A Dream Adventure

This weekend a few of the girls and I took a last minute trip to Terelj National Park just outside of UB to make the most of the last of Summer.

We visited Dream Adventure, a small ger camp that is a favourite of the Australian volunteers, run by a young Norwegian woman Jeannett and her Mongolian husband Puujee.

I think it’s a favourite because it has a little western influence with amazing feather duvets, on the beds topped with your towel and a chocolate on arrival, the food is delicious and homemade, and people speak English! As only eight people can stay at once, you get to spend time with other travellers. And it has the only ger sauna in the world! Well as far as they know.

The camp is located by a little creek flowing with icy fresh water and surrounded by the rolling hills of the Mongolian steppe.

After a tasty lunch of khuushuur and salad, we went for a wander through the valley and picked some native rhubarb, accompanied by trusted dog Bos, a Mongolia Banker. He is so gorgeous and fluffy, and loves to play. I want to take him home! We arrived back an hour later to find a friendly herd of sheep and goats had infiltrated the camp and were nosing around in the doorways of our gers.

Two year old Mongol-Wegian boy ‘Storm’, a true child of the Earth, ran naked between the horses’ legs as they cooled down in the creek before he jumped in after them and gave himself a cold mud bath.

With the sun beaming down we took a late afternoon horse ride for three hours around the mountains near the camp, whilst Puujee serenaded us with his favourite Mongolian songs. A simple ‘chu’ is all it takes for your horse to shoot off and set off a chain reaction with the rest of your crew when their horses all bolt after yours. Coincidentally the sound of hooves approaching also makes the horses take off, and when they’ve had enough they’ll stop abruptly. I quickly learnt to hold on so I didn’t go straight over the top.

As the sun went down we flipped from air-conditioning (propping up the bottom of your ger to let the air in) to heating (lighting the stove) as the late Summer nights are quickly turning cold. I had some water heated up and filled up the barrel for an outdoor shower after a dinner of home-made beef goulash, and then dogs Bos and Felix joined us outside the dining ger to watch the sun set.

Puujee built a hearty campfire and we sat around toasting marshmallows, sipping Chinggis Vodka and chatting with our British and Italian traveller friends until late night.

Breakfast featured fresh bread, yoghurt, orom (cream) and eggs all thanks to the animals wandering around nearby which went beautifully with rhubarb jam and muesli.

We took one last look at the camp which is about to close for the Winter whilst the family head back to Norway to give birth to their second mini Viking. They’ve just finished building a new gazebo from local trees which will feature a pizza oven in time for next season.

Just another day in paradise. ;)