Mongolian Permaculture: Day 20 - 1st Design Presentations, Fishing, and A Feast For Kings

STUDENTS LEARN HOW TO USE AN A-FRAME TO FIND LEVEL

Using A-Frames to Find Level and Wicking Garden Beds on the prac list today.

Students were given their first design tasks yesterday and will be presenting this evening so that the Instructors can gague where everyone is at: what areas need more attention, which lessons/principles/tools have been understood best and worst, how people are working together, and which individual students need more attention in any areas.

Ater the pracs I spent much of the day in the outdoors kitchen, working with the cook to prepare some salad and tracking down ingredients to make a socially responsible cake. More on this later as I think it deserves an entire post to explore on its own, The Dilema of Chocolate Cake in Developing Countries.

FEAST FOR A KING

The very talented Michael [our principle translator] invited me to witness the traditional Mongolian livestock slaughtering technique ...HARDCORE.

The sheep is brought into one of the abandoned buildings to face his executioner. Michael takes of his shirt as he sharpens his knife: "Very Important," he says [the knife, not the shirt!].

Gunrick holds the animals back legs while Michael pins him with his leg as he crouches over its exposed belly, makes a small surgical cut just below the ribcage, then reaches into the live animal's organ cavity elbow-deep to sever its artery with his finger. The sheep kicks a few times and organs bulge out of the incision, pulsing with their last throbs as the life fades from its eyes.

Death comes quickly, and the Mongolians deftly push the guts back into the animal and begin skinning the warm carcass. It is a grisly thing to watch, very clean and efficient. No blood.

The animal bleeds to death internally, and the blood will congeal inside to be scooped out later for the broth and sausages. The organs are highly nutritious, highly prized and will all go into the broth for later.

The next part we had not seen before: the stomach and intestines are cleaned out, and the head and hooves scorched of their hair and scraped clean. The entrails are stuffed with the congealed blood, the stomach turned inside out and stuffed with the head and hooves of the sheep.

The fatty tail pad is scooped out, filled with meat, and sewn shut to be boiled next to the stuffed tripe for at least two hours: it is this part that was considered to be Chinggis' favorite meal ...a feast for kings.

I witness and participate in most of the preparation all day, and am picked up at around 6pm by 13-year old 'Gunner' and his little brother 'Huong', and their buddy 'Tetch' [that is the best I can do to pronounce their names!] while the students present their first design tasks to Rick and Kat.

FISHING BUDDIES, FROM L TO R:
'TETCH' AKA 'CHOJO', 'GUNNER' AND 'HUONG'

Gunner stopped by the hasha with about a dozen Mongolian Trout, which we butterfly filleted and salted this afternoon before heading to the river. Tomorrow we will fry them to a crisp and add some garlic and vinegar, Filipino-style. Fish and rice are now on the menu! I have enlisted Tetch help me with my Microfinance class on PDC Day 10 - hopefully he can design a logo for the Co-Operative by then...

It is about a 1 km walk to the river, and Gunner's halting English is good enough for us to have a pretty good conversation all the way there and back. He studies music and dance, likes basketball, soccer and volleyball, and has a very large family living in the ger encampment by the river in the distance.

I am determined to see one of the monster fish that lurk in the depths of Mongolian waterways, but as soon as I start signing that I want to hook the first fingerling he catches, Gunner puts his hands to his throat and signals that going for one of the big fish will mean certain death

So, me and my new fishing buddies stand at the river banks casting handlines hooked with grasshoppers into the current, and manage to pull out one pan-sized trout, and two small fries that the small fries wanted to bag.

We walk back to the hasha as the sun sets behind the hills and I play a little tune on the harmonica Rick has leant me for the trip. I'm not much of a player, but it is fun to walk home Huck-Finn-style from the river, and all of a sudden I am 9 years old again without a care in the world in the middle of Mongolia.

I arrive at the feast late and Rick is not impressed. Rightly so, as Michael has spent the entire day preparing a traditional feast reserved for royalty, and I waltz in with a few small fish on my back just as everyone is finishing up their meals.

We have been invited into their tribe, an extra-special effort is made to welcome us, and one of the guests of honor skips out on the feast. Not the right message to send to the group.

I will have a heart-to-heart with Michael tomorrow, and pay closer attention going forward... but geez it was fun today!

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 12 - Bayanday Co-Operative

'SUMO BOY' WRESTLES A CASHMERE GOAT

Belly is better today.

Last site visit before heading back to Tosontsengel to prepare for Mongolia’s first Permaculture Design Course [PDC].

This site sits just above fertile river flats, nestled in the elbow of two nearby hills which take the edge off the winds. There are trees on the flats here instead of in the hilltops, a sign that fertility and moisture levels in the hills are not sufficient to support tree growth.

Instead, the forest clings to the seepage zone around the flowing river. There are also signs that there may be too much water here at a certain depth: once the trees reach a certain height they start dying, most likely because their roots hit the waterflowing underground and canot cope with the surplus of water.

Disease is ruled out as a factor because there are not entire swaths of forest affected, nor are there different-sized trees suffering from the dieback.

It seems to be uniformly the same size [age] trees, dying back in the middle of a cluster of perfectly healthy trees. This means an abundance readily available and easily harvested wood for Bayanday Co-Operative

Their cashmere goats are penned in the middle of the plain because compared the the last 4 Co-Ops, this group has a comparitively small space to work in.

Their herd cannot graze within eyesight 5kms away on the other side of the basin because they would be out of sight on the other side of those protective hills:

’Everything works both ways.’
–Bill Mollisson-

One of their challenges is keeping the tiny goats out of the nearby vegge plot, something that could be fixed by adjusting their existing fence design. Tree trunks have been laid horizontally across the fence posts, leaving space enough for the small goats to leap through.

