Happy days on the Selenge River

Day: 57-61

Sunrise:
06:56/07:02

Sunset:
19:22/19:13

As the crow flies:
4,96

Daily kilometers:
6

Total kilometers:
715

Soil condition:
Meadow

Temperature – Day (maximum):
26°C

Temperature – day (minimum):
22°C

Temperature – Night:
minus 5°

Latitude:
49°22’214”

Longitude:
101°07’471”

Maximum height:
1109 m above sea level

Time of departure:
12:40

Arrival time:
13:40

As it’s not far to our rest camp on the Selenge River today, we take things slowly. Taking a quick look out of the tent, I see someone riding away on a horse. Thinking of a horse thief, I shoot out of the fabric dwelling. “I can only see two horses,” I say to Tanja and grab my binoculars. I discover four more of our mounts in a nearby bush. Dressed only in my underpants, I walk towards the undergrowth. Hoping to find the sixth horse as well. I breathe a sigh of relief to discover Sharga grazing peacefully behind a mound of earth.

When I reach our camp again, Bilgee comes to meet me. “Oglooniiment”, (good morning) he greets me. “I saw the rider too. It’s a shepherd from the end of the valley,” he explains. After Tanja and Ulzii are out of their tents, we take our time for a leisurely breakfast. There are boortsog (yeast dough balls) with jam. Then Ulzii gets up abruptly to check on the horses. Because Bilgee lets them off the iron stakes every morning so that they can find enough grass in the area, they enjoy relative freedom. Nevertheless, each of the animals is tied together with a hobble (horse fetlock) on one front foot and one hind foot. They may not be able to charge off at a gallop, but they can still cover long distances. It doesn’t take long for Bilgee to follow Ulzii. Tanja and I use the peace and quiet in the camp to pack everything up. I am really happy about the leisureliness of the day. The last few days have demanded more energy from us than we thought. 40 minutes later, our men are still not there. “You won’t have lost the horses, will you?” I wonder, scanning the area with my binoculars. About two kilometers away, I spot two horses that could well belong to us. I nervously show them to Tanja. “I’ll help Bilgee and Ulzii,” she says and sets off on her search too. Another 20 minutes pass as Tanja enters the camp with our carriage horse Bor. “What about the two horses we saw earlier?” I ask. “I couldn’t find it anymore. Boron was tied to a tree. That’s why I brought it with me,” she explains. “So now we’ve lost our horses during breakfast?” I say with a strange calmness. “From the looks of it, yes. But we’ll find them again,” says Tanja confidently. Bilgee arrives bareback on Sharga. He hops it, sits down on the grass with us, picks up his notebook and starts to draw. “The horses have run to the Selenge River. Ulzii and I have followed their tracks. Ulzii will catch them again and be here in an hour or two,” he explains with words and pencil in a matter-of-fact manner that does not cause any unease.

However, it only takes 45 minutes for Ulzii to show up at the camp with Naraa and Sar. “I’ve put Bor and Od up with a nomad on the Selenge River,” he reassures us. We harness Sharga, tie Bor to the horse-drawn cart and saddle our two horses. Then we set off in the direction of the Selenge River. Ulzii takes the shortcut through the bushes on foot and will meet us again at the river.

An hour later we reach a campsite on the Selenge River that could only have come straight out of a fairytale book. There is wood without end. Water in abundance. Grass for the horses and what’s more, the beautiful spot is surrounded by low mountains so that the often annoying wind can’t get to us. Exuberant and happy, I walk with the men to the Selenge, which in many kilometers will feed the legendary Lake Baikal in Siberia. We strip down to our underpants and wash our dusty bodies. “Look Ulzii!” I shout with exuberance and jump my whole body into the icy water. I am immediately gripped by the current. I get my legs to the ground in time and stand up again. Although the water here is only about 30 centimetres deep, the relentless current almost swept me away. At a water temperature of perhaps three to four degrees, a person would only survive a few minutes before their circulation collapses. I stand there snorting with laughter but with my heart pounding. “Watch out for the current!” I warn Ulzii, who doesn’t miss the opportunity to submerge his body as well.

The days at Selnge River Camp are happy, harmonious days with truly picture-book weather. We enjoy them to the full, but we also have a few repairs to do, such as fixing my broken energy box, mending and sewing hobbles, halters, bridles and much more.

