Eating Yak and (attempting to) Ride Wild Horses: The Mongolian Adventures of a Curious Penn Undergrad
University of Pennsylvania undergrad, Rachel Glade (class of 2014), recently returned from Mongolia where she participated in a 6-week summer research project with the Penn Biology Department, the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and the National University of Mongolia. This was the fourth out of five years the group studied the “ecological and evolutionary consequences of global climate change and grazing pressures by nomadic pastoralism in northern Mongolia.” The project is funded by the Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE). To read more details about this research, click here.
Mongolia
- Government: Parliamentary Republic
- Currency: Togrog/Tugrik
- Official Language: Mongolian
- Size: Approximately 604,000 square miles
- Population: Approximately 2.75 million
- Predominant Religion: Buddhism
Rachel Glade
When you first found out about the opportunity to participate in the PIRE Mongolia Research project as a college freshman at Penn, what made you want to be a part of the experience?
The thought of having a rare adventure to such a remote location as Mongolia, and doing biological research there, really appealed to me. When am I ever just going to pop over to Mongolia on my own and study the environment? I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Had you ever been abroad before?
No. And since I didn’t know what to expect in such a far away place and had so many flight connections, I was a bit anxious before leaving. But that’s all part of the adventure, and it makes it even more exciting.
Did travel to Mongolia require vaccinations?
Yes, Typhoid Fever, Hepatitis A and B and Tetanus were required. Since we were in a remote location, Rabies shots were optional, but I did not get them.
Which items were required for you to pack for this long trip?
Because the plane from Ulaanbaatar to Moron is so small, there is a 44-lb total baggage weight limit. I had to pack very carefully and sparsely. Lightweight clothing was important, because it weighs very little and can be washed and dried easily, and thin layers are best to keep warm and dry. Most of the time I wore my favorite shoes, Vibram Five Fingers, which dry very quickly. A few essentials I brought included a flashlight, sleeping bag, small pillow, pocketknife, which I used for just about everything – as a pair of scissors I used daily and to cut plants in the field. I brought along insect repellent (massive mosquitoes and horse flies in the fields!!), prescription antibiotics and over-the-counter meds, because there is no doctor, hospital or store within many driving hours from the field site. If a researcher were to get seriously ill – and luckily no one did on this trip – he or she would have to be rescued by helicopter and flown to the hospital in Ulaanbaatar. We all had special insurance in case of an emergency.
Sükhbaatar Square, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Genghis Khan, Emperor of the Mongols, etched into the mountain in Ulaanbaatar
Gilded statue of Buddha inside Gandan Buddhist Monastery, Ulaanbaatar
Now about your journey, how did you get to your remote field site from the USA and how long did it take?
I flew from my home in Miami to Philadelphia, from Philadelphia to Seattle, from Seattle to Seoul, Korea and from Seoul to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. Then we stayed in Ulaanbaatar for one full day (2 nights) before taking a tiny plane to the Mongolian city of Moron. From there we drove 3 and a half hours to Hatgal. There we stayed in a ger (Mongolian tent) for one night before driving for 8 hours on a rough trail to our field site in the Dalbay Valley on Lake Hövsgöl. It’s basically in the middle of nowhere. The flight on the way out with connections was around 28 hours from Miami to Ulaanbaatar. Then the flight from there to Moron was about 2 hours, plus the 8 hours of driving. So from the time I left my house in Miami until the time I arrived at the field site was around 3 full days.
That sounds like an exhausting trip! What was that long car trip like to the research site?
Bumpy! There are really no roads, just paths made by other vehicles. 13 people and their luggage were squished into an old, rickety, Russian van with no seat belts; it was so crowded that some of us had to sit on the floor. The roads, if you can call them that, are very muddy. When we got stuck in the mud we all got out of the car and had to use rocks behind the wheels for traction to get us out. Sometimes the engine overheated, so there was nothing to do but wait for the van to cool off. Despite these less than perfect conditions, we made the best of it and had a lot of fun.
A muddy situation on the way to Dalbay Valley
Where exactly is the Dalbay Valley?
It’s in northern central Mongolia, just south of Russia, around Lake Hövsgöl National Park in a very remote location. Click here for a map. The few people who live in this remote part of the country are herders. There are no towns or shops of any kind for many, many miles; it is a very secluded lifestyle.
Can you describe what the Dalbay Valley looks like?