Designing vertical pickets spaced closely enough would eliminate this problem and could have the added benefit of using less timber to create their fencing. Poles could be cut into planks to maximize efficient use of this resource.

The other huge challenge this group faces is the cost of petrol to pump their water 6 meters up from the river to the growing plot – their single biggest expense, which is severly hampering their sustainability.

Two solutions are immediately apparent here:

1. Switch to a renewable-energy pump such as a wind or RAM pump.
2. Consider using the fertile pad on the river flats where the existing pump sits as another growing area. The locals confirm that the river has not flooded in living memory, so flood risk would appear to be low.

BAYANDAY CO-OP – NOTES FROM PERMACULTURE CLASS IN A GER:

• CABBAGE MOTHS FIND CROPS 2 WAYS:
  I) SIGHT (LIKE EAGLE HUNTING RABBIT ON PLAINS)
  II) SMELL (MASK W/ OTHER CROPS SUCH AS CHIVES)
• INTERCROP TO CONFUSE CABBAGE MOTH
• ALSO SOUTHERNWOOD WEEDS …LEAVE IN ROWS WHEN THEY COME UP, CRUSH THESE UNDERFOOT TO RELEASE SMELL
• CHECK FOR GRUB EGGS UNDER CABBAGE LEAVES AND CRUCH THESE
• PLANT PRICKLY BUSH AS PERIMETER TO PROVIDE SHELTER FOR SMALL BIRDS WHICH LOVE TO EAT THESE GRUBS; ALSO CREATES BARRIER TO LIVESTOCK (SOLVES GOAT PROBLEM)
• 1 BIRD CAN EAT APPROX 50 GRUBS/DAY
  PERIMETER HEDGE --> 200 BIRDS = 5,000 GRUBS/DAY
• OBSERVE & USE NATURAL RESOURCES AROUND TO WORK FOR YOU
• BE CAREFUL USING DUNG BURNING SMOKESCREENS; IT IS SAME AS SMOKING CIGARETTES …CONSIDER USING JUNIPER BERRY BRANCHES INSTEAD
• USE UMBRELLIFEROUS FLOWERS TO ATTRACT PREDATORY INSECTS; PLANT CLOSE TO CROP.
• CHIVES, DILL & CARROT TOPS HAVE THIS SHAPE, ALSO MANY WILD FLOWERS HAVE THIS SHAPE
• DAISY FLOWERS ALSO DO THIS JOB
• PLANTS ARE JUST LIKE YOUR HORSES – THE STRONG ONES DON’T GET SICK OFTEN
  PEST INSECTS ARE JUST LIKE VULTURES – THEY TAKE THE WEAKEST
• NEXT THING IS, PROVIDE GOOD SHELTER, GOOD HEALTHY SOIL (FOOD), MOISTURE LEVELS CONSTANT (WATER) FOR YOUR PLANTS AS YOU WOULD YOUR HORSES
• TREE WITH THE WHITE TRUNK [NAARS TREE] GROWING BY THE RIVER WOULD MAKE A GOOD WINDBREAK
• RAM PUMP USES FLOWING WATER’S ENERGY TO DRAW WATER UP SLOPE, REPLACE PETROL PUMP WITH SIMILAR DEVICE TO ELIMINATE EXPENSIVE PETROL DEPENDANCE AND INCREASE PROFITABILITY
• CROPPING ACROSS SLOPE IS GOOD PRACTICE AND CATCHES ALL AVAILABLE WATER
• WHILE YOU PLAN & SAVE FOR RAM PUMP, LOOK AT OTHER STRATEGIES TO INCREASE WATER USE; MAKE IS WORK TWICE AS HARD
• QUESTION: 2 BUCKETS THAT HAVE HOLES IN THE BOTTOM, ONE WITH SAND, ONE WITH DUNG, WHICH ONE HOLDS MORE WATER?
  ANSWER: DUNG BUCKET …THE MORE ORGANIC MATTER IN YOUR SOIL, THE MORE WATER YOUR SOIL WILL HOLD
• COLLECT LEAVES FROM NAARS TREE WHEN IT DROPS THEM FOR WINTER, USE THIS AS A BLANKET IN YOUR GARDEN NEXT SEASON [MULCH]
  
• USE AS MUCH DUNG IN THE GARDEN AS YOU CAN AFFORD TO
  
• COLLECT 10 – 20 KG OF MONGOLIAN VETCH SEED FOUND GROWING WILD IN SURROUNDING PASTURES BEFORE WINTER.
  NEXT YEAR, ALLOCATE A PORTION OF YOUR PLOT TO GROW ONLY THIS PLANT.
  
• THE ROOTS OF THIS PLANT MAKE ITS OWN NITROGEN, WHICH IS MAIN INGREDIENT FOR PLANT GROWTH. THIS PLANT MAKES SUGARS IN ITS ROOTS WHICH HOUSE A BACTERIA WHICH CAN TAKE THE NITROGEN FROM THE AIR AND CONVERT IT INTO A FORM PLANTS CAN USE.
  
• WINDBREAK WILL TAKE WIND OFF TO KEEP MOISTURE IN SOIL LONGER.
  
• INCREASING ORGANIC MATTER IN SOIL WILL ALSO INCREASE WATER RETENTION.
  
• LET THE WEEDS THEY PULL OUT DRY FOR 3 DAYS TO ENSURE THEY DO NOT SET ROOT AGAIN, THEN PLACE AROUND YOUR CABBAGES AS A BLANKET. THIS MULCH WILL ALSO KEEP SOIL MOISTURE LONGER.
  
