Mongolian Host Family A Brief Journal

Day 1

Met host family. Rain. It's freakin cold! With the weather like it is and the condition of our latrine I shall attempt to hold my poo til we return to civilization. Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat and a drink of alcoholic horse milk (good for the liver surprisingly).

Day 2

RAIN! IT'S FREAKIN COLD! Breakfast: Bread and Butter Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat

Day 3

Sun!!! I am waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too tall for attempted privacy measures taken in building this latrine! Explored the valley to retrieve fresh water from a fissure. Climbed nearby mountain and discovered three burial mounds (just a fraction of what I would later find). Found human skeletal remains including a skull. I finally pooed in the latrine.

Day 4

Went to the small town of Kharkhorin for the holiday of Nadaam (horse racing, archery, wrestling). Had a proper bath.

Day 5

Nadaam and police ride (or off-roading horseplay) to the site of the apparent victim, only to be reburied by police...

Day 6

Nadaam

Day 7

Went on an adventure to a famous temple that is out in the middle of no where with two guides. Got lost for three hours with non-English speaking guides in the Mongolian wilderness where there are more flies than you can shake a stick at. Thanks to my Jedi powers we make it safely to the temple.... which is on top of a mountain. Leave the holy temple and get lost AGAIN for another three hours in the middle of no where asking locals for directions thankfully my Jedi powers are so strong we never had to back track ONCE! Great freakin guides these were, looked like they had never been outside of town before. Return to host family. Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat.

Day 8

Thorough investigation of the nearby valley and mountain range area I have located approximately 20 new sites of mostly ancient burial mounds, one tomb, some sort of massive time scale, and the remains of a large temple. Breakfast: Bread and Butter Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: We served dinner to the Mongolians! It went terrible! Mongolians hate variety and flavor! Just as I had predicted they looked at the tasty western meal of brown rice, lamb, green peppers, onion, carrot and garlic and were basically like, "WTF is this!?" I ended up eating for three people...

Day 9

Breakfast: Muesli! HURRAY!!! HOT!!! Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat There's a bloody hornets nest in the bloody latrine underneath somewhere where I'm supposed to hover my bloody tush!

Day 10

Breakfast: Muesli! HURRAY!!! HOT!!! Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat

Day 11

Finally we get to ride our host families horse! After paying for it of course like every other freakin thing. Worst horseback riding experience ever. The Mongolian style saddle shouldn't even be called a saddle. Why it was created and why it hasn't changed boggles my mind because not even the Mongolians like this discomfort of this wooden torture device that isn't even large enough to seat a five y/o. The saddle rubs and chafes into your inner thighs and the tibia. If you stand more than 5'5" you will be in extreme discomfort as the stirrups are non-adjustable and you can't even stand up to relieve yourself of the chafing without falling. Two hours I idiotically endured for I just had to explore the top of another mountain, at least the view was nice. Later the saddle kept falling off as I made my descent because the cinchs are placed incorrectly and cannot be properly secured.
Torture Device:

Day 12

Hitch-hiked into Kharkhorin to stay for the weekend. A bad day for me... After being thoroughly pissed from watching the news on world events I get ripped off by the racist internet cafe owner. To add to my frustration while leaving the internet cafe a gang of racist young men shout obscenities and mock me as I walk past. Unfortunately this caused me to meditated on negativity which may have attracted a wild dog who attacked and bit me on the leg. In my fury I chased it but fortunately for the mutt it has four legs to flee on. The wound wasn't bad but he broke skin, cutting my leg across the calf with a small puncture, so I treated it with alcohol and disinfectant as soon as I returned to the guest house. Breakfast: Bread and Butter Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat

Day 13

Non-event.

Day 14

Non-event

Day 15

Hitch-hiked back to our host family riding on the back of a local farmer's truck. Wrestled Nadam style outside our host's ger and the dude stepped on my toe and somehow managed not only to take out a huge chunk of skin but also lift the toenail out of place. This was an accident and how he did the wearing socks is still a mystery to me. Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat

Day 16
Woke up sick with the flu and was pretty much immobile the whole day. Breakfast: Bread and Butter Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat
Day 17

Woke up completely cured! An evening hike lead me to my largest discovery over 15 sites! All building foundations! It must be a town!  Breakfast: Bread and Butter Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat

Day 18

Hitch-hike into town to e-mail the archaeologists again...  Breakfast: Bread and Butter Lunch: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat Dinner: variation of water, flour, lamb/fat

Day 19

Finally leave. If anyone wants to see more pictures mention it in the comments.