Just my luck with me, travelling, and rain. All night I could hear the sound of rain tapping on the window and rooftop. By the morning it was quite heavy. How am I supposed to goto the grasslands now when it will be raining all day, nowhere indoors to cover, and the ground will be all mud. I was thinking they might even cancel it and that I dont feel like going if this is how the weather is going to be.

When I came down I said I was going to try to change my flights and leave as I dont want to put up with this kind of weather after my entire day in Beijing was spent walking in the rain. At least I could go indoors places. The grasslands would be all outdoors.

Flight prices were ok but were all overnight flights with a layover in Beijing. They were telling me in the hostel the grasslands will be ok as its 2 hours away and very windy. I asked if they were sure and if the person on the other end had a cellphone to call and check. They did and said it was just cloudy. Since it wasnt cancelled and other people were going I decided to take my chances.

Driving there was lots of mist and in places wet ground. But the further we got the skies cleared. The other passengers were a young couple from Atlanta, and a canadian from toronto who had finished teaching two years in busan. Both were spending a few months travelling asia now.

I had looked into other tour companies that were all asking $500 USD for the same overnight grasslands tour, whereas the hostel charged 380Y ($57). Again going back to a point made earlier, some people in china think foreigners are stupid and have lots of money. Why would I pay $500 USD to sleep one night in a tent when my flight from korea to beijing cost less money??? And how can it be so expensive when we were driving past so many of these tourist theme parks???

Video : Riding to the Grasslands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBC0-voU 7eI

There were vast flat lands with low hills and different shades of grass over the horizon. We passed some horses and many tented communities. You can see several tourist theme parks where you can rent and ride horses.

Video : Riding thru the Grasslands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grlo9tL9 Kiw

We reached our destination which was a small family farm with a few traditional yurts outside. There was a very fierce dog tied on a chain, chickens roaming, and some sheep in a walled compound.

We went inside for lunch. We had milk tea and dried nuts before the main course was served. It was a chicken and potatoe dish which is similar to what i've had at the uzbek restaurant. It wasnt spicy. There was also sliced blood sausage which I didnt eat.

After sitting and chatting we went out for a stretch and began our hike. We went thru many different types of grass. The tall grass grew in clumps while the shorter grass swayed in the wind. There were very strong winds here but it wasnt cold.

There were some different coloured fauna and we were told it was a dried up lake. In one part you can tell where the last puddle was as there was a dent and many hoof marks arounds as animals came to drink the last patch of water. There were many wild horses and cows grazing and lots of dung to watch out for.

Video : Grasslands Trek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbnMnv45 0Lk

It was sometimes hard to walk because of the hoofmarks. In another spot were many small mounds. They said these were roots of the tall grass which grew in clumps but that wasnt growing here for some reason. In the winter the animals eat the tall grass which can grow as tall as a person.

Video : Grasslands Pan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV_q3Hi1 Xfk

We then headed back to the farm and yurts, one of which was where I would be sleeping tonite. There was a bow and arrow so we practiced hitting a target and posing for shots. I guess some instruction was needed as I had to figure out if to pull on the left or right side of the bow and we tried different methods.

Then we rode over in the van to where the horses were stabled. Although there are many theme parks our tour was all arranged privately with locals, which is better. For 65Y extra we could ride horses for an hour ($9). I've never ridden a horse before and fortunately mongolian horses are short like donkeys. I wondered how they conquered all the way to Hungary if they were so timid?

First we put on riding boots. We were told not to stand behind or they will kick you and to get on and off from the left. The stirrups were not adjustable and made for short people so all of our knees were hurting as we couldnt stretch our legs. My horse decided it wanted to be difficult and kept going round in circles and back to the water trough when I got on. Eventually it started walking with the rest of the pack.

Video : Riding Horses - Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_0VXKVI KMM

We continued to walk thru the grasslands past some of the yurt theme parks and crossed a road into a big open field. Again my horse had a mind of its own and was hard to steer in the right direction. A few times it just stopped and started chewing grass. I tried to talk to it in english, urdu, korean to see which one works, but no difference.

Video : Riding Horses - Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLTq9RBi fDo

After a while they decided to run along. My horse wouldnt until the one beside it would then it would copy. At first I wasnt comfortable as I'd never ridden a horse before but after a couple of times it was ok at higher speed. The only thing is you bounce up and down in your saddle so it does hurt. The others had a cushion but mine didnt.

It was fun and I never imagined riding a mongolian horse in the grasslands. Me and the horse became friends and I wanted to take a picture in the end but as soon as they took the saddle off I had no idea who it was. I still hurt for two days after from all the bouncing on the saddle.

On the way back there was some barbed wire lying in the field and it got tangled in our wheel. It took a while to get it off and they had to take the wheel off. Fortunately there was no engine damage and the car was still operational. After this the others left to return to Hohhot while I would be staying overnight with the two tour guides, who would be sleeping in the house.

Before sunset we had to collect dried cow dung to make a fire. It was ok to pickup by hand as dried dung is like dried out cardboard or papiermache. We had to fill a bag with as much as we could. While we were doing this the two guides Kwai and Zigi started singing traditional folk songs.

Video : Folk Singing in the Grasslands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBz4OaSz dKk

For dinner they had laid out some refreshments beforehand. There was watermelon, fruit, and lots of moon cake for the festival which was tonite. I went out to take pictures of the sunset. I can never tell with my camera settings but I think they came out ok. If you've ever watched a sunrise/sunset it is very slow process and takes over an hour.

What was intersting is that as the sun came down over the farmhouse, the moon was coming up the other side over the grasslands. This made it more interesting as events were happening on both sides.

Then I went in for dinner as this was very slow. We had sheep, onion dumplings, leftover chicken pototoe dish from lunch, and other items I dont remember. When I went back out there were lots of stars in the night sky now.

Next we light the cow dung fire. This was very difficult as the wind was so strong. I had to sit with my back to the wind to block it so I wasnt getting much heat from the fire. The dung burns very quickly so had they explained this we should have collected more. It doesnt become a very big fire and we huddled again as they sang more traditional songs.

As I went to my yurt to sleep you hear lots of geese in the distant night. It was still very bright from the moonlight considering there is no lighting in this area. The walls of the tent vibrate in the wind but its actually a soothing sound like running water. The yurt had electricity, a light, and a plug to charge my batteries.

Six people can sleep in a yurt but I was the only one. Each person gets a sleeping bag and two blankets. You lay a sheepskin on the floor and the sleeping bag on top for more warmth. I slept in my clothes and had extra layers too. Fortunately we had a mild day so it wasnt too cold overnight.

It was going to be a short rest before waking up again, if I could, for the sunrise. What an amazing day. And to think in the morning I was going to change my flight and leave!