The first horse I come across in Mongolia is lying on my plate. Oogi’s sister has cooked a big lunch during the camping trip. Although it tasted good, eating horses was not the purpose of the trip. Actually, I wanted to sit on them, not chew on them.

Apart from this, Ulan Bator turned out to be quite a bureaucratic challenge (see entry Ulan Bator). This was the weekend and the official places were closed which forced me to take a break from the organizational work.

Oogi my CouchSurfing host and her husband Kishig spontaneously decided to go camping with their family to the Khustain Nuuru (kurz Hustai) National Park which is about 100 kilometers away from UB. They also invited her cousin with her son, a friend and us couchsurfers, four French students and me. A total of 12 people with luggage and board. My kudos again to the car, a Japanese minibus.Like in Russia, the roads were bumpy, but it is a quick drive from UB into the Khustain Nuruu area.

A week before, I had written to the park administration, because I wanted to do a report about the wild horse project. The request went unanswered. I had already given up on the project, when it turned out that Kishig knew the biologist in charge. This happened at the information center in the park. Apparently, they studied together. On top, we also happened to meet him, and he proposed to take me on his motorcycle tour through the park on the next morning. He does the tour twice a day to watch the horses. To keep it short, the report worked out in the end.

The only downer: the pictures from my Pentax SLR were unusable. I already thought so earlier. That it is partially the user’s fault cannot be excluded at this point. However,  when Laureen, the French girl had brought her camera and we were able to compare, it was clear: “I have to get rid of it.” Even my point-and-shoot takes better pictures. I went to one of the electronics shops of Peace Avenue and negotiated to exchange the Pentax for a slightly more advanced model by Cannon, of course, not without paying a significant amount on top.

Here is something I experienced at the park, that didn’t make it in the report: The night before the motorbike tour, we went to see the wild horses. I’ve been stalking them to take pictures. When I was about 30 meters away, the stallion came towards me, turned sideways and looked at me as if to say. “One step further, and I’ll beat you up” The mares and foals were passing behind him. When the last horse had left, he turned away slowly and followed them. If I had been wearing a hat, I would have lifted it. “Competence” was the first word that crossed my mind.