• TEST THIS OUT NEXT TIME YOU WATER BY PLACING A BLANKET ON ONE CABBAGE & LEAVING ONE BARE …I BET THE FIRST CABBAGE IS WETTER FOR AT LEAST TWICE AS LONG.
  

KAT ON SEED SAVING:

• Q: WHAT SEEDS ARE YOU SAVING RIGHT NOW?
  A: TURNIPS, REDBEET, SOME CABBAGE
  
• WHEN YOU SAVE SEEDS:
  IT COSTS YOU NO MONEY YOU HAVE MANY SEEDS, WHICH YOU CAN ALSO SELL
  1 CUCUMBER SEED = 400MNT
  YOU CAN ALL BE CUCUMBER MILLIONAIRES!
  
• THIS WILL CHANGE AS MORE MONGOLIANS GROW VEGGES AND SAVE THEIR OWN SEED, BUT YOU CAN BE THE FIRST
  
• SAVING SEEDS GIVE YOU SECURITY BECAUSE ADRA MAY NOT ALWAYS BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SEED
  
• LIKE CHILDREN, WHO LOOK LIKE THEIR PARENTS, SO CAN YOU SAVE THE SEEDS WHOSE PARENTS YOU LOVE MOST
  
• CO-OP ALREADY CHOOSES BIGGEST POTATOES, CARROTS AND TURNIPS TO PLANT FROM NEXT SEASON
  
• PLANT MUST BE MATURE AND FINISHED WITH CROP PRODUCTION BEFORE SEED CAN BE SAVED
  -->UNRIPE PLANTS AT END OF SEASON EG GREEN TOMATOES, CAN BE PICKLED LIKE THE ONES WE HAD TWO DAYS AGO
• LOOK FOR PLANTS WHICH ARE BIG, STRONG & RESISTANT TO COLD
• CHOOSE PLANTS WHICH SURVIVE WELL IN YOUR CONDITIONS
• E.G. SEED FROM RUSSIA BEFORE SEEDS FROM CHINA
• LOOK FOR PLANTS THAT HAVE BEST FLAVOUR & SELECT THESE FOR SEED SAVING
• OVER SEVERAL SEASONS, YOU WILL DEVELOP YOUR OWN VEGETABLES ADAPTED TO YOUR GROWING CONDITIONS
• IF YOU SAVE THE SEED FROM A FULLY MATURE POTATO PLANT, THE SEEDS WILL PRODUCE A POTATO THAT HAS BEEN CROSSED WITH OTHER PLANTS IN THE FIELD, AND SEEDS CAN BE SELECTED FROM THESE PLANTS.
• THIS WILL BE QUICKER THAN SELECTING FROM PLANTS GROWN FROM TUBERS.

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 10 – Busbundt Co-Op

BUSBUNDT CO-OPERATIVE

Best efforts at growing vegetables we have seen so far.

Natsagdorg, the Co-Op Leader, is not afraid to experiment and try new things, and is clearly learning quickly. He lost all of his livestock in last years’ tzud, so he is highly motivated as well.

This landscape here is also very flat, and the Co-Op irrigates its fields by diverting water from a small stream which meanders through the basin, no more than two feet wide and just over ½ foot deep. Once again, except for the clumps of spiny grass which meander through the landscape, you wouldn’t know that water is flowing freely through these grassy plains.

On the mountains in the distance the keylines are clearly visible as the green band where the grass starts - right where the curve of the slope changes from convex to concave – almost ruler’s edge straight across one of the mountains. The brown stony color above this line indicates that there is not enough nutrient to support much vegetation.

This keyline would be the ideal place to catch and store water for distribution to the passturelands below, but it is also the ideal place for planting tree crops for animal fodder, timber, and food. The water slows down enough off the slope here to deposit nutrient before seeping down into the plain. A well-designed system here could feasibly feed and water itself, and be almost maintenance-free.

The plot is fenced, and the weeds have been left to grow outside of the crop rows. A weed with umbrelliferous flowers flourish at the perimeter, attracting predatory insects and the small birds that prey on them. Fat hen grows vigourously in the irrigation ditches, while daisies and dandelions are also prominent - a stark contrast to what the landscape outside the fencing might look like if left ungrazed.

10 tonnes of manure has been collected by hand from the surrounding grassland and used as fertilizer, the crops clearly loving it.

The potato crop in the fields is the best we’ve seen [including a 750 g monster potato grown last season], and the cucumbers in the long, narrow tunnel greenhouse are looking very healthy with some healthy cukes on some vines. Naars trees, the same ones we identified in Ulanbaataar, have been planted inside the fenceline to establish a windbreak. They will also double for animal fodder and a source of timber. Lots of good things going on here.

One of the biggest challenges growers face here is the very short growing season, and the turnips, beetroot and carrots are not looking good for this stage of the season.

Rick suggests some intercropping strategies [raddishes amongst the carrots to help evenly space them, mixing sand with the fine carrot seeds when sowing to ensure a more even distribution], and also teaches potato strategies again to maximize yield from their seed potato. Kat teaches her first session on seed saving. Class is held, like the last two days, huddled inside a small ger next to the growing fields.

