Day 12 Mongolia
We stopped at some Deer Stones in the morning for a little while. Read the sign if you're interested in what they are. Historically significant I'm sure but pretty boring. I took a photo of a penis stone though so it wasn't a total waste.
There were 2 pretty cool things that happened today.
We crashed a local wedding. JoJo (our local guide) found out about a wedding and we crashed it about halfway through its first day. These things go for about 3 days I believe.
I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of crashing a wedding I'm not invited to but we were assured it was OK. The Mongolians are very hospitable.
So we're driving along and there are 4 gers setup with a bunch of cars parked all around them.
We pile out of the truck and are welcomed with cheese and fermented horse milk. I'm still unclear if we're supposed to drink the whole cup of milk when we're presented it but they refill it after each person so the next person has a full glass and feels welcome.
As with any good Australian wedding it seemed to be split into the pissheads and the not-pissheads. A lot of the guys were already smashed and it was only a few hours into day 1. Nice to see some things are universal ;]
We sat down under a small tent to be welcomed again and were treated to a few shots of vodka and glasses of beer. I think I had 5 vodka shots and 2 bowls of beer and I got away pretty easy. The Mongolian vodka is actually pretty good. I usually don't like straight spirits but this was nice and easy to drink without the big alcohol burn at the end that I hate.
Then a bunch of photos with various combinations of people.
One of the guys ended up in a brief wrestling match on the way in. A hug turned into a lift, which turned into a throw which turned into a westerner on the ground. Amusing.
I felt sorry for the girls on the tour. There was a lot of groping going on by some of the drunker dudes. A couple in particular ... one of the British girls has Chinese heritage but looks a bit Mongolian so she was quite popular. And the girl from New Zealand is 6 foot tall and white skinned ... very unusual for Mongolia! And one of the guys took quite a shine to one of the American girls. She was being dragged about with him for photos constantly.
I'm pretty sure there were a few marriage proposals on the spot. Pity we don't speak any Mongolian.
I did not see the bride and groom as they were in one of the gers. A few of the group got to go inside and check it out (and take some photos) but I didn't want to intrude. It is after all the Bride and Groom's day not some tourist festival.
There was a mix of fashions on show but everyone looked like they had their best on. A mix of western clothes, traditional Mongolian outfits and what looked like some Chinese inspire outfits as well.
Eventually I believe it was suggested we leave. Probably by one of the mothers. I think a few people were glad to escape. A few too many shots and a few too many gropes. One of the old gropers tried to get onto the truck (chasing his new love I assume) and had to be dragged off by his wife or daughter.
Looked like it would have been a fun day if we'd been able to hang around.
We then looked for a camping spot for the night. The first spot was discarded as being a bit too close to the wedding in case of some drunken midnight visitors.
This turned out for the best. The new camp spot wasn't as nice but we did end up with a few local visitors in the evening.
The first set brought some local cheese and fermented horse milk as a welcome gift. We gave them beer in return ... a global gift always well received.
Next were a couple of herders in their 20s who rocked up on a motorcycle after dinner. They initially got a bit of a thrill by going straight to one of the guys who was in the middle of taking a shit. Awkward. He sent them down to the campfire and we shared a few drinks ... beers and vodka.
The highlight of this visit though was that one of them offered a song by the campfire. Obviously I couldn't understand a word of it but he had a nice deep voice and the song was fantastic. Someone took a recording of it so I'll see if I can get a copy. Then JoJo sang a song as well which was very different but just as nice. Unfortunately none of us could remember the words to a song to offer in return which I felt was kind of rude but whatever.
I went to bed after that but apparently we had another 7 visitors in small groups over the next couple of hours. Very hospitable people.
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