Let’s rewind. I waved a temporary goodbye to my Irish guardian angels at Olkhon a few days ago and shared my train cabin with a Mongolian geologist, Naratuya, meaning Sunrise. She gave me some tinned meat, I gave her some instant noodles and so we found a mutual language for our 36-hour journey. Despite her kindness by the time the train pulled into Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, I felt crushed. On the Russia-Mongolia border the customs officers had taken offence to the amount of malaria- and other tablets I was carrying. I admit – it’s true, I only have one pair of jeans but when it comes to sickness I’m like a one woman's walking pharmacy. I kept my chin up while the officers rooted through and questioned me about diarrhoea relief pills, tampons and other useful stuff better hidden from the whole train carriage. But after finding my hostel the next morning at 6am there was just one thing to be done: get under a duvet and let Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’ lull me to sleep. Cheesy, I know, but if it takes Chris Martin to make me feel better, then so be it.
And voila – after a few hours’ napping I felt bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready for adventure. I navigated my way through a city that hasn’t got an address system watching ancient Eastern influences fight for airspace with Soviet blocks and modern, gleaming sky scrapers. Randomly I found my way to a place called the Great Place of Complete Joy, Gandan Khiid. How beautiful are Mongolian names! Gandan Khiid is a Buddhist monastery and home to Mongolia’s spiritual leader, Khamba Lama. I followed the chants of the monks that to me resonated with an Orthodox sermon I witnessed in St Petersburg about a week ago. I understood nothing of the words but there was no need – a spirituality that transcends anything we communicate in language was there for anyone to feel.
As I returned to the more earthly pastime of photography one of my couchsurfing requests from earlier that morning texted me – Nyam was free to meet me now. Let me quickly explain. Couchsurfers are a community joined by a fascination of different cultures and people. You create a profile online and communicate with individuals through the webpage or by phone if you share numbers. You can host or stay at someone’s overnight, or you can meet them for a coffee or maybe a visit to the museum. The bottom line is you can participate as much or as little as you wish, there is no obligation. As far as I’m concerned it has revolutionised the way I view travel.
So this is how I ended up meeting Nyam, whose hospitality along with his parents’ once again left me wondering whether 'thank you' quite covers the goodness of people. We wondered around the streets of Ulaanbaatar together and he invited me to his home where I enjoyed Mongolian tea, treats and a hearty mutton stew. Sitting in this mini cosmos masked as a living room, I couldn’t help but think that maybe better than anything else this had opened up Mongolian culture to me. I’m far from pretending to be knowledgeable on the subject but on the road to understanding, it feels like a good start.
