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]

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 3 - OUCH

PERMACULTURISTS EXPLORE A CITY LOOKING DOWN

Our mission today:

• Natural History museum
• Fresh produce market
• Find composting worms
• Meet Programs Director at Mille’s expat Cafe
• Replace Matt’s stolen video camera

Somewhere between the Natural History Museum and our search for the Fresh Produce Market - actually within 500 meters of leaving another café where we stop in for a quick cold drink – my new toy, the HD Video camera I only just upgraded to, the tool for my primary function on this project …is plucked deftly from my backpack, never to be seen again.

We wouldn’t have known except that a bunch of street kids yelling after us for money were actually yelling at the stupid foreigner walking around the streets of Ulanbaataar with his backpack open.

I am livid, upset at myself for letting this happen, and running through all the things I coulda-should-woulda done differently, knowing even as I storm back to the café we just left to double-check if maybe, just maybe the camera is waiting for me , that it is long gone and hopefully will provide someone with enough money for a nice meal.

In a country where the average wage is around $3,600AUS/year, I am walking around with electronic equipment worth approximately 2 ½ years’ wages. It would have paid to be a little more aware… at least it is something that is replacable.

Never fear, travel insurance is here, and so it is not a total loss; Rick has already gone into damage-control and is exploring options as we walk to Millie’s to meet Michelle.

Some painful lessons learned today, but nothing irreplacable lost. As Bek told me gently over dinner, after ribbing me all afternoon about what-kind-of-cameraman-loses-his-camera-on-the-first-day:

“Mongolians say if you buy someone tea for one thousand Tugrik, then two thousand Tugrik will come back to you.”
-Mongolian saying-

Meanwhile, Rick and Kat have managed to secure a handful of compost worms from an Aussie nurse working with another NGO who managed to bring some to the country in her boot. They are hilarious to watch wandering the streets of Ulanbaataar, attracting bewildered stares as they stop every block or so to pore over plants growing out of cracks in the pavement while a long-haired hapa boy [or as Rick called my mixed ethnicity the other day: Hybrid Vigour …I like ;) ] takes photos of them staring at weeds.

One time Rick narrowly avoids disaster – I have no idea how – by avoiding a faceplant, broken arm, or worse, being run over by a car as he trips over a street curb while looking up at some trees… I watch as he analyzes the whole thing in slow motion on the way down to the pavement: “I am falling …no cars coming, that is a good thing …don’t want to break my arm …so don’t put my hands out …protect my face …roll with it …**SPRAINED WRIST** - **OUCH!!!** …Phew, that could have been worse…”

The rest of the day is a success, The Program Director offers up her camera ad Bek helps me get tapes, then drives me all over Ulanbaataar to show me his hometown. We meet his wife Maka and its off to ceck on thir brand-new apartment still under construction, pass by the giant buddha statue in the rich part of town, swing past the college aparment Bek lived in during his studies, and finish the day off with BiBimBap stonepots at their favorite Korean take-away restaurant.


Plants Identified in UB so far:

• Dock
• Plantaine [roundleafed variety / ribwort]
• Wild Thyme
• Wild Chives
• Mint Varieties
• Southernwood
• Queen Anne’s
• Seabuckthorn
• Currant Varieties
• Chinese Poplar

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 1 – Ulanbaataar

PAYING RESPECTS TO CHINGGIS KHAN

Three Permaculturists’ faces - Rick, Kat and Matt - are pressed against a passenger jet window, peering out to the landscape below – Mongolia.

We could be looking at the topographical satellite photos from GoogleMaps except for the dull roar of jet engines: muted browns fading in to green veins following erosion gullies down hillsides and gullies, dirt tracks crisss-crossing the map rolling out mile by mile below.

It is a surreal feeling, after so many months of preparation and research and brainstorming and daydreaming of this place, to know that in twenty minutes we will be walking the same ground that Genghis Khan tread a millenia ago.

…am I still daydreaming?

Started reading the landscape from 10,000 feet on our final descent. Flew over the low mountain range that borders Ulanbaataar to the north, over plateaus fuzzy with conifer forests, erosion gullys tinged with green winding their way to an unseen river.

