a colleague at work offered the trip to me at noontime, thursday before tsagaan sar. tsagaan sar is the mongolian lunar new year and this was happening on the coming sunday.
it was like a spur of the moment invitation but having come to know how mongolians plan, that was but natural. i did not agree to it right away but told him i will have to decide after lunch. it seemed a very good chance to visit the countryside down south and see how local folks celebrate their new year, aside from the fact that it was also going to be a free (costless) holiday since i will be riding with them. so i agreed.
we left after 11 in the morning. the city roads were heavy with traffic because everyone seemed to be going out to their hometowns/aimags. we dropped by a grocery store to buy some food for the trip. there were ox tongue, sausage, bread, water and juice. we have brought some milk tea (suuta chai) in the car. it was sunny and cold. there was a light pouring of snow but it did not go on very long.
we had lunch inside the car as we drove through the snow landscape of the countryside. about 66 kilometers outside the capital, and at 1:30 pm when our car engine stopped. we just had a full tank right after the city proper so it must not be the fuel. the battery was working. but the car just won't start again. to call for assistance, my colleague had to walk to the nearby hill to get some signal for his mobile phone. it was getting cold and we tried going inside some gers (it happened that there were some around). i was told that they serve paid meals and truly once inside, we saw them slicing meat. i saw how they get water by bringing in some ice in sacks and thawing them by the stove. they served us milk tea and my colleague seemed to have observed my hesitancy of having one, so he advised me just to sip a bit. we did not stay very long although i must admit it was a lot warmer inside the ger. we went back to the car.
to kill the time, we started playing cards and eating some more. i introduced a card game we used to do in high school during trips: hide one card, distribute the rest and come up with pairs. the one who will end up with no pair loses. we did several rounds. then we dozed off as well.
our 'rescue' came about past 4. tried to fix and decided to tow the car back to the city. it was not very long while going back when the other car started overheating. we just had to stop again. it was colder this time since it was already late afternoon. not soon after my colleague and the mechanics started drinking vodka which we have brought a box of it. i was offered and felt obliged to accept. after three rounds i had to beg off. my legs were freezing cold. i was afraid that instead of the alcohol warming my body, it would eventually make it numb that there would be no way of telling the difference between the cold and alcohol. we started walking outside to have some circulation but to no avail i felt even colder that i have to go back inside the other car. it was getting dark.
there were two cars (my colleague's friend and the repair guys) that came and it was already dark. we immediately transferred to the car taking us back to the city. a lot warmer yet i thought i was beginning to feel the freezing cold from my legs creeping up. i really felt terrib
ly cold.
we left the other guys to tow the other two cars. we started driving back towards ulaanbaatar. after one and a half hours of travel, we arrived. i was back in my apartment. with the warm interiors, it felt so good to be back home. the visit to uverhangai can wait...
it was like a spur of the moment invitation but having come to know how mongolians plan, that was but natural. i did not agree to it right away but told him i will have to decide after lunch. it seemed a very good chance to visit the countryside down south and see how local folks celebrate their new year, aside from the fact that it was also going to be a free (costless) holiday since i will be riding with them. so i agreed.we left after 11 in the morning. the city roads were heavy with traffic because everyone seemed to be going out to their hometowns/aimags. we dropped by a grocery store to buy some food for the trip. there were ox tongue, sausage, bread, water and juice. we have brought some milk tea (suuta chai) in the car. it was sunny and cold. there was a light pouring of snow but it did not go on very long.
we had lunch inside the car as we drove through the snow landscape of the countryside. about 66 kilometers outside the capital, and at 1:30 pm when our car engine stopped. we just had a full tank right after the city proper so it must not be the fuel. the battery was working. but the car just won't start again. to call for assistance, my colleague had to walk to the nearby hill to get some signal for his mobile phone. it was getting cold and we tried going inside some gers (it happened that there were some around). i was told that they serve paid meals and truly once inside, we saw them slicing meat. i saw how they get water by bringing in some ice in sacks and thawing them by the stove. they served us milk tea and my colleague seemed to have observed my hesitancy of having one, so he advised me just to sip a bit. we did not stay very long although i must admit it was a lot warmer inside the ger. we went back to the car.
to kill the time, we started playing cards and eating some more. i introduced a card game we used to do in high school during trips: hide one card, distribute the rest and come up with pairs. the one who will end up with no pair loses. we did several rounds. then we dozed off as well.
our 'rescue' came about past 4. tried to fix and decided to tow the car back to the city. it was not very long while going back when the other car started overheating. we just had to stop again. it was colder this time since it was already late afternoon. not soon after my colleague and the mechanics started drinking vodka which we have brought a box of it. i was offered and felt obliged to accept. after three rounds i had to beg off. my legs were freezing cold. i was afraid that instead of the alcohol warming my body, it would eventually make it numb that there would be no way of telling the difference between the cold and alcohol. we started walking outside to have some circulation but to no avail i felt even colder that i have to go back inside the other car. it was getting dark.
there were two cars (my colleague's friend and the repair guys) that came and it was already dark. we immediately transferred to the car taking us back to the city. a lot warmer yet i thought i was beginning to feel the freezing cold from my legs creeping up. i really felt terrib
ly cold.we left the other guys to tow the other two cars. we started driving back towards ulaanbaatar. after one and a half hours of travel, we arrived. i was back in my apartment. with the warm interiors, it felt so good to be back home. the visit to uverhangai can wait...
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