June 5, 2007
Welcome to the Steppe
Hey all,
It was dark when we arrived so I could not see the countryside. This morning I woke up at about 7 to go for a run with another volunteer. What I saw when I walked out of my ger was breathtaking. The first thing that hits you is the sheer size of everything. The landscape is practically deserted and stretches a third of the way around the world. The steepe consists of massive rolling hills. There are few trees and the grass is short and sturdy. The few trees that do exist tend to be short and clustered in on the back side of a hill where there is enough protection and there is a small pocket of water. The second thing you notice is the breeze. A soft breeze tends to blow across the steppe at all times. What is unusual is the utter lack of humidity. This dry wind hits you, robs you of your water and moves on. No one sweats here. Even when it’s hot (and it is hot right now) the air is just too dry.
My camp was also surrounded by herds of wild horses. These herds litter the country side and when it comes time to get yourself a horse you go out and risk life and limb to capture one of these little rascals. One of the girls in my class tried to offer one an apple and it was having none of it. Apparently the Mongols figured out the apple trick a while ago. Massive birds of prey are also pretty abundant. I saw a couple different kinds of hawks and a few eagles this morning. Some places use eagles to hunt small animals. There is a pretty decent chance that I could acquire a real hunting eagle to keep Freedom company. If that happens I am going to name him Liberty and hunt all kinds of shit.
The final thing that has blown me away is the sky. Mongolia is known as the land of the eternal blue sky. To try to convey what this is like imagine the sky in North Carolina. It is a deep blue and on cloudless days it seems to defy description. Now take that sky and transport it to Montana, big sky country, now triple the size of big sky country and that is what the sky in Mongolia looks like. From what I have heard we have about four cloudy days a year.
Cheers,
J. Stasz .
Welcome to the Steppe
Hey all,
It was dark when we arrived so I could not see the countryside. This morning I woke up at about 7 to go for a run with another volunteer. What I saw when I walked out of my ger was breathtaking. The first thing that hits you is the sheer size of everything. The landscape is practically deserted and stretches a third of the way around the world. The steepe consists of massive rolling hills. There are few trees and the grass is short and sturdy. The few trees that do exist tend to be short and clustered in on the back side of a hill where there is enough protection and there is a small pocket of water. The second thing you notice is the breeze. A soft breeze tends to blow across the steppe at all times. What is unusual is the utter lack of humidity. This dry wind hits you, robs you of your water and moves on. No one sweats here. Even when it’s hot (and it is hot right now) the air is just too dry.
My camp was also surrounded by herds of wild horses. These herds litter the country side and when it comes time to get yourself a horse you go out and risk life and limb to capture one of these little rascals. One of the girls in my class tried to offer one an apple and it was having none of it. Apparently the Mongols figured out the apple trick a while ago. Massive birds of prey are also pretty abundant. I saw a couple different kinds of hawks and a few eagles this morning. Some places use eagles to hunt small animals. There is a pretty decent chance that I could acquire a real hunting eagle to keep Freedom company. If that happens I am going to name him Liberty and hunt all kinds of shit.
The final thing that has blown me away is the sky. Mongolia is known as the land of the eternal blue sky. To try to convey what this is like imagine the sky in North Carolina. It is a deep blue and on cloudless days it seems to defy description. Now take that sky and transport it to Montana, big sky country, now triple the size of big sky country and that is what the sky in Mongolia looks like. From what I have heard we have about four cloudy days a year.
Cheers,
J. Stasz .
1 comment:
\greetings from your side of the planet. landscape sounds wonderful..mine is all mountains and huge lakes. take care and be well bird.
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