Discovered the unseen riverbed, wide and winding, snaking its way out of the capitol city. Deep channels cut into the wide rockbeds, weaving in and out of itself past the blacktop highway and ger encampments on the outskirts of town.

Caught a climpse of the Trans-Siberian Railway chugging along its long steel path.

Realized that what we thought were living hedges are actually woodframe and corrugated iron fencing.

Startled some cattle grazing on the dry river beds on our final approach.

Spotted a steel ‘mega-yurt’ as we taxied down the runway – is it a sports stadium?

Held our breath until our bags were the last to flop onto the baggage claim conveyor belt. Picked up by Bek’s friend ‘Dok’ and his hard companion/driver ‘Ingktor’.

Survived the drive back to the city center through ‘suburbs’ being created before our eyes. It seems like roads are being created ad-hoc by fencelines of new houses; feels like driving through a major construction site miles long; looks like many of the houses are being built by the owners… Untidy but no urban rubbish piling up. Stark contrast to the soul-less, build-a-box, monotony of tract home developments back home.

Accosted by roadside billboards all the way into the city; MontBlanc Pens are heavily targeting new arrivals to Chinggis Khan International Airport??

Saw an interesting billboard talking about a German-Mongolian eco-village development being built. Is Wunderbar, ja?

Dropped bags at ‘Happiness Hotel’, changed out of the tshirt I’d been wearing for the last twenty hours, then piled back into the 4WD to drive to…

…theAid Agency's Mongolia Head Offices. 500m around the corner.

Toured the offices and met with The Country Director for briefing on the agency's current Mongolia projects.

Lunch at Modern Nomads, a touristy indoor/outdoor bistro on the main road in Ulanbaataar with Bek, Food Security Director and my fellow PDC Graduate [SCPI November 2009] and his boss The Programs Director to catch up and get briefed on our project. Tradtional Mongolian food: mutton dumplings, meat and flat noodles in broth, and milk tea.

Back to the Happiness Hotel for a cold shower [no hot water on the fifth floor!] and a cat nap. Full sunlight at 5pm, sun doesn’t set until about 10pm this time of year.

Wandered the streets of Ulanbataar and watched Rick play hilarious charades to ask for some thrush relief cream at the chemist [how does the pharmacist interpret his crazy dance as ‘he needs erectile dysfunction pills’ to finally understand ‘I have an itch’] …LoL

Explored a Mongolian supermarket. ‘Fresh’ produce is a relative concept; mouldy garlic, vacuum-packed imported ears of corn, sprouted potatoes, softening apples… huge variety of meat products available though.

Visited the CitySquare and stumbled across a US Marine brass band alternating musical sets with the Mongolian National Army band. ….Twenty hours on two airplanes, halfway across the road to one of the most ancient cities and cultures only to hear ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ being played at the feet of a two-story statue of Ghengis Khan. Not sure how good I feel about that…

Bought preserved plums from an old lady roadside vendor with windblown cheeks and smiling eyes who made sure I counted the change she gave me to make sure she had done me right.

Looked for a vegetarian restaurant for Kat, who has been reintroducing herself to meat for six months in preparation for this trip. No such luck; all two vegetarian restaurants in the city were closed… so, off to a Korean BBQ: Kimchee Stew + Kimchee Pork + Beef Bulgogi + Iced Tea = T20,000 [Tugrik]. Or, a little less than $20AUS.

A little street girl broke our hearts as she walked up to our table and tried to sell us baby wipes and cigarettes for T2,000. She looked straight into our eyes and silently pleaded - 10,000 times better than any look Antonio Banderas’ Puss-In-Boots could give in Shrek. None of us smoke, or need baby wipes, and so I take my shot of concrete to harden up and say no. She is skilled though, and renegotiates deftly with us for 2/3 of the plate of pork. The waitresses smile warmly as they watch the entire exchange, and wordlessly hand her a plastic bag to collect her meal, which could probably feed 2 or 3 mouths tonight.

Silent, poised and dignified, she disappears into the night.

READING THE URBAN LANDSCAPE FOR CLUES