We are treated again to a Mongolian feast, with meat so good that even our resident vegitarian conceeds it was tasty. Mongolian banquets are meat and dairy fests, which of course feature meat broth, noodles with meat, meat on the bone, more meat, and all washed down with milke tea, dried curds, clotted cream, and yoghurt…

Kat has figured out a strategy for vegetarians to survive this kind of celebration:

1. Choose your bone carefully - look for pieces with the leas amount of tendon / cartillege / unidentified objects and cling to the first piece of meat offered to you and nurse it through your entire meal. It's not the amount of meat that you eat, it's the length of time that you 'savour' it for. If you pick this bone clean your hosts will only offer you more.
2. Hold your breath when sipping the organ stew. Have some bottled water or fruit juice nearby in your canteen to wash the taste out of your mouth. Better yet, have some vodka handy so that you can work up the courage to swallow pieces of organs floating in your broth.
3. Beam with delight when offered pickled vegges or [on the very rare occasion] green salad to encourage your host to offer you more.
4. Sit next to a friendly carnivore whom you can offload your meat dishes upon when nobody is looking.
5. Clap your hands like a madwoman when the yoghurt appears. If you do this well, it will be lovingly prepared with clotted cream and sugar as you swallow back your drool. If you do this exceptionally well, you may even be given a jar of take-away yoghurt of your very own. Your belly will thank you for this. Your ger mates may not.
6. Mongolians can finish off a large bowl of meat squeaky-clean in about 15 minutes flat. A feast like this is a great honour, and a cultural experience you will never forget.

We stop in at a root cellar under construction just outside of Natsagdorg’s hasha [family compound] back in the soum center, 2 meters under ground with the capability to store up to 15 tons of produce, managing the temperature inside at around 0C during winter when it can get as cold as -40C outside.

Mongolians have also come up with a unique solution to extend their growing season using cold frames: Horse dung is collected near the cold frame and burnt. The dung will retain this heat for up to 60 days, and provides enough heat for the seedlings to grow in the cold frame until the frost danger passes.

As Bek walks us through their solution, we speculate on ways this design might be improved:

• Locating cold frames inside the greenhouse would create a micro-climate that can be as much as two climate zones further south, extending the head-start to the growing season even more, and providing further frost protection.
• Locating the cold frame and greenhouse directly adjacent to the growing plot would cut down on transportation costs and risks to drive seedlings out to the plot from the soum for planting.
• Using a hot compost instead of burning the horse dung may extend the useful life of this valuable resource because the compost can be used as potting mix to transplant seedlings into the field once it has cooled down. This may also save on valuable fuel that is currently burned to heat up the dung; this same heat can be created by the action of aerobic microbes breaking down a hot compost bed.

Highlight of the day? …Riding horse with Bek to the mountains in the distance after our meal, on Mongolian time… no rush. It is not often that those of us in the developed world get to enjoy the silent sound of being alone in the natural landscape, unfettered by fences or roads or traffic.

Then, a beautiful moment today that lasted for an eternity: Bek galloped up ahead of me and my horse to leave us in solitude, and the only sound was of the wind dancing through the steppe in time with the beat of trotting hooves and the ocasional horsey snort.

My mind empty, my heart full; today I rode the Mongolian Steppe with the ancients…

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 7 - Rest Day

HOW'S DA HAWAIIAN T-SHIRT DEEP IN MONGOLIA!?!

HOE WA'A BABY

Nadaam celebrations and competitions continue for the rest of the soum. Most shops are closed while they enjoy their holiday. We decide to take it easy and give our bodies some much-needed rest. Our schedule has been evolving daily, and once things start rolling, we don’t know when the next opportunity for a full rest day may come.

A quick visit to the hyrdo-electric station on the river just outside of town which provides electricity for 10,000 people during the summer. When the river freezes over, there is no electricity for the soum. The water at the base of the small spillover dam, perhaps two meters high, is churning with small fish trying to leap up the embankment - so thick that you can fish them out, grizzly-bear style with our bear hands. [zing! =p]

Appropriate Technology. 

Fantastic that the community is using a renewable source of energy. Perhaps wind or solar may have been a better choice? Most gers out on the steppe are equipped with small solar panels to power lights and even satellite televisions inside, but there is a noticable absence of wind generators.

First shower since we left Ulanbaataar! …a public bath house costructed during Socialism times with a pipe coming in from the boiler room housed in a wooden shack in the courtyard. 2,500MNT gets you thirty minutes of hot water in a shower stall the size of my first apartment. Best. Shower EVER.

Catch up day on audio / visual. It takes at least an hour at the end of each day to dowload, log, and sort all the photos taken, and write the daily journal entry. Then it takes about another hour to edit together a short clip for our daily video log, which I am now shooting on my mobile phone camera because it would suck too much time and electricity to log, capture, and edit footage from The Program Director's video camera into our daily video entry.

Research continues. A walk around the compund where the PDC will be held, identifying opportunities to improve existing design in the compound, identifying opportunities to create design appropriate and replicable design strategies that will be easily transferred to a nomadic herder’s context. No sense teaching strategies that will only work inside a walled compund when our students live out on the steppe.

Question of the day: 

How appropriate is it to teach a culture that has adapted to eating meat and dairy over thousands of years to grow vegetables?

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 6 - Nadaam in Tosontsengel

NO SIGNS OF MALNUTRITION HERE

Today I travelled in time.

Standing there in the Soum’s Nadaam wrestling arena as stark eagle shadows circled the grass, big burly Mongolian wrestlers in their traditional garb circled each other while the entire village watched, as they have done for a thousands of years.

I am developing my own genuine Mongolian squint in the bright glare of the Mongol sun.

This is a fierce people, hardened by the harsh conditions of their land, a deeply proud and noble people with warm hearts and sunny smiles.

This is a people who walk with a confidence in their step born of a connection to their past, which lives and breathes in them with every step on the steppe.

This is a people who know that at one time they ruled over most of the known world. You feel it when they look into your eyes.

They have lived so close to the land for so long, walking a fine line between death and survival through -40?C nights in the long winter, living like marmots for half the year and then emerging into the flowering plains, blinking in the stark sunlight.

