved turning up at Arvaikheer market and finding a car with a Kharkhorum sign in the window. Drivers who need to travel between the two towns often want passengers to help pay the fuel so they wait in the market until they have enough passengers to make the trip worthwhile. I was lucky, the car I chose was leaving immediately (immediately can mean any time from now to 4 hours time, but this one left there and then) and we only had 4 passengers in the car rather than crushing ourselves in like sardines.
It was a mostly off road adventure, and due to the rains we passed a number of larger trucks stuck deep in the mud which was a little off putting (as were the state of some of the bridges we crossed!). We had the obligatory mid point stop, where my fellow passengers produced the requisite vodka, snuff bottles and chocolate, and polite refusals were not allowed. I did make sure the driver did not have too much vodka!
The "roads" you follow when you go off roads, aren't roads as such, they are dirt tire tracks which I have no idea how the drivers navigate. At one point we were definitely driving in circles with everyone except me giving their opinion on where we should be going. The only tip I have been given is to follow the electricity pylons which connect the towns together. But even this can be hit and miss!
At one point in the journey we did stop to pick up a goat. Not as I would have assumed to put it in the car (I have become acclimatised to this!) but to set it back on its feet. It was merely lying on its side, so I have no idea why we did it, but that is another one of the mysteries of Mongolia!
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
And then the winds came
The crazy spring weather has continued. Although it is now consistently warm (and it even hit positive 21 on Friday!) over the weekend we had some strong winds which brought with them dust storms. But before we get to that I'll fill you in on what else has been going on in Mongolia.
It has been a quiet week in work. My fundraising proposals for CMTU got submitted and I have two trainings to prepare for in May so that will keep me busy for the next few weeks. At MEA we are still working away on a couple of proposals one for STARS and finalising the funding agreement with Mongol Charity Rallies.
I received my leavers pack this week as I am leaving in 4 months time! It was a bit of a shock to the system but it got me thinking. I have 4 months left (or just under now) and at least 8 weeks of that will be spent travelling/at VSO conference/spending time with Mum. So I have literally 8/10 weeks left at placement! Scary thought.
So I have started work on a couple of fundraising folders. I finish at CMTU at the end of May so I am working on theirs first and it will basically include all my training materials, funding proposals we have written, lists of potential funders and then useful documents and guidelines for fundraising. I will also do one for MEA and also for VSO as I don't think there are going to be many fundraisers here next year. MEA have also committed to hiring a fundraiser locally so I will have to train that person up when they are hired and hopefully they will successfully take over from me.
On Friday I had another random Mongolian experience - when I said I was going to Mongolia our next door neighbours of course happened to know a guy who owned a cashmere factory in Ulaanbaatar. Recently I got in touch with him and when we eventually were both free he invited me out to see his cashmere factory. It was absolutely fascinating, although I still have no idea about what was actually going on most of the time! His cashmere was just fabulous - I am going to have a lot of excess luggage on my way home if I keep visiting cashmere shops!
It was a busy week socially even if it was quiet in work. One of the "house husbands" (husband accompanying a volunteer) has set up an organisation called Mongol Expat which organises activities for expats to network in Ulaanbaatar. He has organised Wednesday night ex pat drinks which is a great opportunity to meet people outside your own group. The people there range from volunteers to miners and missionaries so it is a good group to mix in. And they have organised cheap drinks!! Always a good sell to poor volunteers!
Thursday night I did dinner and a movie swap with another volunteer and then on Friday we headed to the St Georges day party at the British Embassy. The last thing I thought I was going to see in Mongolia was Morris dancing! Accompanied by snacks of steak and kidney pie and mushy peas! It was a good night, if a little strange!
The weekend itself was spent outside enjoying the beautiful weather. On Saturday Mongol Expat had organised a picnic just outside UB on the river Tuul. Unfortunately when we were walking there it was really windy and that kicked up some dust storms. I did not know it was possible to get sand in so many places. It was engrained into my pores, got through my clothes, into my ears and my teeth! Horrible! But once we got to the picnic spot it was pretty sheltered so we avoided the worst of it. The picnic itself was great fun, a good group of people were there, but mostly our regular crowd. Half way through lunch a herd of goats and sheep were driven down to the river by their herders to drink. The baby goats were absolutely adorable!
On Sunday we sadly said goodbye to another volunteer. The wife of our country director has been offered another post in Bangladesh. I am so pleased for her, but sad for us as she has been so welcoming to all volunteers and she is a fabulous cook! And she cooked for us one last time at a barbeque on Sunday. It was pot luck and the food was absolutely fabulous! Some ex pats here can really whip up fab food with very few supplies.
It has been a quiet week in work. My fundraising proposals for CMTU got submitted and I have two trainings to prepare for in May so that will keep me busy for the next few weeks. At MEA we are still working away on a couple of proposals one for STARS and finalising the funding agreement with Mongol Charity Rallies.
I received my leavers pack this week as I am leaving in 4 months time! It was a bit of a shock to the system but it got me thinking. I have 4 months left (or just under now) and at least 8 weeks of that will be spent travelling/at VSO conference/spending time with Mum. So I have literally 8/10 weeks left at placement! Scary thought.
So I have started work on a couple of fundraising folders. I finish at CMTU at the end of May so I am working on theirs first and it will basically include all my training materials, funding proposals we have written, lists of potential funders and then useful documents and guidelines for fundraising. I will also do one for MEA and also for VSO as I don't think there are going to be many fundraisers here next year. MEA have also committed to hiring a fundraiser locally so I will have to train that person up when they are hired and hopefully they will successfully take over from me.
On Friday I had another random Mongolian experience - when I said I was going to Mongolia our next door neighbours of course happened to know a guy who owned a cashmere factory in Ulaanbaatar. Recently I got in touch with him and when we eventually were both free he invited me out to see his cashmere factory. It was absolutely fascinating, although I still have no idea about what was actually going on most of the time! His cashmere was just fabulous - I am going to have a lot of excess luggage on my way home if I keep visiting cashmere shops!
It was a busy week socially even if it was quiet in work. One of the "house husbands" (husband accompanying a volunteer) has set up an organisation called Mongol Expat which organises activities for expats to network in Ulaanbaatar. He has organised Wednesday night ex pat drinks which is a great opportunity to meet people outside your own group. The people there range from volunteers to miners and missionaries so it is a good group to mix in. And they have organised cheap drinks!! Always a good sell to poor volunteers!
Thursday night I did dinner and a movie swap with another volunteer and then on Friday we headed to the St Georges day party at the British Embassy. The last thing I thought I was going to see in Mongolia was Morris dancing! Accompanied by snacks of steak and kidney pie and mushy peas! It was a good night, if a little strange!
The weekend itself was spent outside enjoying the beautiful weather. On Saturday Mongol Expat had organised a picnic just outside UB on the river Tuul. Unfortunately when we were walking there it was really windy and that kicked up some dust storms. I did not know it was possible to get sand in so many places. It was engrained into my pores, got through my clothes, into my ears and my teeth! Horrible! But once we got to the picnic spot it was pretty sheltered so we avoided the worst of it. The picnic itself was great fun, a good group of people were there, but mostly our regular crowd. Half way through lunch a herd of goats and sheep were driven down to the river by their herders to drink. The baby goats were absolutely adorable!
On Sunday we sadly said goodbye to another volunteer. The wife of our country director has been offered another post in Bangladesh. I am so pleased for her, but sad for us as she has been so welcoming to all volunteers and she is a fabulous cook! And she cooked for us one last time at a barbeque on Sunday. It was pot luck and the food was absolutely fabulous! Some ex pats here can really whip up fab food with very few supplies.
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