Entry #4

Whew, the country side was sure a ride. And It was literally a ride just to get there. I think many of us were thinking that we were about to face death soon with the steep hills, having the van become completely vertical, and having giant bugs jump through the windows of the van. I was pretty excited to be able to go on the country side that was filled with history. I also never go camping and so I thought it would be a really cool idea to start in Mongolia.

A funny thing I learned about myself is that I really really do not like bugs. On the first night, a couple of us stayed up to play cards and I had to charge my phone for the limited time that we had electricity. Turns out that bugs are as attached to electricity as we are. There were swarms of moths flying everywhere while we were playing cards. They were diving right into our heads, faces, arms. It was like it was a game for the moths to try and hit us. That was a terrifying night for me. And may not have been the best introduction to camping for me. I just new that my only problems were at night. I was fine if I could see the bugs during the day time but night time was a whole other ball game.

So the first night was a bit rough and very stressful, but I feel like I learned from that night and was able to manage through the night. Mainly because we had Megan inspect my and Donna’s room before we would go to sleep. But also I was excited to go to the next camp. Especially since we would be staying in gers for the first time.

Sadly, the bug situation didn’t seem to get any better. Don’t get me wrong, this post is just about my journey with camping and bugs. But the places that we stayed were absolutely gorgeous. The only thing I would have changed were the bugs to not be crawling in my bed while trying to sleep. Since the whole bug thing didn’t seem to lighten up, there were many attempted all-nighters pulled by Donna and I to make certain that we would not be beat by the bugs. Of course that never worked because we were the people who’s bedtime is 8 o’clock.

Bugs aside, I was blown away by the culture and the traditions that we got to see while on the country side that we would not have been able to do in UB. We got to see people ride on their horse to town, people herding livestock with motorbikes, and how people who live in gers stay warm. And a big part of why this trip was so great was because of our amazing guide Ariuna. She and Chimka were amazing at explaining Buddhism, history, culture, and traditions of Mongolia.

#Schyler