We spent the last two weeks in the Mongolian countryside. Our explorations took us from the mountains in the north-east of Ulaanbaatar to the Gobi desert in the south and back into central Mongolia. The landscapes in these different locations were diverse in both climate and geography. Yet they all had one thing in common – the ever-present Mongolian nomadic household – the ger.
Mountain ger
Desert ger
This traditional yurt is made of felt and can be assembled and disassembled in less than an hour. They range in size (from small to large) and shape (from round to rounder) but all follow the same basic construction. Weighing in at around 250 kg, an average ger can be carried by a single camel.
Plains gers
Backyard gers
On our travels, we slept exclusively in gers in both the lush-green regions of central Mongolia as well as the desert in the south. Gers come with one door that always faces south and no windows. For a few extra tughriks, you can add an internal heating solution in the shape and size of a wood-burning stove (fire wood sold separately). Their interiors can vary dramatically from beautifully ornate to starkly bare. However, the structure itself is always solid and able to withstand rain and sand-storms.
4 star ger
1 star ger
The wooden beam over the door is where you hit your head – repeatedly.
We were lucky enough to see a couple of these simple-yet-amazing structures being erected. For one of them, I was quick enough to setup my GoPro for a sweet time-lapse. And if you don’t think it’s sweet, I’d like to see you set one up faster!
We’ve got several other posts coming up so stay tuned!
Lisa & Sorin
Le Voyage Extraordinaire No. 55 
Man I missed this blog. I didn’t get more than 2 pics in before starting to lol. Gers are funny. I also like how constructing them requires an audience of folks who don’t do any work.
The role of supervisor is very important and having a large supervisor to worker ratio is essential in many a society. I take great pride in having mastered the skills necessary to play that role and can now be efficient under any conditions. I can recognize in this video that some of the supervisors are new to the job since they appear to be contributing to the work from time to time. Professional supervisors do not attempt to take part in or perform any of the work themselves but instead they mingle with other supervisors to discuss issues that are only sometimes tangentially related to the work at hand. Their only interaction with the workers is in offering them advice on how to complete the work in a better and sounder way. The supervisor at the very right of the video that appears roughly halfway through is very professional. He’s interacting with at least 2 other supervisors for a prolonged period of time and can be seen holding in his hands an essential supervisor tool: an alcoholic beverage.
Hah! I think the locals had to redo or fix pretty much all the parts that we helped with 😛
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