Reading Time: 11 minutes

We took the city bus to the bike trail, that runs along the river, to run four miles on Tuesday, August 27^th.  I ran 3 of the miles straight and walked/ran the remaining mile (I have been low on physical energy, and I think it’s because so much of my energy is going towards adjusting to this new lifestyle).  We have both been craving the types of sandwiches we would make at home (we have been unable to find sandwich meat that is even close to what we are used to), so we went to Subway for lunch.  We spent the afternoon blogging and catching up on personal tasks.  We went to Namaste for chicken biryani and garlic naan for dinner.  Then it was time to pack to move for the 41^st time since February (our overall average for staying in one place is less than 5 consecutive nights…hmmm, maybe this has something to do with my lack of energy – it takes a lot of mental energy for me every time we move to determine what supplies are available in our new home and get what we need; to find a place for all of my stuff so I don’t feel like I’m living in complete chaos out of my suitcase; and then a couple of days later try to get all of my stuff back into my budget airline overhead carry-on roller bag and my back pack to start the process all over again).  

I was awake 45 minutes before our alarms went off at 4 am.  The taxi driver who had brought us from the UB airport to our apartment on Saturday, said he would pick us up on Wednesday at 5 am to take us back to the airport – he was even 10 minutes early.  We anticipated it would take 45 – 60 minutes to get to the airport.  He had us there within 30 minutes (I kept my eyes closed during part of the ride. I felt like I was on the German autobahn, except there were stoplights!).  The check in process went easy and smoothly for our domestic flight.  Security took my hair cutting shears, which are within the TSA measurement allowance.  We had checked our roller bags because it was free.  I was frustrated with myself for not putting the scissors in my checked bag (we’ll see how Mike’s mustache trimming scissors work on cutting my bangs – heck after living almost 3 months in Mongolia I may just decide to cut my bangs using a butcher knife!).  Our 2-hour flight from Ulaanbaatar to Ulgii went smoothly and on time (so thankful we didn’t have to take the 30-hour bus to get to the Western part of the country).  Nazka, the owner of The Traveler’s Guest House, picked us up at the airport. 

We went to the store to buy water and a few other supplies.  When we got back to the guest house we chatted with a lovely Japanese couple, a fun-loving Israeli and his adorable French girlfriend.  We met with Nazka to help us create an itinerary for our time in the West (she is so helpful and kind).  We walked to Dostyk restaurant for lunch.  Mike had grilled chicken and I had lentil soup.  We learned quickly that the culture in the West is heavily influenced by the Kazakhs who live in this region (90% of the 30,000 residents speak Kazakh and not Mongolian).  We were surprised to hear the call to prayer and realized there are a fair number of Muslims in the area. We also immediately noticed that only about 1/3^rd of the cars are Prius and many of the vehicles are old Russian trucks that have black, smelly exhaust (I think the air quality is worse here than in UB!).  Later we walked to the square and a 15-year-old boy stopped us because he wanted to chat in English.  I also encountered a 13-year-old girl in a store who wanted to talk with me in English.  We went to the restaurant recommended to us by the Japanese couple.  Horse meat is frequently available at restaurants here.  We shared spicy chicken, rice, fresh salad, and potato salad.  After dinner we walked to the Nomin to get groceries for Mike’s 3-day excursion.  It’s common for the power to go off in Mongolia (they get their power from Russia and with the war, it happens more often) and we did most of our shopping using the lights on our phones.  Mike packed for his 2-night trip before we went to sleep. 

