Comments on: Ger to Ger – Cultural Travel in Mongolia

By: Faraz

Faraz — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:59:37 +0000

Great! Have added a bookmark and will spend some time going over your old posts. Best of luck with the Mongol Rally — sounds like a blast!

By: Sherry

Sherry — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:19:27 +0000

Hi Faraz,
Your adventure sounds amazing! I am also going back to Mongolia this summer – but I will be driving through this time – from London to Mongolia raising money for charity too. I went to Mongolia in 2009 – but you can learn ton more about my trip there and in depth cultural stuff on my website – just go to the Destinations navigation, choose Asia, and then Mongolia, scroll back to the older posts and you’ll find a ton about the food, people, and traditions. http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/category/destinations/asia/mongolia/

By: Faraz

Faraz — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:30:51 +0000

Fascinating article, especially as regards the story of your bus ride. I’m attempting to cross the Gobi Desert from west to east by foot over two months later this year to film a documentary, raise money for a Mongolian kids’ educational charity and teach school pupils about the country. I’d be very interested to read more about the day-to-day customs you learnt of during your trip. Looking forward to more!

By: Nadia-Pete

Nadia-Pete — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:33:32 +0000

We had a blast for 6 wonderful days! Our guide and families we stayed with were wonderful. Language barrier? What language barrier. We participated with the family we stayed with building Ger to cooking even helped dry dung What cultural shock. There wasn’t any! We learned so much in such a short time. We love this kind tour because it’s so different from any other tour company. The Mongolian herders were very loving and made us feel like part of their family. The tour company Ger to Ger were very professional and we got what we paid for. A life time memories and excellent experiences. We’re going back to Mongolia and Ger to Ger !

By: Food of Mongolia - Got Milk? | Ottsworld

Food of Mongolia - Got Milk? | Ottsworld — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:37:22 +0000

[...] sure to duck my head for the low door frame and went around the ger clockwise as I was taught in my cultural training . I took a seat where the family pointed – at the 10 o’clock position; the esteemed position for [...]

By: admin

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:09:25 +0000

@Johanna – I sucked at the jack’s game – terrible hand eye coordination – but I kept trying! However the Mongolians won’t cut you a break…they are so competitive! I was getting quite good at the marbles game!
@Jessie – no – not freaked out at all about the bones…I never really gave it a second thought! They had so few things to do in their gers that this seemed completely normal and creative!

By: Barbara @ Hole n The Donut Travels

Barbara @ Hole n The Donut Travels — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:33:18 +0000

What a fabulous adventure. High on my list of “things to do.” I loved your description of the man on the bus who entertained everyone; I had a similar experience in the mountains of Honduras and it, too, brought tears to my eyes.

By: Three Glorious Years! : Ottsworld

Three Glorious Years! : Ottsworld — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:21:28 +0000

[...] Mongolian bus ride where the whole bus joined in and sang [...]

By: Ger to Ger - Cultural Travel in Mongolia : Ottsworld | Headlines Today

Ger to Ger - Cultural Travel in Mongolia : Ottsworld | Headlines Today — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:08:18 +0000

[...] and Life Experiences of a Corporate American Runaway. Go here to read the rest: Ger to Ger – Cultural Travel in Mongolia : Ottsworld Share and [...]

By: Jodi

Jodi — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:01:25 +0000

Love the post. Mongolia was by far my favorite country and ger to ger one of the best experiences. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:08:52 +0000

Love it, love it! Which is your favourite Shagai game, Sherry? I loved the “jacks” like one, though I was really bad at it. We bought a bag of the bones before we came home and were a bit worried we’d get in trouble at Canadian customs…but managed to sneak those 101 sheep bones in!!! Thanks for posting the pic of the blue and brown eyed dog, he was so nice and friendly, wasn’t he? I think we stayed with alot of the same families. Can’t wait to read more. Love the way you express the experience!

By: Transportation in Mongolia | Ottsworld

Transportation in Mongolia | Ottsworld — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:37:57 +0000

[...] Desert travels I experienced all sorts transportation; some more enjoyable than others. True to the Ger to Ger vision, we mainly traveled as the locals did unless we had really far distances to cover. I found the [...]

By: jessiev

jessiev — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:41:33 +0000

more, more, more!! i love your journeys – i learn so much, and also want to go right there with you. excellent photos (as always). were you creeped out by playing dice with bones?

By: admin

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:23:44 +0000

@leslie – I love your idea to travel with all of the geotourism finalists! That would be a great way to really see what the best have to offer!
Sherry

By: admin

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:22:55 +0000

@marnova – I’m not sure of all of the reasons why ger to ger suggests having our own tent – however it was great advice. One night we did sleep with a family in their ger due to the wind (we couldn’t put up our tent) and it was really, really tough. There’s no privacy at all…can’t even change your clothes. That’s ok for a few days – however for 12 days it would have been really draining. I’ll get into it more in future posts – so stay tuned! I have many more Mongolia posts to do about the families, landscape, herding, etc!
Sherry

By: Leslie

Leslie — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:04:13 +0000

Thanks for sharing about Ger to Ger! The part about encouraging tourists to take local transportation is really interesting. I’d never heard of a tour operator that has guests travel by bus, but that is brilliant.

I’ll definitely look up Ger to Ger when I make it to Mongolia one day. Wouldn’t it be a fun adventure to travel with or volunteer with all of the Geotourism Challenge finalists?

By: Heather on her travels

Heather on her travels — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:20:23 +0000

It’s great to use local companies like this that are there for the benefit of the community and teach you how to get the best from the culture – like the etiquette of sniffing snuff – how would you ever learn this useful stuff otherwise?

By: Rhona

Rhona — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:19:41 +0000

Great post Sherry. I never considered Mongolia as a place to visit but you might reform me. I cannot wait to read more.

By: Marnova

Marnova — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:09:47 +0000

Really interesting feedback. I’ve been waiting to hear back on Ger to Ger. Thanks Sherry.

Interesting that they try to dissuade travellers from staying with nomads. I wonder if this is so they can get the volumes of people passing through whilst avoiding the nomads becoming dependent on income from tourists.

It is an integral part of Mongolian culture for passing travellers to stay over in gers. There are even ‘ger hotels’ (basically a ger that a family lives in with an extra big bed and enough food to cater for more people) in some of the more remote soums (villages) for larger parties – when travelling with some Mongolian friends through Nomrog soum and the roads were impassable, about 15 people from 3 different parties piled into such a ‘hotel’ and yes, we all shared one ‘bed’

By: Scribetrotter

Scribetrotter — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:57:58 +0000

One of the places I long to go but have never visited… by the time I finished your post I felt I too was living one of those travel moments. Thanks for bringing this to life for me!