Ger to ger

Hi All,

Shall be arriving in UB on JUNE 11. Anyone who's going on a 4-5 day ger to ger program around then? It'll help to split costs and find a company.

Thanks

Mudit

Ger to Ger???

In Mongolia, I know that visitig a Nomads family costs less than 4$ and a Nomads family will give you some meals I mean you can share their table meals and local public bus is very very cheap so if you want to do this trip, I am sure that you do not need anyone to share.

Example,
From Ulaanbaatar to Terelj is by a bus is less than 1$, 1meal is less than 2$,sleeping in a ger is less than 4$.
So if you want to stay in Terlj for 3nights and 4days, it will cost less than 40USD...
You can help Nomads by paying directly to them with your money... this money will improve their lifes and educate thieir kids---if you pay direclty to their hands, you will get better service and if you want to come back to Ulaanbaatar, you can do it any time.

With this way, you can do UB to Karakorum and Tsetsetleg trip.

The best way to help Mogolian is to know cultures and experience their life with them.

Sure it would work out cheaper to do it independently, but I wonder how feasible/ rewarding it is if you can't speak mongolian...

Anyway, Muditkag, I'm going to Mongolia soon by myself and I've booked a tour with Ger to ger. You don't need to find yourself a companion, just write to them and let they know your travel dates, and they'll put a group together.

Hi Seica

That's great news. Infact was wondering if Ger to ger program would do that for me in advance. Well, that'll help a lot. By the way, when are you expected to reach. Would love to know from your experience which trip was the best?

Thanks

mudit

Hi all-- would love to hear about your experience with Ger to Ger. I'm thinking about doing it myself (solo female travelling) and am wondering how it was, if they paired you with a group or if you were alone, if you'd recommend the experience, etc?

Many thanks!

I went on a ger to ger trip recently (July 2009). There were three of us; we did the Nomadic Naadam trip in Arkhanghai province. It's nine days of horse riding and hiking through the countryside, camping beside the nomads' gers each night.

We had a great time. It's so different from the hi & bye jeep tours you can take which stay in tourist ger camps - you really feel immersed in Mongolia and the culture. I would strongly recommend taking the trip. I think if there's just one of you then either take a shorter trip or if you'd like to do the longer trip then try to hook up with other people who are going at the same time. How much you enjoy the trip will depend on your expectations - it's not a luxury holiday - you should expect some physical hardship. The pit toilets are memorable, mainly for the spectacular views!

Here are some tips to make your trip more comfortable:

1) Take long socks to protect against horse stirrups as they rub your inner calves
2) Take a small piece of sleeping mat or padded cycling shorts to protect against the saddles. They're wooden saddles with leather pads over them, but the pads are sometimes worn and can be very uncomfortable over long distances
3) You will be eating mutton and milk products and very little else - maybe a little bread or rice if you're lucky, but this is unusual. The snacks offered can be absolutely foul, so go for the smallest one first! Coffee powder can take away the taste of mutton from the water, and it's really worth bringing some snacks of your own to vary your diet.
4) Your kit will be strapped to a horse for large parts of the trip. So unless you want horse hairs embedded in your kit bring some bags to put it in. Large rubble bags from builders' merchants are good, or waterproof canoeing bags. And don't bring anything fragile as it will get bashed around a lot.

There are also a couple of bad points to watch out for:

1) We spoke to someone who is peripherally involved in ger to ger. We were told that the reviews of the trips this year have been mixed. Apparently they're putting a lot of effort into finding new routes around Mongolia, but aren't putting as much effort into keeping an eye on existing routes. For us this manifested as not getting a choice of transport some days - by that I mean that there weren't enough horses for all of us, or we weren't given the chance to ride on an ox cart. It also meant that the activities detailed in the schedule (things like trying out wrestling or ankle bone flicking) didn't happen. And we also got passed off onto a different family one night who although they were trying their hardest had obviously not had the training from ger to ger that the other families had. But we're quite easy going and were mainly there to enjoy the scenery, so it didn't bother us. If you want a trip which is as described I would recommend picking a newer route.
2) Equipment rental - we got ripped off by Ger to Ger. We rented inflatable sleeping mats which both were punctured when we rented them. To cut a long story short (and I could rant for ten minutes here!) when we returned the mats I explained that they had been broken when we received them. After a two day break for an investigation, and one of the mats we had returned with a pinhole puncture being switched for a different mat with a great big tear in it, we were asked to pay for the mats. After a bit of a discussion I showed how one of the mats had a broken valve and was obviously bust before we received it, so they agreed to give us a refund on that one. However they continued to insist that they had stringent quality control checks before they rented out kit, and the other (switched) mat must have been our fault, so was had to pay ($10 US) to repair it. This while they picked up the switched mat from a pile of three or four other broken mats! I'm not saying that the mat was deliberately switched, but I am saying that they are disorganised and in this case, just mean. I would heartily recommend unpacking everything you're rented, carefully checking it by doing things like inflating the mats and counting the tent pegs (they gave us too few then tried to charge us for the "missing" ones too) and taking photos of it all. Caveat Emptor!

So - in summary I would definitely recommend going if you want a taste of the real Mongolia, but take care when selecting & preparing for your trip, and don't expect it to stick to what's written in their guide.

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