I sit in the crowd and watch the wrestling, men built like yaks who move like apes, lumbering about in their big boots, flying like eagles to pay respects to their tradition, exploding in a flurry to bring their quarry down.

Rick has designated me his champion should he be challenged to a bout, so should we be challenged my strategy is to find the biggest, baddest dude and lose to him without hurting or humiliating myself [ie last for more than 10 seconds]…

Meanwhile, Rick has entered the local chess tournament and is getting himself whooped and having a great old time. Kat has made friends with some locals and has been having a conversation for the last hour or so about what she has no idea, though the crowd that has gathered around her drawing things in the sand are all quite pleased about the way the conversation has been going.

Bek has left us to catch up with some work and sleep back at the compound, so Ingktor patiently waits and watches us and the wrestling.

Suddenly, the stadium starts emptying and Ingktor piles us into our 4WD. Clouds of dust trails rise into the sky from the mountain behind us, and everyone jumps on the nearest horse, motorcycle, car, or person and charges up the hill. The horse races have been spotted in the distance since we saw them start and disappear hours ago – we’ve guessed that their course was one lap around the basin, probably about 50km or so – and we pile back out of the 4WD with the rest of the soum to watch the end of the race.

Four riders gallop to the finish line, at first just another dust trail rising form the horizon, then a speck, then four specks, then we can see its an all-out battle for the finish… the third rider pulls to the front as they thunder down the home straight, and I rub my eyes to make sure I am really seeing what is unfolding. The riders are about 6 or 7 years old, charging along at full bore, whipping their glistening mounts while the crowd whoops with delight.

The rest of the field is not far behind, and everyone is home safely within five minutes of the leaders, at which point the entire crowd turns around and races back down the mountain towards the stadium to show of the winning horses.

Nadaam. Wrestling. Horses. Mongolia.

Oh yeah, and there was archery.

Awesome.

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 5 – On the Road ...again

HOME SWEET HOME

Six minutes after midnight. Rick and Kat both sick in bed; Rick carsick all day, Kat upset tummy probably from too much meat in our diet [she is vegetarian!].

Our driver, Ingktor, has put in a massive 13 hours behind the wheel, including stops at an ancient Mordor-ish volcanic crater, clever evasive action around the spectacular White Lake to avoid paying a dodgy road toll, lunch in another lun [beef soup with beef bits and beef dumplings with a side of fried beef flatdumplings], I forget how many emergency stops for Rick, our fearless and very carsick leader… Ingktor calmly overtakes masive Russian roadtrains on thin ribbony gravel roads, splashes easily through countless stream fords, plunges from spectacular dip after spectacular dip into yet another endless meadowy basin, all the time navigating the maze of dirt tracks that make up the Mongolian countryside – no roadsigns out here…

Now Ingktor is snoring away in his corner of our ger, crisp and cool outside, warm enough to sleep in boxers inside thanks to our stove.

Bek and I tap away at our keyboards in the darkness, dogs bark in the background and a cat wails every now and then outside.

Epic scenery all day, we watched a man and his wife gallop across the plains alongside our 4WD for a slow-motion moment that stetched for an eternity, a movie these plains have been watching for over a thousand years.

Tired and in need of a good stretching session and some deep sleep. Sorry Gang, I’ll probably be snoring like a chainsaw tonight…

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 4 - On the Road

ROADTRIP MONGOLIA!

8+ hours on the road today.

A quick stop to pay respects at a temple built around a former camp of Chinggis Khan; imagine a ger [yurt] so big that entire logs are the centerpoles... the stone floor Chinggis himself paced still remain.

We roll into town just before sunset, knock around some coloured balls on the full sized billiards table to unwind and stretch our legs, then have dinner by candlelight …there is no electricity in the building tonight. The Mongolian folk band HURD is here tonight, and their lead guitarist dines with his groupies across the tables from us in the hotel restaurant ; we all agree to wake each other up if the electricity kicks in and the concert is on so that we can experience Mongolia’s best folk band.

However, after long hours on the road bumping around in the back seat, observing the changing landscape, and grilling poor Bek with questions about the upcoming project, his culture, and his people, our brains are fried. Rick and I are snoring away soon after our heads hit the beanbag pillows.

NOTES FROM THE ROAD:

