minus ten with the camels and the soap that did not get to bubble

one might typically think of icy white and gloom in a sub zero temperature.  not necessarily so in Mongolia’s Gobi region, where precipitation is low ergo snowfall is almost nil, where the sky remains blue and the golden sun shining.  

so it was in the past six days in Uliziit district when the the gender focal persons of the swiss agency for development and cooperation (sdc) traversed hundreds of kilometers of the gobi desert,

inter-acted with herders,crawled in a cave with hopes of being reborn,

had a photo op in one of the most gorgeous mountain cliffs,

tried their hands at milking and herding the camels,

drank gallons of camel milk and camel vodka,

waltzed with the locals and allowed to be impressed by the richness of the local culture,  

squinted at soaring hawks and falcons, marveled at a herd of a thousand racing gazelles, bonded in the confines of the gers and in nightly discourses over beer and vodka.

the Gobi Desert, one of the world’s great deserts, covers much of the southern part of Mongolia. unlike the Sahara, the Gobi has fewer sand dunes and is a barren expanse of gravel plains and rocky outcrops. temperatures reach +40° C. in summer, and -40 in winter.  rain comes once every two or three years in some areas. the Great Gobi National Park is one of the world’s largest biospheres,  an area larger than Switzerland. the Gobi is home to the last remaining wild bacterian (two-humped) camels, wild ass, and a small population of Gobi bears, the only desert-inhabiting bears.

on touristy excursion though we weren’t.  the fun came with the serious business of ” genderising” the sdc projects. the green gold project in dundgobi aimag (province), that help herders better manage pasture areas, was our laboratory.    we talked to men and women members of pasture users’ groups, illustrated the information collected in sex disaggregated time use clocks, income-expenditure pie charts and mobility spider diagrams. in all the workshop went extremely well.

average temperature while we were there was minus ten celcius. properly bundled up it would have been tolerable. we were billeted in a special ger (tent house). as gers would have, a chimney stove  stood in the middle which the caretaker regularly stoked to ensure that we were warm and toasty.  

it was a challenge however being out in the open with the camels. the whistling wind made the cold colder.  didnt faze the animals and the residents but made my eyes water, talking of which water being a precious commodity in the desert, none of us bathed for the entire six days.  made do with wet wipes. 

the ger/guesthouse compound had a pit toilet but did not have a bathroom.  the only water that i ever touched was bottled water to drink and brush my teeth with.  so it was that my soap did not get to bubble. 

uhm not quite. the district officials organized a party and cultural show for us on our fourth night.  vanities intact, we at least managed to wash our hair  and prettify ourselves for the dance. 

such inconveniences are a trifling compared to the privilege of being in the place -  sharing life for a brief moment with the desert nomads and being humbled by the splendour of God’s creations.  the stink of the pit toilet somehow was overpowered by the awe of watching the sun rise or gazing at the gazillion stars that spoke to one’s heart in the still desert night.