There are beautiful rolling slopes covered with the greenest grass and a wide variety of plants and wildflowers. At the tops of the hills are forests. The riparian zones are the strips of land that rest along the banks of the river. Lake Hövsgöl is quite large and very pristine. This valley is one of the most unspoiled places left on the planet.
Picture perfect: The Dalbay Valley and Lake Hövsgöl
Why was Mongolia chosen for the research project?
Mongolia shows some of the greatest effects of climate change and land use effects such as grazing and farming on the planet.
What were your accommodations like at the field site?
We lived in traditional gers (rhymes with bears), which are round tents, and we slept in sleeping bags on plywood cots with just a blanket on them – no mattresses. At first I had trouble sleeping on the hard surface, but I quickly got used to the beds and slept really well. Doing research requires a lot of physical work, and you are more than ready for sleep at night. The bottom sides of the gers are somewhat open, so it gets awfully cold in there at night and in the early morning hours. There is a fire in a stove in the center of the ger to help keep us warm.
What does a ger look like?
There is a circular frame made from wood with a domed roof covered with yak wool. The entire structure is protected with a canvas cover. The inside is colorfully painted and contains a metal stove/fire pit in the middle for warmth.
The sun setting on the gers (to the left are flags marking a research site)
The interior of the roof of a ger
The stove inside a ger and wooden cots in the background
What about bathrooms?
There was a shed with a toilet, but you have to fill buckets with water to flush it each time. It’s not the best situation, but it was still better than I had expected it to be.
Were there any modern conveniences at the field site?
There was no running water, electricity or cell phone service. I did not even bring my laptop on this trip. We had one generator that was used for refrigerating food and for our satellite system, which allowed us to use a phone in emergencies or to send and receive short emails and to blog every few days.
How did you feel about not using a computer, texting or talking on a cell phone for so long?
I loved it. It was nice to be disconnected from the world for a while and concentrate on my surroundings.
A pensive moment without any distractions from the modern world
How did you take a shower?
We bathed in the ice-cold river using mild, biodegradable soap so as to not pollute the water. The same soap was also used to wash hair and clothing in the river. In an environment such as this, you simply can’t bathe every day, but everyone else is in the same situation, so you just get adjusted to it.
The water in the river is crystal clear and icy cold
What type of food did you eat?
We had a great Mongolian cook at the field site who made fresh yak meat from the valley, goat, soup with meat and lots of vegetables. Goat meat is common as well. It is tasty, but rather tough. There was a cellar where veggies were stored. Our cook made delicious bread on the stove for us, but this is not typical of Mongolian cuisine. My favorite dish was Huushuur, which was fried dough filled with various kinds of meat or organs.
Roasting a goat
How would you describe the taste of eating yak?
A yak is a bovine, like a cow, so it’s a lot like steak – but leaner. It actually tastes pretty good, but they use every part of the animal, whether it is yak, mutton or goat – and do not trim the fat. It is cooked in pieces in a big pot over an open fire.
Yaks are bovines, related to cattle
Where did you get your water to drink?
We used water from the lake and filtered it. It is some of the purest, coldest water in the world and is crystal clear and delicious.
It sounds like this experience would not be ideal for a student who is not willing to give up his or her creature comforts.
Definitely not. The site was really quite comfortable, but a high-maintenance person would probably have a hard time. I’d imagine not showering every day, spending the majority of your time outside, eating food you are not used to, fighting off mosquitoes and dealing with difficult travel to and from the site would be really challenging for some people. Thankfully all the people I travelled with were very easy-going.
Northern Mongolia remains one of the earth’s most unspoiled destinations
What was the weather like while you were there?
Most of the time, it was sunny and beautiful. There were some cloudy days and a few storms. One night we had such a severe thunderstorm that one of the gers almost blew away. Generally it is warm and arid during the day, with the hottest temperatures being in the 80s, and it rather cold at night with temperatures occasionally dipping down into the 30s. One night in July, there was even a frost.
How many others were there with you?
I was one of 6 undergrads, and there were a total of about 20 people on the team including grad students, post-doctorates, professors and other workers. You really get to know people when you live with them in tents in the middle of nowhere and share this most unusual experience. You have a bond after an adventure like this, because no matter how well you describe your experience to others who were not there, they can’t imagine what it was really like.
An expansive herd of sheep and goats graze on a slope
What was it like communicating with the students from the University of Mongolia?
