Off to the countryside! We bought a cartload of snacks for us (Gany, me, and our driver Gunee) as well as a cartload of basic foods for the three families we will be visiting. It took nearly an hour to get out of the city, but by 1:30 we were officially out of Ulaanbaatar.
Road trips in Mongolia are quite different from USian travels. For one, the roads are worse even than Illinois roads after snow plows. We were on paved roads most of the time, but every once in a while the road would be blocked off for construction or something, and we had to take incredibly bumpy detours. I think it might have even been crazier than Travis driving down barely existent roads outside Fatick.
For two, the general laid-backness of Mongolians means pit stops and side shows are no big deal. We stopped for lunch (khuushur again...greasy goodness) at a couple stands set up in the middle of nowhere. Turns out it was the finish point of the Naadam horse races that day. We drove on, and 22 kilometers later, we saw the starting point. We stopped to watch them take off, so I guess I've officially seen one of the Naadam sports.
A couple hours later there was a random strip of sandy desert type landscape. It was a tourist haven, because there were camels to ride for only 2,000 turegs! (That's less than $2) Gany convinced me to ride one. I can now definitively tell the world that it is far easier to ride a two-hump camel than a one-hump. It's also super fun to be led around by an adorable five or six-year-old kid. Gany walked behind me, taking pictures. I felt a little like a celebrity.
But the real experience at that stop was the bathroom. A ways away from the road there were three nylon sides of a square that only went maybe two and a half feet high. Inside the square was an Abyss of Nastiness. There were two strips of metal for your feet, but if you made a misstep, there was a serious chance of stumbling into the Abyss of Nastiness. Once you get situated on the metal strips, you have bend over just to pull down your pants, unless you want to moon the world. Most intense squattie pottie I have yet experienced.
About an hour from our destination, we stopped at a ger that some of Gunee's family lived in. We sat outside on a rug and drank horse milk (which is sour and disgusting, but is a special delicacy if you like that sort of thing) and urum (not so bad--tastes like tortillas soaked in sour cream juice). We stayed there half an hour before heading to our final destination, a really nice touristy hotel in the city of Tsetserleg.
For three, (remember how this is a list?) a road trip through the Mongolian countryside is far more aesthetically pleasing than driving down I-55. The world is all blue and green and brown. The flat plains and the treeless mountains are not striking or majestic...they're just beautiful. And really peaceful.
Staring out the window at the gorgeous landscape that stretches forever impressed upon me the immensity of God, like how the ocean does that for water-inclined people. God, as revealed through his creation, just seemed so big and so beautiful, and all my insecurities and desires seemed insignificant in comparison.
I've been thinking about how to be in God. To stop doing, to stop proving myself and earning earthly applause, and to just be. To learn about God, to try be like Jesus, to grow by the Holy Spirit. I think if I focused on being with God and being like God, then all those good deeds and saving the world actions would flow from that internal change, but without the pride and selfishness.
This trip has been difficult to summarize. It's not a mission trip, and it's not a vacation. It's just life, being lived in Mongolia for three weeks. Seeing the wildness and beauty of the Mongolian countryside made me want to live a big life, unhindered by labels or categories.
God gave me the opportunity to come here. I came. Things are happening, relationships are continuing and starting. My mind and my spirit are expanding. And isn't that enough? Isn't that the point of life?
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