Off the map adventures

After our last morning of building, we all took a premature shower because we didn’t know when to expect our next encounter with running water. (But we knew it would not be during our upcoming two day of R&R on the way back to Ulaanbaatar.)

Tseren Tours pulled up in three vans. We could choose between riding in the Korean van (solid) or the Russian van (with large tires capable of manoeuvring the unpaved roads). Our guide Teggy, no doubt used to the lazy pace of large groups, taught us early on the Mongolian expression “ya wee!” which means “let’s go!” Very useful for rounding the last of the snap happy shutter bugs back into the van for a move on.

The drive from Kharkhorin to the Orkhon Waterfalls was 120 kilometers and 2 4.5 hours away. It was the most scenic drive of my whole trip. Juno caught a precious glimpse of one horse mounting another. My eyes were big, seeing my first yak (and my second, and third, and…). Our driver pulled up to a couple of cowboys herding their yaks to inquire about the depth of the nearby river. Assured, he drove our van through the river, under the watchful gaze of animals caught with their snouts down in mid sip.

After an hour of drive we saw something waving from the middle of a river. It was the international signal for “Help! We drove our van into a river and now we’re stuck!”

The van was full of young guys on vacation who clearly did not have access to a local cowboy’s advice before driving into the river. Our Russian van drove in, got tied to the stuck van with a rope, and put the gas on the pedal. We heard the rolling of tires which we soon realized was the sound of two vans getting stuck. The rope was lengthened and our Russian van started the rescue pulling closer to shore. Raymond from our group who knew a thing or two about rescue missions (from the kindness of strangers in the Canadian wilderness) ran into the river, sneakers and all, and started pushing the stuck van. He inspired the stranded guys to get out of the van to contribute their muscle power as well. That did the trick. And a big cheer went up when the van popped out and started rolling forward.

The slogan of Tseren Tours is “Off the Map Adventures” and this first adventure showed us that they really cared enough to provide us with only the finest of experiences.

Our drive lasted unexpectedly into the night. In the dark, van pulled over from time to time to speak to nomads. “We must be lost,” we whispered but Teggy overheard us. “We’re not lost….The family we were supposed to stay with are nomads and they’ve relocated since we last spoke.”

I still had doubts and was starting to think that maybe Mongolian drivers were NOT born with a GPS system implanted in their brains. Honestly, what were the chances of locating our four reserved gers with no addresses in the middle of nowhere from dark, signless roads.

After one final inquiry, our guide announced, “this is our family. We’re here!” Doubts aside, we were grateful to have arrived. Though the gers did not contain all the beds our group was promised, Tsersen Tours provided us with sleeping bags, rolled up foam mats, and even dinner. (I recognized the pot of potato salad that sat by my feet during the drive over). Teggy said we were very lucky be on their tour because the guides were not only guides, but doubled as cooks. Hmm…

This entry was posted on October 14, 2008 at 4:41 am and is filed under Mongolia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.