The nomadic life is tough. Battling harsh climates, hunting for your meals on horseback, daily back breaking labour and having to relocate and rebuild your entire home every 3-4 months. Approximately 25% of Mongolia’s population lives a nomadic lifestyle throughout the national parks, mountains and valleys of Mongolia. Most are farmers, living off the land, raising livestock and surviving in often harsh conditions. Mongolian nomads typically live in gers, a traditional form of housing. So, if you’d like to travel to Mongolia and experience this nomadic lifestyle for yourself, there are a couple of ways to do it.
You can stay in a tourist ger camp, which has been designed to accommodate visitors from all over the world. Alternatively, you can find a homestay experience for a more authentic experience. Let’s check out the pros and cons of both.
There are two ways of experiencing a night in Mongolian Ger:
Scattered throughout the many national parks of Mongolia, the most popular is Terelj National Park (60 km from Ulaanbaatar and the most easily accessed). Many tourist ger camps have been set up specifically with the guest in mind who wishes to try the local style of living.
Quite often located at the base of spectacular mountain ranges or in the heart of a dramatic valley, these many ger camps have been situated in key spots to make you feel like you are living in the grasslands.
Generally attached to a larger hotel with regular rooms, the tourist ger camps are a great option for those who still would like a few of the creature comforts of a regular hotel without going completely nomadic. So, there are ger camp staff around to help with things you need. The gers are generally in a cluster together with 6-8 beds huddled inside. They are larger than the traditional gers used for living by the local nomads and many have electricity, charging facilities and even a TV. Apart from that, beds are placed in a circle around the perimeter of the wall, with the centre of the ger being home to the oven which heats the entire room. Not a problem in summer as the ovens are not used, but if you are staying in tourist ger camp in winter, the ovens in these gers are not your traditional Mongolian stoves (due to fire and safety regulations.)
They are mass produced stoves with different combustion chambers to the traditional ovens. What this means is that your stove continuously needs to be topped up so your sleep is regularly interrupted with a ‘fire man’ coming into your ger to restock the fire (you cannot do this yourself). Quite often the fires burn out quickly, leaving you chilled to the bone in a short period of time. Mongolian winter evenings drop well below 0°C.
One benefit of the tourist ger camp is that there are hot showers available and flushing toilets. Not in your ger of course, but only a short walk away. This is one of the main creature comforts of the tourist ger camp.
Another creature comfort is that being attached to a hotel generally means a bar and ger camp restaurant. A restaurant means you can choose what you would like to eat and drink. The Mongolian traditional cuisine mainly consists of three things. Dairy products, meat and noodles, so if you are feeling like something western, this is your chance to get it.
There are two ways to experience this type of stay. Be sure to be extremely clear which option you would like when you book. Quite often nomadic families have ‘additional’ ger accommodation in their cluster specifically built for guests.
In this traditional homestay experience, you’ll see more of how nomadic people prepare food. They’re farmers, meaning they do everything from raising livestock and milking animals to preparing meals on traditional Mongolian stoves. In fact, many families have two gers – one for sleeping and eating, and another for cooking and cleaning. The one used for cooking and cleaning is often full of pots and pans, freshly slaughtered meat.
Rice, meat, porridge, tea, handmade dough and anything else your hosts can grow will likely be on the menu. But the great thing is, you can see how everything is prepared and even help with all the chores of daily nomadic life.
Although you will still be staying in a true nomad homestay, the actual ger accommodations you will be sleeping in, has been created purely for guests. New beds, nice furniture, western bedding attire, electricity etc. To me, this is not truly authentic but is one step closer than a tourist ger camp.
The truly traditionally realistic experience is to stay with a nomadic family who are not equipped for guests. Difficult to find, but they exist! I have just done this myself and it was out of this world. I experience a lot of rural homestays in my travels, but this one takes the cake.
We stayed with the grandmother of the family. In her little farm, she had two gers. One for cooking and cleaning, the other for eating and sleeping. The cooking and cleaning ger consists of pots and pans everywhere, the Mongolian stove crackling and burning away all day with bowls of water boiling. Chunks of freshly slaughtered meat lay on the makeshift bench, carrots and potatoes in sacks on the floor. Two newborn lambs bleeted softly in the corner, only a week old and born out of season so it was still too cold for them to be outside with their parents.
A bear paw, snout, claw and teeth hung from one of the rafters, small orange wooden stools no more than 30cm of the ground were used for seating. A large stainless steel pot sat on the floor for food scraps which were then mixed with ground husks and fed to the animals. The ger smelled of food all the time and had a homely feel to it.
