Day 14 : 08/02. Hiking in the Eight Lake area, first day.

My first thought, on the 2nd of August, is that we have been too optimistic with Laure, concerning our night. 

Our two acolytes left their vodka and their tabacco at midnight, Zoriggo, very drunk, spoke during a long time. Ariuka eventually asked him to ' shut up' but Tseegii started snoring at this moment. Then Zoriggo decided to go to the toilets and while going back  to bed, he walked on me. Then he woke everyone up asking Tseegii to give him a lamp : what a night ! 

We are exactly mid-trip.

Today, we departed for the protected area of the Eight Lakes with four other french people. These tourists don't ride horses so the Mongols gave them tourists horses and we had the great opportunity to ride 'real' mongolian horses, which are used to work by the herders. 

No sooner was I sitted on my saddle than my horse was already troting even if someone was still holding it ! The first kilometer was quite hectic and the man who I still call 'the guide' but who is Batsukh holds it with a leash to calm the horse down. I could have handled it but it is always safer to trust the Mongols, especially Batsukh. 

My horse progressively calms down as we go along, and Batsukh tells me that it ran the Naadam ( note of the translator : the most famous horse race in Mongolia ). i ask him if I am allowed to galop, I always dreamt to ride a racing horse but I didn't know that the first one would be a mongolian one ! Then I galop as quick as a flash toward the riders ahead, I have trouble to slow my sprinter down. What a pleasure ! 

We reach the montain, the slopes are steep, the paths are rocky but I am not afraid on this horse. Sometimes, it even galops in the slopes ! Aagii, Batsukh's son, who accompanies us, walks ahead of me . Suddenly, he loses his pack-horse's leash, because it choses to pass the other way around a tree ... I lean over and grab the leash to give it back to Aagii. He smiles, a little surprised of the capacities of the skinny french girl. 

We are a big group for this three-days hike : 13 riders, 14 horses ( a pack-horse for our stuff ). The inconvenient of the beginners is their physical condition which makes them  have long pauses at lunch, whereas we prefer to have more time on our night camps. But Mongolia, often thanked for its sense of hospitality, also taught us to respect more other people. 

During this first hiking day, I stayed alone on my horse and wrote my journal. All of a sudden, the french language has become again an openness : five people ( plus Ana and Laure ) understand it, we find our culture back with the tourists and it is quite violent. I didn't need it and I need to isolate myself. The french language had become a dialect, it becomes a source of information and a language back. 

My knee hurts, the difficulties of the ground oblige me to be balanced on my saddle and it hurts. Patience is needed. 

The first lake , Us Lake ( us : water ) tragically dries for four years, it is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site ( and the Orkhon's valley, too ). The hotter and hotter summers jeopardize its existence.

The second lake, Bar Lake, is quite big and is located between two mountains. It is really beautiful and we had the horses drinking there.

The third lake, Toro Lake ( toro : heron ) is the biggest we have seen for the moment. The lush vegetation surrounds it.

 

The landscape impresses us : after the steppe, we are in a place where the mountains are round but high, we are surrounded by trees : we appreciate the smell of pines. We even had the opportunity to eat some wild strawberries, our first fruits in two weeks, but as for me, I didn't feel any lack at all.

The wind is blowing and whistelling  in the trees, the noise bothers me : I am now very used to the steppe's silence.

We have had no mobile network for a few days : no news from France, and no news from Mongolia there. 

I am hungry. We always are hungry here, with the horse-riding, the fresh air and our efforts to adapt to the culture and to understand a few words ... it is my stomachs which suffers most !!!

Our 25 kilometers of today seems to be a day-off to me. 

The supplying van was, of course, 1h30 delated, it doesn't disturb us at all whereas the French tourists are wondering what is happening ... there are not used to Mongolia's timing yet ! 

The fire camp is being started ... oh, no : it is not a fire camp, in the end. We have to accept that always understanding what is going on is impossible here. 

Barbara