During the night I decided we were sleeping on a trampoline and not a mattress.  Any time one of us moved an inch it bounced the other person.  That part didn’t bother me as much as feeling like I was laying on the metal springs that hold the jumping mat in place on a trampoline (maybe I should just sleep on the ground?).  We woke up on Thursday to no power.  We chatted with Chris from Brooklyn at breakfast.  Mike’s driver picked him up at 10:00 and I was relieved to see the driver had a great off-road vehicle!  As Mike and Plan (the driver) pulled away, I was hoping I wouldn’t regret my decision to stay behind.  I really wanted to see the National Park, waterfalls, and Eagle Hunter, however, I was not in the frame of mind to be in a vehicle for 6 hours each way and to stay in a ger 2 nights with a family (eating traditional Kazakh/Mongolian food, potentially sleeping in the same room as 7 other people, and thus staying awake all night to hold my pee because I didn’t want to bother anyone sleeping by leaving the ger to visit the outhouse – which I’m sure smelled lovely and was free of flies – to go to the bathroom).  Instead, I opted to stay in our private ger and use the bath house which is equipped with a flushing toilet, a sink with running water to brush my teeth and warm water to wash my face, as well as a shower with hot water. 

Deciding to not go with Mike is a HUGE step towards achieving one of my personal goals for this new lifestyle.  I want to be a great life partner and do things Mike wants to do with him.  He is wonderful about doing almost anything I want to do with me (although the fact of the matter is that he likes to do almost everything). I don’t always want to do the things he wants to do.  I often go with him to do things he wants to do that I don’t want to do out of fear (I think I can protect him or prevent something awful from happening to him if I’m with him…my therapist has assured me many times that I don’t have that kind of power or control in life…really?! – what does she know?!!).  An additional aspect of the fear is trusting myself to be able to handle a situation if something were to happen to him (if I’m not with him, how will I know if he’s not okay…this fear is magnified a million times being in a country and area I am not familiar with – my life long bestie, SMA, knows if anything were to ever happen I would need her to fly to me immediately!).  Mike and I have had several discussions around this fear of mine.  He is 100% correct that I do not have a right to tell him he can’t do something he wants to do, just as he does not have a right to tell me I can’t do something I want to do.  I’m working hard at letting go and trusting he will be fine if I’m not with him to protect him.  I require a fair amount of solitude to rejuvenate myself, so the three days alone will be very healthy for me (if I don’t spend it worrying about Mike).        

Nazka told me about a hike I could do from the Guest House.  The sun was shining, it was an ideal temperature for hiking, and there was a lovely breeze.  Once I got on the dirt road that led to the overlook on the top of a big hill, I felt like I was no longer in town even though I could see the cars and all the buildings.  I walked along the river admiring the animals grazing on the island.  A man had his phone resting on the outside of a windowsill, with the camera in selfie mode, shaving his face.  He saw me and wanted to chat.  He only knew a couple of words in English, however we both shared the languages of “smile” and “charades”.  We shared our names.  I could tell he wanted to know where I was from.  When I said USA, he got a huge smile, said “America”, stood as straight as possible and saluted me (wow!  I haven’t experienced that before!).  I asked if he was Kazakh or Mongolian.  He proudly announced he is Mongolian.  He explained the cow by the door was his and that we were standing in front of his home.  He invited me into his home for refreshments.  I kindly declined, explaining I was going to the lookout.  He motioned where to go.  I asked if I could take a picture of him and showed him the photo.

A few houses down the road, I met a woman who was filling the water tank for her house.  We chatted a few minutes, again sharing the languages of “smile” and “charades”.  I learned she had many more times of climbing the ladder to pour water into the tank.  I asked if I could take a picture of her and showed her the photo.

I saw a woman doing her laundry.  A few doors down, I was intrigued by one of the houses.  I could see the foundation for the ger, which I’m assuming was removed when they built the brick home.  I wondered if they still use the outhouse.  It was obvious that people were preparing their heating supplies for the winter.  Many ger owners use dried manure to burn for heat.  I saw piles of dried dung everywhere.  And other ger owners burn coal. 

I loved every minute of the hike.  It was peaceful and serene.  I got to interact with locals, see animals, enjoy the view of the mountains, and best of all it was a good workout climbing to the top of the lookout area.     

