Today in Mongolia I arrived at the Wind Horse Ger Camp after a bumpy over the river and through the woods drive in a Russian hippy van. The camp is a grassy area by the river covering a couple acres and including about 10 gers- including a cooking ger, a dining ger, and a shower ger. We are the only guests at this end of the season and we stay in a roomy ger (Mongolian word for Yurt- which is a Russian word so they don't like it) with soft beds and camel hair blankets and a wood burning stove to heat the place once the sun goes down and the temperature follows. A felt floor helps to retain the heat.
The Wind Horse Camp has a good selection of wines and fresh organic produce for delicious salads. The cook likes to cook vegetarian pasta and makes a mean spaghetti. Every night we will meet with Hamid (the owner) for delicious food, wine, and conversation. Hamid is a linquist who restores ancient texts and keeps this camp as his hobby. His knowledge of Mongolia and Buddhism makes for very interesting chats.
The shower ger has small mirrors and candles all around. A shower tap is in the middle above a large piece of slate for standing. Hamid had to dig 3 meters down to ensure no ecological harm from the soap and shower. This dining ger is lined on all walls with Kazakh wedding tapestries- handiworks for hanging on the wall but which are big enough for a bedspread. They are intentionally not finished as one’s marriage should never “finish.”
One of the most idyllic parts of staying here is having a glass of wine at the hand painted low table by the river watching the sun set into the mountain that separates us from the big city.
But next year, Hamid hopes to have a “spa” with baths of white mares' milk! Evidently a Khan kept 20 white mares so that he could take a bath in their milk every day. Has healing properties evidently and the color of the horse is important because of how the white reflects light or something! Crazy! But I'll try it!
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