Bilgee’s helping hands

Day: 250

Sunrise:
07:01

Sunset:
19:52

Total kilometers:
1341

Soil condition:
Ice, snow

Temperature – Day (maximum):
minus 5°C

Temperature – day (minimum):
minus 10°C

Temperature – Night:
minus 15°C

Latitude:
51°33’337”

Longitude:
099°15’341”

Maximum height:
1981 m above sea level

First thing in the morning, Bilgee carves up the goat on his bed. To prevent the sleeping mat and horse blanket on which he rests at night from dripping with blood, he puts them to one side. Bilgee cuts off a generous portion for Tsaya and Ultsan, which I immediately bring to our neighbors in a tin bowl. “Thank you very much. That’s far too much,” says Tsaya. “That’s all right,” I reply. “Uh, can you please give me the bowl back right away. We need it to knead the flour for our bread. But please don’t get me wrong, because I’ll ask for it back straight away. Yes?” “No, don’t get me wrong,” she replies conciliatory.

When I get back to the yurt, Tanja and Bilgee are mixing the horse feed that we were lucky enough to buy in Tsagaan Nuur. “Muu”, (“bad”) says Bilgee. “What’s bad?” I ask. “The horse feed is no good. It won’t give the horses any strength. Poor quality,” he explains. “Better than nothing,” I say. Then we give our six horses a bowlful each and they munch on the stuff ravenously. “Good to see her eating with such an appetite,” I say. “What do you mean?” asks Tanja. “Imagine them standing around apathetically and not being hungry. That would be bad. But this way I see a good chance of feeding them again.” “That’s right,” Tanja confirms.

In the evening, Bilgee brings two sacks full of snow from the clearing where the horses have been eating grass all day. As almost all the snow in the immediate vicinity of the camp has melted away, we are now relieved to be able to access the precious white in this way. Even in the first few days, Bilgee proves to be a prudent, helpful man who doesn’t need to be told what to do. He finds the tasks himself and is happy to help us wherever he can. “I’m glad to know he’s here,” says Tanja. “Yes, he makes our everyday life easier,” I say and see how he has grabbed the axe to chop wood.

In the evening, Bilgee prepares buuz (dumplings filled with meat). During our short stay in Tsagaan Nuur, we asked Gamba to keep our last beef reserves on his Wandan (high stand) for us. “Asuudal bisch”, (“No problem”) he promised and stowed it away in a place the suns can’t reach. “The meat is gone,” says Tanja, just entering the yurt. “How is the meat gone?” “Purvee can’t find it anymore. She thinks it fell off the wall.” “And the dogs were happy about that?” I ask, shaking my head. “That’s right,” she confirms. “Then we’ll take the piece of beef that Tsendmaa gave us. That’s enough for at least two Buuz portions,” I suggest and pick up the meat that I have tucked under the outer tarpaulin on the north side of our yurt.

It is 10 p.m. when Bilgee and Tanja serve the delicious buuz on a plate. “The rounds are yours. They have beef in them. The long ones are filled with goat meat,” Bilgee says with a friendly smile as I can’t stand goat meat. “Oh, fantastic,” I mumble, biting into the juicy pastry. Tanja, who was a vegetarian for over 10 years, has adapted to the local customs and enjoys the specialty prepared by Bilgee. “Hmmm delicious,” she praises him. Now that our team is complete again, we celebrate the occasion with a bottle of beer that we have brought back from Tsagaan Nuur and enjoy a wonderful, harmonious evening.

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