• END SEPT ---> -10°C
• CHEAP PLASTIC LASTS 1 SEASON [GREENHOUSE] DESTROYED BY STRONG SEASONAL WINDS [PREDOMINANTLY WESTERLY]
• DESIGN G/HOUSE TO RESIST WIND
• PATTERN: ‘RAM’S HORN’ SPIRAL
  [NICKNAME FOR STRONG WINTER STORM WINDS]
• LOCAL PERCEPTION: 100 HEAD LIVESTOCK
  IS ENOUGH TO PROVIDE WINTER FOOD AND FAMILY’S INCOME NEEDS
• INSUFFICIENT GRASS FOR LIVESTOCK;
  NEED TO MOVE CONSTANTLY TO FIND BETTER PASTURES [UP TO 200KM NOT UNCOMMON]
• HERDERS MUST SHARE RESOURCES & EXPENSES WORK TOGETHER WELL [[BARTERING COMMON]] 1 GOAT = 2 BAGS POTATOES
• GOAT #S ARE INCREASING QUICKLY --> HIGH VALUE STOCK 300 G CASHMERE / 1 GOAT 1 KG CASHMERE --> MNT50,000 OR APPROX $50AUS
• ALL PETROL / OIL IMPORTED FROM CHINA / RUSSIA MNT1,330 / L
• AVG SALARY MNT30,000 OR APPROX $3,600AUS / YR
• MUCH POWER [ELECTRICITY] IMPORTED TO WESTERN MONGOLIA FROM RUSSIA
• PATTERN IDENTIFIED: MONGOLIANS FOLLOW SUN; CLOCKWISE WHEN FACING SOUTH
  SOCIAL PATTERN IDENTIFIED: SERVE FOOD TO ELDERS FIRST, THEN CLOCKWISE AROUND GROUP
• RAT MANAGEMENT NEEDED ON EXISTING PLOT AND IN EXISTING ROOT CELLAR
  CURRENT RAT MGMNT STRATEGY --> POISON
• 1 DAY LOST IN SPRING --> 10 DAYS LOST TIL AUTUMN HARVEST
• POTATOES STRUCK BY EARLY FROST
• TAKE RESOURCE INVENTORY --> THEN RE-ORGANIZING WHAT IS ALREADY AVAILABLE [RELATIVE LOCATION, USING BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES & APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY]
• SELLING IDEAS TO HERDERS:
  EATING GREENS AND VEGGES
  COMPOSTING TOILETS, HUMANURE
• TOILET DESIGN: EXISTING PIT TOILET SYSTEMS TERRIBLE TO USE
  SELLING POINT: COMFORT. HYGENE.
  DEMONSTRATION NEEDED
  UTILIZE HEAT FACTOR IN COMPOST TOILET DESIGN
• WATER ACCESS: REEDS AND WATER INDICATORS
  PLASTIC WASTE MATERIAL CAN BE USED TO INCREASE SOIL WATER RETENTION
  SOLAR COOKERS --> RELEVANT?
• TREE IDENTIFIED: CHINESE POPLAR USES:
  ANIMAL FODDER. TIMBER.
  FEATURE: SUCKERING TREE
• TREE IDENTIFIED: ‘NAARS’ TREE, LARGE HEART-SHAPED LEAF, BIRCH-LIKE. USES? FUNCTIONS? FEATURES?
• TREE IDENTIFIED: ‘BURGAS’ TREE, LEGUME USED AS HEDGE IN UB CITY NITROGEN-FIXING
  LIKES TO BE CUT [VIGOROUS REGROWTH]
  ANIMAL FODDER
• ADRA PROJECT CURRENT DISTRIBUTING:
  SEABUCKTHORN
  BLACKCURRANT
• SIBERIAN MULBERRY?
  XTREME COLD-TOLERANT PLUM VARIETIES?
  XTREME COLD-TOLERANT APPLE PERHAPS?
• SOD WALLS? THERMAL MASS [IN GREENHOUSE]
• McDONALS’S THEORY --à ‘LUN’ [ROADHOUSE] THEORY
• SACRED BIRD OBSERVED: ‘TAURUG’ [CRANE]
• DOGS USED BY HERDERS PRIMARILY AS PROETCTION FOR LIVESTOCK FROM WOLVES
• HAVE LOCALS INDENTIFY LOCAL PLANTS & FUNCTIONS
  ADAPT AND DESIGN FOR USE IN GARDENS
• SOLAR PANEL --> COST APPROX MNT300K – MNT500K
• VEGGE PLOT MUST HAVE FENCE TO PROTECT FROM LIVESTOCK
  FENCE MUST HAVE PROTECTION FROM THEFT [OTHER HERDERS]
• BUILDING DESIGN: ENERGY EFFICIENT STOVE --> SCARCITY OF FUEL
• LAVENDER / SOUTHERNWOOD PLACED IN ROOT CELLARS TO MASK SCENT FROM PEST ATTACK
• HIGH AVAILABILITY OF BLUESTONE ROCKDUST IN AREA:
  HIGH MINERAL CONTENT
  SUPERB FERTILIZER
  1 HANDFUL / SQ METER VEGGE PLOT

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 2 – The Black Market

TOUGH MONGOLIAN KID

I like Mongolians …they enjoy sleeping in. Hawaiian-time, Mongolian-style…

Opening hours for most shops are 10am-ish until whenever, it is a lovely pace of life in the middle to the country’s largeset city.

We are staying within walking distance from the heart of the city, and there is a distinctly laid-back feel to the place. There are no street vendors hawking their wares in your face, or beggars clutching at your feet. No open stares or glares. No garish souvenir shops. By 1am the streets are quiet. And on Thursdays, they don’t serve beer. Or any alcohol, for that matter.

It seems that hardly anyone notices foreigners.

The mission for today is more research – get to a market to check out the produce, herbs and spices that are available. Our reconassaince yesterday to the local supermarket showed 100% of the fresh produce section imported from China ( and featuring Phillipine-grown bananas)… so it was off to the Naran Tuul, a.k.a. зах (pronounced: zach), a.k.a. ‘The Black Market’.

Think more Queen Victoria Market rather than shady underworld dealings; The Black Market of Ulanbaataar is a massive indoor / outdoor complex of two massive quondset hut-type warehouses surrounded by a sea of market stalls under tent cloth.

MONGOLIAN FISHING TACKLE

We walk past what seems like an acre of shoes, then an acre of rip-off designer tshirts, another acre of leather wallets, jackets and belts, we stumble onto a gem: Mongolian fishing tackle. Furry lures desiged to mimic small rodents feeding at the water’s edge, or perhaps swimming their way innocently to the other side of a Mongolian river… one the size of a puppy. Imagine the monsters that feed on these small mammals!

It is quite hot today, north of 26°C and the sun’s glare whitewashes everything. Modern Mongolians are in love with all things American, and we can’t find a single traditional-looking garment for sale, if they are present they are drowned in a sea od Addidas, Nike and G-STAR logos.