We interacted with the Mongolian researchers daily. Two of the girls in my ger were from the University of Mongolia; they were really nice. Their English was much better than my Mongolian! Verbal communication can be challenging, and we spent a lot of nights teaching each other words in our native languages. We would point at items and just said the word and the others would repeat them. It was highly entertaining. I learned a few Mongolian words, such as ones for volleyball, the number 1-10, thank you, good-bye, what happened? and a few others. The alphabet is Cyrillic, but they do have some adaptations of words in the English alphabet.
What did you have to do to prepare for your fieldwork?
We had to quickly learn the scientific names of 50 different species of plants in 2 days and learn to identify them in the field. We did surprisingly well with a crash course and even got better as time went on. As soon as I got home I found myself trying to identify the plants and grasses in South Florida.
Rachel lurking in the Mongolian forest
Wildflowers abound in the Dalbay Valley
So how did you spend your days while at work?
There were a lot of different projects going on, so everyone spent their time doing different things. We’d generally wake up around 8:30, eat breakfast, work until lunch, and then work again before dinner. Some people rode horses to other parts of the valley to conduct research, but most of us stayed on the slope and surrounding forests right near camp. It takes a lot of sometimes-tedious work to collect data for research purposes. We spent a lot of time collecting plant samples, monitoring and recording data on the various experiments, and maintaining the experiments (i.e. watering, weeding, etc.).
What did you do for entertainment when not working?
We played a lot of volleyball, which is a huge sport in Mongolia. We also played a lot of cards, sang and played guitar, and rode horses. The 4th of July was really special. We roasted a goat and had a big feast along with activities and races. We took a couple of days to attend the Midsummer Festival called Naadam.
Can you tell us about that?
In the beginning of July we drove to Hatgal, a town about 7 hours away from the field site, for Naadam. We saw a horse race, in which 5-6 year old children race for 20km. It’s really amazing to see; some of the kids learn how to ride before they even know how to walk! We also saw Mongolian wrestling, which is very traditional and interesting to watch. There was also an archery competition, and a volleyball competition that we participated in. It was a great event.
The locals wear traditional costumes for the Naadam Festival
Wrestling is a big part of the Naadam celebration
What was it like to ride Mongolian horses?
It was quite an experience. The horses are not quite as domesticated as they are in the states. Mongolians often catch wild horses, throw a saddle on them, and just ride them. It’s really exhilarating galloping through the valley; it was scary at times, though, when it was clear that the horse had more control than you did! The traditional Mongolian saddles are made of wood and can be a little uncomfortable. I had a bit of a problem with the stirrups, which are metal; they hit me right on my shin and caused some ugly bruising!
Other than horses, yaks, goats and sheep, did you see any other animals?
A wild dog came to our camp one day. We named her “Petite Chien.” She looked very mangy and somewhat like a wolf, but she was extremely friendly and submissive. She was very good at rodent control, as she had a knack for hunting ground squirrels! She stayed for a few days, and then disappeared as quick as she had come.
Wild horses are common in the valley
What did you miss most about home?
Though the food was generally very good, I missed American food. Pizza, salad, chicken, pie; these were the things I craved the most. We talked about food a lot, and for some reason, fried chicken was probably the most talked about.
Now that you have been home for a few days, how do you feel?
Happy and exhausted. I missed my connecting flight in San Francisco and got stuck in the airport for 11 hours. Then when I arrived home, I discovered my luggage did not make it on the plane. Eventually the airline delivered it to my house. I’ve been sleeping a lot and eating really healthy, light food. It feels great.
What will you miss most about Mongolia?
I’ll miss a lot of things, but mostly the beautiful landscape. The lake and the mountains were a nice thing to see first thing every morning, and the sunsets were spectacular. I’ll also miss the feeling of being disconnected from the rest of the world; it was nice not having to worry about the internet or cell phones or any of that nonsense.
If you had to describe your Mongolia experience in 4 words, what would they be?
Adventure, yak meat, wildflowers.
What advice would you give to other college students out there who are considering participating in a university research project somewhere in a remote location?
Go for it. There’s no better time to explore and do something crazy and adventurous than in college. Doing research in a remote place is a life changing experience. It will change the way you think and open your mind to different ways of living. It’s also a great way to see hands-on what the wonderfully challenging life of a research scientist is like.