I finally have the time to look in Tanja’s mirror. When I see the old man with his full white beard, I am startled. “That’s you?” I ask myself. No wonder Bilgee’s drunken brother called me an octogenarian a few days ago. I immediately get my long-hair shaver and mow the grass out of my face. Relieved, I look at myself now and give myself a few more expeditions before I retire. “You should have told me that I look impossible,” I reproach Tanja. “You wanted protection from the sun and cold. So I accepted your decision,” she replies. “Yes, but not for that price. You don’t want to be out and about with an old man, do you?” “I love you just the way you are. With or without a beard,” she takes the wind out of my sails. “You look young,” says Ulzii, giving me a thumbs-up when he sees me without my beard for the first time. Bilgee also laughs and says that he likes a beardless Denis better.

Tanja
After just under an hour we reach the Selenge River.
We were already in high spirits on the way here and in anticipation of a rest camp, so this feeling is reinforced even more at the sight of the beautiful landscape and the river. Our horses are given fantastic food and water as much as they want. There is also plenty of water for us. So much so that Denis, Ulzii and Bilgee immediately take the opportunity to go and wash themselves. Shouts of joy and laughter reach me in the camp. Denis and Ulzii even jump briefly into the cold water, only to get out again quickly afterwards. The current is very strong and in some places certainly life-threatening. In the meantime, I prepare noodle soup and hot water for tea for us all. After washing their bodies, Ulzii and Bilgee really get going, washing their clothes like a conveyor belt and hanging them in the trees on the nearby shore. We are all happy. Some important basic needs are wonderfully satisfied on arrival at this camp. The opportunity to wash ourselves. Clean clothes, sunshine to keep you warm, shade when it gets too hot. No annoying wind and a warm meal. The animals are taken care of. While Denis is busy typing our experiences into the computer, Bilge and Ulzii show tremendous enthusiasm and explore the nearby surroundings, not forgetting the fishing line of course. Now I also look for a quiet spot and enjoy a relaxing and extensive scooping shower.
The coming days here are characterized by repair work, computer work, laundry and horse care. Denis spends almost an entire day repairing our energy box. He is looking for the error why it no longer displays a charge or no longer charges. A broken fuse and a rectifier are replaced and broken cable connections are re-soldered. Between all the work, of course, a lot of food is prepared. Bilgee spoils us with mantos (yeast dumplings) which we enjoy with various spreads. A few days ago we had already told our men that we would buy them a sheep, as the dried goat meat we had brought with us was running out. Without a doubt an absolute highlight for Bilgee and Ulzii. The two of them ride together to a nearby yurt to choose an animal from a herd of sheep. A few hours later, the two of them arrive on horseback, beaming. Bilgee has a three-year-old ram in front of him on the saddle. At first glance, the whole thing looks idyllic. The beautiful autumn-colored trees provide the perfect backdrop for the two riders and the pretty sheep, were it not for the fact that the poor animal is a candidate for death and probably has less than 15 minutes to live as I look at it. As I write these lines, a perfectly dismembered sheep carcass is hanging in a tree in our camp to dry. The fur was stripped clean and salted and stowed in a plastic bag in our trolley. The head and feet are later processed in a special soup.
Our Mongolians borrow a large cooking pot from the sheep seller to prepare a feast on the evening of the slaughter. The bowel was cleansed and filled. Thick sausages lie in the large pot, offal, onions and potatoes. Of course, there are also various things like blood soup for our dog Mogi. Surprisingly not very much as Bilgee is a true artist in the utilization and preparation of the sheep. On this early evening, I’m not sure whether my tiredness is due to the busy slaughtering and preparation activities or whether I’m simply overcome by the exertions of the last few days. I say goodbye early and retire to my tent. About 10 years ago I stopped eating meat for various reasons. Now I am traveling with my husband in a country where some people only live on meat. There is often nothing else. We explained to our husbands right from the start that I don’t eat meat and asked them to prepare certain meat dishes themselves if they wanted them. This works extremely well and everyone is happy. Our mutual acceptance is very high and nobody is bothered by the fact that I don’t eat meat and I also accept that our Mongolians and all other Mongolians have meat as their main source of food. Sometimes I am encouraged to think about eating meat at least for the winter. It would keep me warm and I would also need the fatty meat or fat reserves to stay warm. As I’ve never been a fan of the cold since I was a child, I’ll let the Mongolian fall and winter come to me and see what the future brings in terms of keeping warm. The next morning, Bilgee solemnly hands me one of the few cooked potatoes from the pot of blood soup inside. He saved these especially for me. He also always comes up with a pastry for me that is prepared without meat.

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