THEY LIKE THEIR VODKA...

A small group has gathered in one of these tent stalls, surrounding a birthday cake and cheerfully passing around shots of CHINGGIS vodka. A baby-faced Mongol with a tiger tattooed on his forearm is pouring the shots and laughing with each swig – it’s his birthday.

One of the women notice Rick and I enjoying the spectacle and motions for us to come join them; we shrug our shoulders and accept the invitation! The vodka is …less than smooth, but it goes down with a smile and Rick starts singing to the birthday boy. The rest of the group join in, and there we are, under a tent in the middle of the famous Black Market singing a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday – IN ENGLISH – with our newfound friends.

You know that part where we sing: “Happy Birthday, dear So-and-So”… well that was the best part… no idea what BirthdayBoy’s name is, so when in doubt …murmur:

“Happy Birth-day, dear murmurmurmurmurmur…

Happpy Birth-day, toooooooooooooooooooooo… youuuuuuuuuuuuu…

HIP-HIP:”

SUPERMARKET RECONAISSANCE

We have to search pretty hard to finally find Mongolian-grown produce: potatoes, turnips, a few carrots …slim pickings. Not that there isn’t fresh produce available; there are capsicums, tomatoes, cucmbers, more potatoes, asian greens, apples turning soft from age, quartered watermelon, bananas… all imported.

The research continues, we’ll be headed to the countryside in two days…

MONGOLIAN SELF-PORTRAIT

[ON A BOX OF FROZEN MEAT]

here I am...

Theme Song of the Day:

• The Luckiest, by Ben Folds
  

Has it really been six months since I've written here??
My, how time flies when one is.... well, flying....

Has it really been one year since I left Hawaii, in search of ...?
Am I a different person now, or am I simply more of me?


I feel as though I've stepped out of a costume, some kinda WheretheWildThingsAreWolfSuit maybe, or an AmericanPsycho-style corporate suite, or maybe some kinda AncientSuitOfArmour, dented and scratched and clawed but still intact, even if only just ...I've stepped out of those costumes and have stepped into my skin...


...and I'm not sure that I can remember any other time in my life when I've ever felt so... how can I say this... ME.


It's like I've met myself all over again, as if I was catching up with a good friend, the kind of friend that you've lost touch with though you don't ever forget about, as the paths of your lives have turned and twisted you both off in different directions, with all the triumphs, the falls, the joy, the sorrow, the tangents ....the GIFTS.... that come along the way.


And then, ten years later, your paths cross again and you smile and hug and sit down with a cold beer or maybe a hot cup of coffee and it's like you've never left, you just pick up the conversation and the friendship where you left off, except now the conversation is so much richer because there is ten whole years of stories to catch each other up on...


...imagine now, that this friend you're catching up with, that is sitting at the other side of the table, this friend is YOU. The you that you were 12 months ago, or 12 years ago, it just depends on when and where and how you are catching up with yourFriendyou.... though you've travelled thousands of miles and had countless experiences and been away for so long.... THERE YOU ARE.


That's where I'm at ....and it's a wonderful feeling... and I'm thankful for the teachers I've met along the way, those fellow souls [you know who you are!] who've reached out and touched me, over a cup of coffee or a shared journey or through cyberspace... I am thankful for each and every one of you, and for the gifts that we've shared along the way...


...this blog had become a promotional poster for me while I was in the thick of competing for the EntirelyWorldFamousNZ Blogger Competition, which was fun while it lasted, and was a very necessary part of my journey... though it took me away from the very reason I started this blog anyway: simply to write.


I started writing here for me.


It may sound selfish, perhaps even arrogant, though it is the simple truth.


I write to write, so that I can reach that point where I am no longer thinking of what to write next because my fingers are just blurring from the words pouring out of my heart through my fingers and onto the unblinking screen - my fingers have not given it enough time to rest, pausing only sporadically to allow the cursor to catch its breath...

I write for these moments, and when my heart is finished pouring itself out, then i can pause, take a deep breath, look back and read what my heart has written.


I write because a life worth LIVING is a life worth RECORDING... and that is the kind of life I want for me...



So often our inner journeys are reflected in our physical travels …or is it the other way around? The journey back to ourselves is deeply personal, yet universally human …and therefore a powerfully shared experience... so it is my absolute privellege to share these thoughts with you here... it's nice to be back!

"The Hero of my Tale,
Whom I love with all the power of my Soul,
Whom I have tried to portray in all his Beauty,
Who has Been,
Is,
and Will Be,
is TRUTH."
- Leo Tolstoy -

* * * * *

CHOICEST JOB IN THE WORLD!!

SWEET AS BRO!

I am so excited to be nominated to the final shortlist of candidates for the role of New Zealand Expert on Everything New Zealand.

If you've not yet seen my video application, check it out here:

In April 2009 I left my beautiful island home of Hawaii, and all the material comforts of my modern western world existence behind to wander the planet seeking ADVENTURE and opportunities to be of SERVICE. I arrived in AOTEAROA a couple weeks ago to begin my Kiwi Adventures and start training for the job:

The road here included a stop at the World Championship Thong-Throwing Competition in the Noosa Hinterlands of sunny Queensland:

And I even discovered a rare Apeman in the Aussie bush, an encounter which I narrowly survived:

Global recession? There's never been a better time to re-evaluate how we want to live our lives, and never been a better time to travel.

I've done more rockclimbing, hiking, camping,sailing, motorcycling, volunteering, adventuring, and just hanging out with loved ones in the last 2 months than I have in the last 12 years of living in Honolulu.

