Hol #3: Inner Mongolia, 13 - 15 July, Part 1

Wah I have been dying to blog about this trip man, only because there were so many sights (sai sai sai everywhere), sounds (groans, yelps, sometimes silent screams) and smells (have I mentioned sai sai sai everywhere?).  I thought about how best to write about this - themes? animal categories (mostly mutton btw)? pain spectrum (ha ha ha!)? - and I think chronological order would be simplest.

To kick things off, here are the characters in the trip. With all good novels, you need to identify with the main characters for the story to be compelling. There is no need for this effort here. Just need to know who's who can liao. And there will probably be more of them in my later posts.

From back row, left to right: Grace, Vic, Ming, Des, Shermaine, Wei Wei, Chen Ann, Jasmine,  me, Baolin & Peisheng

Before I start off proper, I feel like I need to make a small clarification (if my travel buddies are reading this).  For the most part of the trip, I sat next to the window in the mini-van and I have been asked whether I was contemplating the meaning of life while staring pensively out of the window at the rolling hills and poofy sheep. The answer is no. I sat that way because my frigging right knee hurts when I sit in one position for too long and staring out of the window with my body half turned is the only position that provides relief.  And I stared outside pensively because the sun was in my eyes and I forgot (until the last day) that I had a pair of sunglasses with me so my eyes were perpetually like half-closed, hence giving me the thoughtful look. So there, the Tracy as everyone knows.

Back to the trip. So we all arrived in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia at different times but when we all meet up, it is like Thanksgiving. A bit awkward (because some of us are travelling together for the first time), all on best behaviour and all with polite nods and hellos but we know we have a long weekend ahead of us. But we quickly bond. Nothing like hardship to put everyone on an even keel right? The first day & night were hardship. Mega hardship. But I am getting ahead of myself. 

Hohhot is a very nice city (there is a huge Wanda!) and when I stepped out of the airport, this is the sight that greeted me. Not bad right?

Nice city yah?

This is where we started our fab journey to the grasslands and singing desert.


Day 1- Grasslands 
Off we go! We were met by Mongolian yodellers with rice wine that taste like horse' piss to me. We were supposed to sprinkle some at heaven, earth and I think our neighbours but avoid eyes pls - may blind.

The look of fear. The slogan on the tee did not help.

We chose to do a 2.5 hr horse ride that I think at least a couple of us will never forget in this lifetime.  The 11 of us had horses that were bros and sis, cousins, or just living in the same stable. So the horses were all very cooperative and stayed together in a pack. Sometimes too close when they started snorting at the legs of the person in front, or whipping their tails.  And sometimes when one decided to make a dash, the rest of the pack followed.  Mine was in the same pack as Victor's and Jas' and they were all well behaved horses.  

That's me and my horsey peeing. Not me, just the horse.

Chen Ann, Bao Lin and Shermaine's horses were another pack. Maybe this would be a good time to mention that Chen Ann and Bao Lin sustained the most "serious injuries" from the horse ride. And it is probably because Shermaine kept urging her horse "小花，冲啊！". Not sure who told her that her horse' name was 小花 (actually not sure if it was even a mare) but it sure did respond by 冲ing.  When she first started telling the horse to 冲, we hadn't found out about the pack thing.  But crossing the 1.5 hr mark, I think I heard Chen Ann telling her that if her horse 冲s, his and Bao Lin's would follow suit! Ha ha... Oops, not supposed to laugh. 

小花 and her posse. Two of the riders weren't smiling much after this photo. Ha ha!

Anyway, the horses did 冲 and while we kept saying, "wah the galloping very fun hor!", actually, they weren't galloping la. I think they were doing maybe a quick canter? Or erm, brisk walk? Still gruelling and painful for the butt though.  The horses brought us to a few sights including a part where we saw wild horses (I think) and a lamb.  The lamb bleated so sweetly and this is uber bims but it did sound exactly like how I imagined bleating to sound like. 

So cute right the meh meh...baaa baaa...

The horse ride brought us to vast expanse of grasslands where we spent much time... posing and taking pictures. Ok, so here we did some deep soul searching and we did spend some time in silence (cos there are so only so many times one can say "Wah the sky so blue!" or "The grass so green!" or "My horse shat again.".  But it was truly beautiful. 

How do you find your way in the grasslands where there are no buildings or discernible markings? Build one yourself!

After the very strenuous horse-riding adventure, we gathered some cardboards, laid them out on a patch of grass with the least horse manure and while some of us played 三国杀, Baos and me Nooked and viewed Harper's Bazaar. 

Getting ready for an afternoon of violence

The world at my feet... bliss

Um, but we got rained out in under an hour and ended up in my Bao. Speaking of which. This was our accommodation for the night. The Mongolian Bao, or yurt. Looks charming right? NEVER AGAIN.

That's my Bao.

And my beds. 

The Bao and its stuff haven't been washed since maybe 10 years ago la. And the toilet only had cold water at night. Almost squealed like a piglet when the water hit me. Later decided to use a small piece of cloth, washed it with cold water, then drenched it in hot water from a thermos flask and then wet wiped myself (tragic). And I think temperatures dipped to under 15 that night (even more tragic).  The guys played SGS till late in my Bao and when everyone was tired and leaving to go sleep in their respective Baos, it took all my willpower not to beg "Nooooooo... don't leave me in this cold Bao!!!"....

Ok, if any of my travel companions are reading this, you know I'm kidddinnggg....

But really, the evening held a number of memories for us: 

1. Something about sunsets make everything just so...reflective

2.  Fireworks never fail to amaze. Even when they are set off super near and are so close you could almost touch them and you can't take your eyes off them even as sparks land on you. 

3.  Disco out in the grasslands with a whole bunch of older, very very drunk Chinese (and some Koreans) is hilarity at its max. There are photos to show but I refuse to put them on my blog cos it involves some half naked fatty man - there, go imagine. 

Ending off the post at Day 1. Just too much to recap and savour! 

(Oh and most photos courtesy of my travel companions! Thanks!)

Xoxo, 

Tracy