On my walk back to the guest house I stopped at several grocery stores.  I found bananas (a rare find outside of UB)!  The power was still out at the guest house, so I headed to a local coffee shop after I ate the items I purchased at the grocery store.  After hanging out there for a couple of hours (using the WIFI), I had one of the best chicken quesadillas I’ve ever eaten at Dubai Lounge (the filling was like the chicken lettuce wraps at PF Chang)!  I headed over to the square for a .60 cent ice cream cone.  There were 10 ice cream stands side by side.  I was wondering how I would decide which one to pick.  The young girl in the first stand called me over but she only had strawberry, and I wanted chocolate.  A different young girl who spoke a tiny bit of English came up to me.  I told her I wanted chocolate.  She walked me over the stand that sells chocolate, but they were out.  They call vanilla here “milk”.  I told her since there wasn’t any chocolate I wanted milk.  She walked me to her stand.  When I returned to the guest house at 5:45 the power was still off.  It came back on an hour later (just in time to charge my phone before it died…Mike took both of our portable batteries with him).  I talked with SMA on the phone. I couldn’t sleep so I watched Friends on You Tube until 1:00 am. 

A few minutes after I woke up on Friday morning, I felt something jump onto the bed with me (after screaming, I realized it was the resident cat who found a small unsecured area on the bottom of the ger…my mind immediately processed – I’m allergic to many types of cats…I don’t want rabies as it’s not easy to get the shots you need being hours from Ulaanbaatar…I am not interested in catching fleas).  After about 30 minutes of trying to get the cat out, I managed to coax it out the door.  I secured the area I suspected it had used to get into the ger.  Next thing I know, I see it trying to climb back inside the ger via a different spot.  I was able to shoosh it backwards and quickly secured that opening.  It was chilly, windy, and a bit rainy.  The five of us, who were staying at the guest house, had breakfast together (it’s so much fun to talk about traveling with others – their stories are so interesting and inspiring!).  I completed a few things I wanted to get done and once the sun came out, I headed to the same coffee shop I visited yesterday.  I enjoyed a delicious piece of cream cake and had 2 cups of chai marsala tea.  All for less than $3 US (unbelievable!). 

I went for a walk to get some exercise and to explore a new area of town.  Later I walked to Arvins and had a delicious chicken pasta dish.  The love of my life had cell reception, so I had a lovely conversation catching up with him.  I ended the day by reading another chapter in my go-to book when I’m dealing with challenges – “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle (I can’t even count the number of times I’ve read the book or re-read my highlights over the past 20 years).  Between reading the book again and starting my daily 5 minutes of meditations I hope to propel myself back into the present moment (rather than focusing on what I’m scared about that’s coming around the corner…I think it’s helping as I haven’t been worried about Mike since he left).    

It was a chilly 43 degrees when I woke up on Saturday.  I joined the rest of the guests for breakfast.  Nazka had two of her friends at breakfast.  They asked how old I was.  I told them to guess and they said 60 (dang, I was hoping they would say younger!).  Another woman had asked me my age about 6 weeks ago and she was surprised I am 58, she thought I was the same age as her – 46 (I like her guess better!). 

I hiked to and along the river.  I love following directions from locals.….Nazka told me to turn right at the first stop light and follow that street directly to the river.  That street led me to a fenced in neighborhood.  I could see the river beyond the fenced houses.  I walked both directions but couldn’t find an entry point to go to the river.  I asked a man, via my phone translator, inside the fenced area how to get to the river.  He motioned for me to follow him.  We passed through 2 gates and climbed a dilapidated stone fence (where I clumsily knocked over two of the big stones while climbing over it).  I found a different route back after my hike.  It was a beautiful fall day.  I stopped at Firdaus Turkish Restaurant and enjoyed delicious chicken kebabs and rice.

I was excited that Mike arrived back safely around 2:00, which was about 2 ½ hours earlier than expected.  (He did just fine without me being with him to protect him! Although he told me the waterfalls were one of the most beautiful things he’s experienced, I was glad I stayed behind for many reasons.)