By Isolina Miller from University of Vermont
Woah. Here we are, rounding up (please enjoy my puns, I beg you, no one laughs at them) the last weeks of being in the Darhard Valley and in Mongolia. What a time it has been. I have always loved the possibility of coming back to Asia and not being a minority any more, but I never thought I would be in Mongolia and freaking paying to sleep in tents, hike, and semi-die on talus. Yet, here I am, so happy and grateful for what this program, people, and country have given to us. I cannot wait to get back to the US and put some of the lessons and self-confidence I gained here to use. Over the course of 1 ½ months, I have gathered some intel about being on a Round River Program, and I wanted to return it here. I could tell you about packing and all that, but the most important things I will remember are the experiences and lessons I have learned here.
You just gotta go with the flow. No, I mean it. Really go with the flow.
New experiences and encounters will happen. Go on that silly little 20-mile day hike. It sounds like hell, smells like hell, and feels like hell, but the good moments stick out in the end. This hike, dubbed “Camera 20” leads you up Mount Mongash, which has the most amazing views (you can see over 50 miles from it) and gorgeous terrain that’s interspersed with your favorite spikey pea-family-cactus (Caragana…look it up). After a breathless hike to the top, we stopped for lunch before fetching a well-hidden Camera 20. Then down again through light rain and some sun to our cook, Amka’s, open arms and food.
You’ll have to do things you do not like and that’s ok. It builds character…
After the Camera 20 hike our next couple of days were spent wildly analyzing our own data, while finishing Cormorant data collection which included picking through half-digested fish, thrown up by cormorants from a breeding colony, and driving all over the valley to chase down fish-identifying experts…. completed thanks to Chinbold, Badmaa, instructor Bob and Noelle! Interspersed was a little sleep, finishing up schoolwork, working on presentations, and starting and mostly finishing papers. On Friday, July 28th, at 10 am we presented at the parks headquarters to anyone from the community who wanted to learn about our research. Rangers from all over the valley gathered including many who we had met and helped us along the way with our data collection or provided us shelter and food (thank you Battogtokh, Dawaadalai, Zaya and many more). A Soum governor, along with government and environmental officials were present from Ulaan-Uul and Renchinelhumbe. A Board Member and Program Director of Round River came….and even some fellow Gadaads (foreigners) who we made friends with a couple days before presentations.
Our presentations went without a hitch (it was the best turnout instructor Bob had seen!). And thanks to Badmaa, everyone’s presentation and talk was fully translated, so that students could present in English and Tumursukh, rangers, and other Mongolian attendees got all the details real time. After they were finished, we were free!! For a hot second.
Sometimes all you should do is just dance, dance the night away
With presentations wrapped up it was time to celebrate. The park hosted us a dance and with much enthusiasm and energy we learned the Russian waltz. This waltz is easy(ish) to learn and looks great the faster you can do it. By the time night fell we were spinning and swaying together to the sounds of Mongolian music and Amka and Badmaa’s singing. Then, we introduced some of our own classic dances like the Cha-Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle and some ABBA as well. Tumursukh closed with a thank you and gifts, and we then said our heartfelt goodbyes and stumbled to the car that took us home to basecamp for the last time. The next day was a tearful, grounding “see you later” to the mountains, our basecamp, friends who were staying in the valley including Amka and Badmaa, and a wonderful send off from everyone at the park.
Sometimes when life gives you lemons you throw them up and hope you can keep water down
On our two-day journey from the Darhard to Ulaanbaatar we were hit with a bug. This bug hit one person right after another and seems to be yes, slightly weakening but is still rampaging through our ranks and bowels. Our drivers, Chinbold and Mindei, kept us on track and made sure we had time to run off to the sides of the road to empty ourselves. Thank you both for not leaving us. Word is that some of our Mongolian friends back in the valley are also sick, so do not worry loved ones, it is just a bug! Some of us are slowly on the mend, some are still new to this little virus, and some have not gotten anything!
Ending on a high note (get it? Because we’re flying)
Today Erin and Tyler got tattoos, while the rest of us spent time recovering from illness and doing catch-up on schoolwork or hiding from the heat (ie. Suree). We spent the evening watching the Mongolian National Orchestra, complete with throat singing, traditional Mongolian dances, contortionists, and the national orchestra playing classical music, using only traditional Mongolian instruments (none found in western orchestras). We will later perhaps drag instructor Bob out to Karaoke or finish up watching Harry Potter. Tomorrow, we board our flights and take off on our new adventures wherever those may be. I cannot wait to see and hear what my fellow students do in this world and I am incredibly grateful to have met such wonderful classmates, teachers, rangers and friends throughout this incredible journey.