In the eating and sleeping ger, there were two single beds each with a pile of woollen blankets, most likely locally woven and made out of camel or sheep wool. A small shrine dedicated to the Dalai Lama was on top of a small dresser and a low wooden table was next to the stove.
The two gers were guarded by two fluffy Alsatian-looking dogs, a fence made of tree trunks bordered the gers. Behind, was a stable which housed horses, cows, sheep and goats which all roamed free during the day and knew when to return in the evening.
500m away to the north was the lady’s son’s ger. His children were running around and stirring up grandma all day. 700m down the road was the daughter’s gers. Her children were also running a muck and teasing the other children.
Both old and young were traditionally dressed in their overcoats and head scarves, and everyone helped out. Children as young as four years old were carrying the wood for the stove that dad was cutting up, they were lugging plastic containers of horse feed to the horses and helped to round up the sheep.
Alongside the wood pile was a large mound of frozen ice blocks hacked and collected from the local river to provide the family with pure drinking water, a wooden fence was off in the distance to shelter a hole in the ground for a toilet.
A single light in each ger was illuminated by alligator clips clinging onto forklift batteries. The son smugly pulled out his mobile phone (not quite nomadic I know), and was super proud to show us the photos of the wolf he had shot last week. No English was spoken by anyone in this family, but communication was never a problem.
We ate what they ate. For lunch we watched grandma hand make dough which became dumplings stuffed with beef, they were cooked in a stock with some onions, carrots, potatoes, noodles and cow fat.
Dinner consisted of ‘pancakes’ which were really like empanadas stuffed with beef and others with horse that were fried over the Mongolian stove.
We witnessed grandma milk her cows under the full moon. The thick unpasteurised milk was funnelled into an empty PET bottle before being boiled and served as a drink. This is nomadic tea.
Sleeping in this traditional ger was much more comfortable that our experience at the tourist ger camp the evening before. The True Mongolian stove burned away throughout the night without much assistance keeping us all cosy.
In the morning breakfast was served – rice and meat porridge along with some tea.
There were no shower facilities available here, so wet wipes are advisable as well as BYO toilet paper.
We learned about life as a nomad, the hardships, the lifestyle, the government acceptance, their movements through various seasons, their dress and culture, religion and customs – something that you would perhaps miss staying in a tourist camp.
A great hands on experience for those wanting to get into the heart and soul that is Mongolia.
If you’d like to see Mongolia for yourself, Crooked Compass offers all travellers a range of travel experiences. From tourist ger camps as you explore Mongolia’s stunning landscapes to authentic nomadic homestay opportunities, we can take you to fascinating parts of the world that are rarely seen. Contact us today to find out about our unique Mongolian experiences.
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This category of tours involves light trekking, walking, cycling, rafting or kayaking for a few hours each day with a small amount of inclines and declines. You will require a reasonable level of fitness and good health to participate. It is important to note that due to the nature of some of our trips, they may take place in remote areas (with basic facilities) and can involve long travelling days on various modes of transport.
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Suggested preparation: At least 3 months prior to departure, it is recommended that you undertake 45mins – 1 hour of aerobic exercise, three to four times a week. Some potential exercises that could be beneficial include hill walking with a backpack on over variable terrain and weather conditions, as well as running and cycling dependent on the activity you plan on undertaking.
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Suggested preparation: At least 3 to 4 months of strenuous exercise, four times a week. When preparing for treks it would be beneficial to participate in hill walks with a weighted day pack (approximately 5-8 kg) once a week for aerobic fitness and strengthening of leg muscles. It is also important to do this on variable terrain to prepare for challenging adventures. When preparing for cycling adventures, regular bike riding (at least 4 to 5 times a week for 1-4 hours is essential). It is also important to cycle on uneven surfaces or even participate in other aerobic exercises such as running or swimming to build up strength and stamina. Altitude may also be a factor in these tours.
This category of tour often involves extreme trekking, cycling or other extreme adventure activities. It is important to expect remote and poorly defined tracks and to be prepared for variable weather conditions for 10 to 12 hours per day (may sometimes be more depending on weather and altitude). These adventures are suitable for travellers who have prior experience in strenuous travel and activities, are extremely fit and have excellent health. It is also important to note that some of the terrain on these adventures will involve trekking in snow, at high attitude levels and may require technical equipment.
Suggested preparation: It is important to note that physical fitness should be an ongoing activity, commencing around 5-6 months prior to departure, or even before if you have no prior fitness. Exercise should focus on building maximum endurance and stamina. Four to five hard sessions of 40-60 mins per week should be completed and can include exercises such as going to the gym, running, swimming or cycling to focus on building aerobic stamina. It could also be beneficial to prepare by hiking on rough terrain, in extreme weather conditions or partake in altitude training.
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