My adventures so far have brought me back to the bar in Melbourne where I saw my first naked woman with my Grandpa [at age 8!], to an epic 11-hour motorcycle ride on a couple of Harleys down to the famous Twelve Apostles, to the little tea house owned by Violent Femmes founder Brian Ritchie, and to an organic 'Luxury Campground' living 'off the grid' in the mountains of Tasmania....to name a few.

I'm looking forward to exploring more of the places, people and culture that make up this beautiful country, and I humbly ask for your vote. Please click on the 'Follow' link at the side of this blog, log in using your Google, Yahoo, openID, or other service, and tell your friends to vote Matty Lynch!!

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures...and thank you for your support!

# # #

STOP PRESS: Aotearoa here I come!!

Theme Song for the Day:

1. "The Matty Lynch Song", by Funk Harmony Park

I WAS BORN FOR THIS JOB!

Christchurch-based travel company Entirely Kiwi has the following position on offer:

• World Famous New Zealand Expert on Everything New Zealand
  

The Dream Job exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud on an all-expenses-paid three month tour of Aotearoa. Job Duties include:

• meeting the locals and sampling the local brewskies
  
• rapelling into GlowWorm caves of Waitomu
  
• lounging in the mud baths of Rotorua
• base jumping from the buildings of Aukland
  
• fish the Bay of Plenty
• scaling the cliffs of Wanaka
• bombing the snowboard runs of Queenstown
• cross the glaciers of the South Island
• explore Marlborough wine country
• hike the mystical Fiordland wilderness
• fly fish Norfolk Island
• and whatever other adventures and misadventures we can think up!
  

So vote for me by clicking here [join my Facebook fan page] and here [rate the YouTube clip] ...and all of your wildest dreams will come true!

THE JOURNEY BEGINS


# # #

**Denied**

"DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200.
YOU SUCK. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Ummmm, so yeah. *Ouch.*

Access = Denied. Sigh.

I quote:

Sorry Matthew,

Your video application for Island Caretaker has been rejected.

Your application was rejected your video exceeded the maximum length of 60 seconds. [You Dummy.] (1 min 11 seconds).

Unfortunately applications have closed, but you can still be involved. Visit islandreefjob.com from March 2 to see the short-listed candidates and vote for your favourite.

Kind Regards [You Idiot],
The Tourism Queensland Team

So in all honesty, this email came to me within 48 hours of submitting the video...2 hours before the closing deadline.....after 2 months of "yeah I'm gonna go for this"....and I have only brought myself to write about it just now....

To quote another friend from the blogosphere who has inspired me:

"I procrastinate. More on this later."
-she-who-shall-remain-anonymous [you know who you are!]-

After putting my stomach back in its place and picking my bottom lip up off the ground and staring blankly at the wall for, oh, six hours or so [I jest...tho not really]...I pluck up the, ahem ?courage?, to watch the Short-Listed applicants that have made it for the wild-card voting...

Here's my shortlist of personal favorites:

Anjaan
because I love Bollywood accents...
Mieko
....gotta love Japanese Anime props.....did i mention I *heart* accents??
Yi
Austin Powers soundtrack + kungfu movie dub chinglish = WINNER.
George
...coz how fun would it be to watch a pale, beer-drinking, cigarette-smokin' Irishman livin' it up on the white sandy beaches of Queensland?!?
Manon
Once upon a time, we had a roomate who lived on our couch. He didn't move from the couch very much. At all. He became known as "Man-on-Couch"....his nickname when he was around became "Manon"....so my vote is Manon for Island Caretaker.
Kat
....hey, her video was over 1 minute too, how come she got on the short-list....oh yeah, she's HOT....shoulda busted out my bikini....
Felippe
this guy would rock!! seriously....vote for Change, vote for Felippe...not your average video application; pleasantly quirky!
Clarke
holy cow, this is talent...i want this guy's job....he really has been doing this stuff his whole life....


...which plants a seed in my newly fertilized creative mind....I had so much fun doing this....I am allergic to "jobs which entail working for others" anyways....so why not make up my own "job doing what I want to do when I want to do it" ...

...traveling and writing and blogging and making crazy videos and living and exploring and learning and meeting new people and having new adventures ....this blog was created to supplement my application for Queensland Tourism's brilliant "Greatest Job In The World" publicity stunt.....though that job it is not meant to be for me......

Which doesn't need to stop me from writing about my travels and adventures...

...I've always dreamt about being a freelance travel writer, sipping a latte in the kewlest cafes around the world as I tap out my latest story for Travel & Leisure or Esquire or Playboy...

....so here goes!

Prepare to be enthralled, amused, dumbfounded even by the shenanigans that shall ensue...[wow, spellcheck picked up "shenanigans"?!?]...flabbergasted, fixated, and frustrated....disgusted, demented, and debaucherous....ok maybe I am getting a little carried away....

Prepare to read about my upcoming journey and misadventures that will unwind along the way... and just come along to enjoy the ride...wherever it takes us....

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Later....I write to Supermom and tell her the news of my decision to create my very own Bestest Job In The World ....she promptly responds with an introduction to a family friend, who has been doing this stuff, quite successfully, for years.

And so the hunt is on for a cheap airfare that will get me back to Melbourne in time to grab a cup of coffee with her and pick her brains about what it takes to become a successful freelance travel adventure writer....before she heads up North for her next adventure on April 22nd!!

I am
...no longer
......here.

Matthew Lynch.
Freelance Travel Correspondent.
Wanderer.
Adventurer.
Photojournalist.
Explorer.
Filmaker.
Blogger.
Livin' Life...

LOVIN' LIFE!

Coming Soon to a blog near you:
"TheBestestJobInTheWorld".

Stay tuned.