Deeply saddened

Day: 285-290

Sunrise:
05:47/05:38

Sunset:
20:51/20:59

Total kilometers:
1361

Soil condition:
Ice, snow

Temperature – Day (maximum):
20°C

Temperature – day (minimum):
12°C

Temperature – Night:
minus 15°C

Latitude:
51°39’155”

Longitude:
099°21’977”

Maximum height:
1858 m above sea level

As soon as we open our eyes, we talk about the new situation. No wonder we’re both not in a very good mood. “To be honest, I don’t feel like it anymore. Maybe we should break off the expedition here and fly home?” says Tanja sadly. “Are you serious? Just because one man is leaving our expedition, we’re throwing in the towel?” I reply. “It’s not just because Bilgee is leaving us here. It’s the sequence of events. Even if everything runs smoothly on the whole, life out here with these Tuwa is extremely mentally and physically exhausting. Now we have to look for a new horseman again and hope that he doesn’t give up in a lonely place or get tired and decide to leave at a moment’s notice. Or even steals her. No matter what we discussed beforehand,” says Tanja sadly. “Yes, you’re right. You can hardly rely on these people. It’s extremely difficult to make a friend here. Most of the time you’re played for a fool and in the end it turns out that everyone wants something from you. Either an invitation to Germany, money or other monetary reasons. Hardly anyone here does anything out of pure love or friendship. But maybe that’s asking too much? I don’t know if we’ve been here too long and I’m therefore no longer in a position to judge the situation objectively, but I don’t think this is a fundamental problem for Mongolians, but rather a human deficit. Reliable, deep and unselfish friendships are also rather rare in Germany,” I point out. And yet I am aware that there is hardly any other country where I have been cheated as often as here. It is pointless to analyze why this is the case. If we don’t want to jeopardize our highly interesting journey so far, we simply have to accept the uncertainty, the unreliability and the risk of being taken advantage of from time to time. If we are able to do this, we will have many more wonderful and extraordinary moments and months ahead of us. However, it is important not to burn out from the constant back and forth and the hassle. That would be understandable, but it would be an end that this expedition and we don’t deserve. Just the thought of giving up here would be an expensive shotgun throw. Who would buy our horses? Where to put the equipment etc.? I offer Tanja the chance to leave the expedition early. I don’t want to force her to do something she no longer enjoys. I myself come to the conclusion to continue and then to sell horses, horse-drawn carriages and other accumulated possessions with calm and prudence. Tanja thinks about her option and a little later comes to the conclusion to continue together. I am relieved as we are an unbeatable team together and I only enjoy traveling when we are together. Without Tanja, I would feel empty and the meaningfulness of this venture would raise huge question marks. But the fact is that she and I should have fun and enjoy our lifestyle together.

Over the next few days we racked our brains as to how we were going to manage to get out of here with our weak horses and foals. For the time being, we decide to stay here until they have built up more strength. Bilgee, he said, will leave the camp on a moped if one should come. Because we are staying here, he will leave in 10 days at the latest. According to his statement, he is going to Erdenet to try to get this job. If that works, he stays away. If not, he will come back. It’s as simple as that. To communicate with him, we have to take on a three-hour mountain hike. It is said that you can receive text messages and possibly make phone calls from the top of this mountain. All quite vague, but that’s the way it is.

As Bilgee wants to ride to the winter camp today to get the rest of his equipment, Tanja reminds me to get boards for a bed from an old Tuwa camp before he leaves. Ultsan points to the east, where one of the past camps is about a kilometer away. It doesn’t take long before we come across tipi poles and lots of roughly made planks, enough of which we load onto Bor and Sharga and have them carried into camp. Then Bilgee saddles his mount Tenger and puts the pack saddles on Sharga and Od. Because of the 70 square meter tipi screen and some kitchen utensils that Tanja and he had brought with them, they had to leave some of our equipment behind. For this reason, a third luggage ride is now required. In the days of his absence, we set up the tipi and make ourselves as comfortable as possible.

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