Genghis Khan and The Runaway Horse

Mongolia is indeed the land of adventure, it’s contrasting landscapes and near absolute isolation in parts make it an almost certain guarantee for one of the most exhilarating trips you will ever make in a lifetime. How you decide on an itinerary for such a country is certainly difficult, for you have the rolling sand dunes of the Gobi Desert where the main mode of transport is on the back of a majestic, yet admittedly slightly goofy camel or you can opt for the seemingly endless expanse of grasslands where your mode of transport will usually be a horse. Both options sound unbelievable, but when it came down to it we decided to spend our first foray into Mongolia exploring the capital, Ulaanbaatar and the nearby grasslands.

As we chose to explore the grasslands, a trip there would not be complete without experiencing some of the incredible scenery while on horseback. Horse-riding trips and excursion providers are numerous so it is incredibly easy to set up an itinerary once you’re in Mongolia, but if you would like to prepare one of these kind of trips in advance that is also possible as there are a lot of providers available for online booking too! You, can also of course travel independently, but I would recommend at least a private guide as the Mongolian wilderness is incredibly vast with parts not even on the grid.

To get to Mongolia, we chose to go there by train and let me just say, that is an incredible experience that I highly recommend to everyone. The train route itself is part of the famous Trans-Siberian network. The particular train route we took is called the Trans-Mongolian express and crosses an ancient tea-caravan route from China to Russia. The scenery you see along the way is truly astounding and you will see many dramatic changes in landscape along the way.

As soon as we disembarked the train at Ulaanbaatar station, we were immediately set upon by many a tour provider. We took a few pamphlets and decided on the best option for our soon to be grasslands adventure! As we arrived in the mid-afternoon, our grassland excursion would unfortunately have to wait until the next day. However, we made sure to set-up our itinerary for the following day right away so we would have the earliest possible start to our day of exploring.

The next morning, we arose at the crack of dawn, grabbed a quick coffee and some fruit and then clambered into our transportation for the day. It was a small SUV, equipped with the kind of tires that scream ‘bumps ahead!’ We set off right away with Ulaanbaatar growing ever distant in the background. Eventually, it was just us and the open road and the rolling grasslands started to emerge before our very eyes. The first stop on our itinerary for the day was at the enormous metallic statue of Genghis Khan upon his mighty (semi-feral) steed. Due to the immense size of the statue, it appeared miles before we reached it. It gleamed in the sunlight, majestic and proud invoking feelings of curious wonder and awe. As we got ever closer, its full size came into view and, I must say it really is one of the coolest statues I’ve ever seen. Outside the statue complex there was a huge eagle tied to a perch, it had a serious, focused look in its eyes, poised to find prey at any given moment. However, I must add that it was a bit unfortunate seeing this incredible creature tied down and not soaring in the skies. Although eagles are indeed used for hunting in Mongolia, this particular set-up did feel like it was just tourist pandering.

After spending some time gawking at the incredible statue from a distance, we decided it was time to entire the complex and explore the statue from inside. The fact that you can explore the inside of this statue and climb all the way to the top has to be the coolest feature of this amazing sculpture. Once inside, you can explore a small museum about Genghis Khan on the ground floor, complete with a replica yurt that once housed the great warlord himself. There is also a small shop and bar where you can buy a souvenir or avail of some refreshments. One very interesting curiosity housed on the ground floor of the museum is the world’s largest boot, which even holds a place in the Guinness World Book of Records. Speaking of world’s largest, the statue within which this giant boot is housed, also happens to be the world’s largest equestrian statue. After exploring the ground floor museum we started to ascend the statue, first by taking the very convenient elevator and then climbing the final round of stairs to get to the top. Once you get to the top, the view is absolutely incredible, yurts and grasslands abound.

After visually consuming our fill of the majestic Genghis Khan statue we headed back to our off-road vehicle. We continued along the little road we had left, before it was time to fully utilize those ‘bumps ahead’ tires and venture deep into the wild Mongolian grasslands. The drive through the grasslands is simply stunning, it’s incredibly peaceful with the silence only being broken by cattle and a herder atop his horse caring for the animals. *photo(the shutter did also break the silence). Venturing ever deeper into the grasslands, we came upon the next stop on our itinerary, which was to have lunch with a local family in a yurt and then go horse-riding. We parked right outside the yurt and it was an incredible sight, three stunning, white yurts against the stunning background of wild Mongolia. It was absolutely breathtaking. We then sat down to some tea and qurut (dried cheese biscuit) with orom (Mongolian cream). I must say that I found both of these to be really delicious, well worth a try! After this, we decided to explore the yurts while we waited for the main meal, which, if I had to put money on it was going to be a lot of meat. The interior of a yurt is very beautiful and spacious. Its walls are decorated and insulated by stunning layers of colorful fabric. In the outside area, the family had two adorable dogs that were very playful. Tied to the fence outside was our horse for the horse-riding experience. It was a beautiful brown, stocky creature who stood peacefully, for now.

I say for now as what’s about to happen next, changes absolutely everything about that day, and the entire holiday in fact.

As we took in our wonderful surroundings, our guide came up to us and suggested that we go horse-riding before our big meal which sounded like a wonderful idea. I was so excited that I decided to go first, imagine, striding majestically through the grasslands on a mighty (semi-feral) steed. After our guide finished dressing the horse it was my turn to ride. There are a few things to be aware of before riding a horse in Mongolia. Despite their small size, they are indeed horses and not ponies. They are also claimed to be half wild, the reason for this is that when the owner is not riding the horse they are free to roam the countryside, without limitation. Another important note to mention is that you must always approach and mount a Mongolian horse from the left side as this is how they are trained and feel most comfortable with.

With that knowledge in mind, I mounted the beautiful horse and led into the grasslands with my guide holding the front of the rains. Not quite the wild trot alone through the grasslands I had imagined but I must say I did feel nice and safe being led around by my guide. About five or so minutes into the ride, the horse started shaking its head signalling that it felt uncomfortable. With that, I politely requested that we turn around and go back to the yurt so I could dismount before the horse got too uncomfortable. However, little did I know that back at yurt, our main tour guide was telling my partner that the horses are particular sensitive to the wind and get uncomfortable very quickly. Was it windy that day? Yes. Yes, it was. It was very, bloody windy.

Just as we were nearing our triumphant return to the yurt, with everyone waving expectantly, the horse bolted. It all happened so fast, it took me a second or two to fully grasp what was happening. When the horse bolted, my guide was knocked to the ground and the horse galloped further and further away, with me on it, holding on for dear life. At first I screamed, but quickly stopped as I remembered my guide telling me that this spooks the horses. Does anything not spook these horses?

The horse picked up its pace and for a brief moment, it felt incredibly majestic but my potential impending doom quickly dissipated that feeling faster than you can say ‘spook’. After the feelings of confusion, mortal fear, on top of the world, back to mortal fear in that order ended, I decided it was time to make a plan of action. Luckily, I have prior horse-riding experience so I at least knew how to handle myself on a horse. I held the reins tightly and pulled them back to signal the horse to stop or at least mercifully, slow down. It didn’t. Disappointed that the first plan didn’t work but admittedly feeling slightly bad ass riding this wild runaway horse, it was time for a new plan. In the distance, I noticed there was a small stream running through the hills that created a dip in the terrain. Eureka! This will have to slow the horse down, I thought to myself. How naive I was, instead the horse jumped right over it and the impact caused my feet to come out of the stirrups. It was at this moment, I knew my way out of this situation wouldn’t be without injury. With no other obvious way to slow the horse down, I knew I would have to jump off. As someone who has experience riding horses, I know that this should be an absolute last resort, but with the impending tree line getting ever closer I knew I had to get off. I figured that the best way to do that would be to do a roll off the horse to at least keep the impact from being too great on any one area. I kept my eyes open for any soft patches and noticed one coming up that would have to do. As we neared the fateful location, I braced myself and and then, whomp! Off the horse I rolled, feeling thankful that I was finally off and for now, ignoring the pain I knew was there waiting. To my horror and extreme annoyance, the horse stopped too! How very dare you! Now you stop? Brilliant. It glanced back at me for a brief moment and then took off again into the distance. It was immediately after this exchange that the pain decided to show itself, and it was intense. I couldn’t stand up but I could raise myself up on my elbows to look out for rescue. Luckily, within minutes my guides jeep pulled up and carried me to it and drove me back to the yurt where my partner very worriedly was waiting for me. After we got to the yurt, the family who lived at the yurt were all very worried and extremely kind and sweet. After a quick check-up of my injuries at the yurt, it was decided that I needed to get to a hospital for an x-ray.

Fear gripped me at that point, not the fear of the hospital but the fear of getting to the hospital. The thought of bumping our way off-road with my leg the way it was? Terrifying, to say the least.

Alas, it was what needed to be done, so off we went, carefully bumping and winding our way back through the grasslands to get to the main road so we could get to the nearest hospital. Thankfully, I was able to position myself in a way that didn’t mean every sitting moment was one of excruciating pain but one of a lot of pain. Eventually, we made it to the nearest hospital, which was located at the top of a literal building site, promising start. We entered the hospital and thankfully, it was not a building site on the inside. We entered a room and the doctor looked me over and said he was confident I hadn’t broken anything but couldn’t be sure as they did not have an x-ray machine at this hospital.

With that revelation, it was time to head to hospital number two in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Knowing that we were returning to the city was indeed a very comforting thought as you can be assured that there are facilities there, x-ray machine included. The next hospital was a lot more modern but also a lot more chaotic, there were people everywhere with all sorts of ailments but the line moved fast.

When it came to be my turn, the doctor had me lay down on a metal bed and I knew more prodding was imminent. Once again, the doctor deduced that I probably hadn’t broken anything but sent me in for an x-ray. My partner came into the x-ray room with me to help me lie on the metal slab, however, the doctor did not warn us the procedure was about to start and, when it became obvious that it was me and my partner looked at each other and thankfully, he exited the room before he got radiation poisoning. To make matters worse, the door didn’t close properly so who knows how much difference there was between the interior of the room and outside.

After that debacle, we went back to the doctor so he could analyze my results. Luckily, no broken bones only severe bruising which is the best I could have hoped for, after rolling off a running horse. With that, I was given strong painkillers and driven back to the hotel to rest. Our guides was very kind and covered the medical expenses. In addition, much to my amusement and how typical a scenario this would only be for someone as accident-prone as myself, they said this was the first time something like this has ever happened.

That concluded my first ever day in the country of Mongolia. I knew I would have an adventure here and I most definitely wasn’t disappointed.