Horse Racing With The Boys

11th August 2017
Today we had a bit of a lazy morning, some that did not go horse riding yesterday had a chance to go this morning.
I had a walk down to the river and on the way back saw the yak cart, loaded up with water containers, heading to the river to collect the water. Apart from the manager/chef all the other staff maning the camp are university students working through their holidays.
After my walk I went to the library Ger to write my blog. Kenzo, Khashaa and Puujee came in and Khashaa and Puujee dressed up in the Mongolian outfits to have their photo taken. Ever since we came to the mountains Kenzo has been wearing Mongolian clothing.
Kenzo then asked if anyone wanted to play a horse racing game with them, as there was no other volunteers I agreed to play. To explain the game I first need to explain the use of some small animal bones that are used to predict your future. I think they may be ankle bones from a sheep and they are used like dice. They can't really ballance on the two ends and the other four sides are unique and represent a camel, a horse, a goat and a sheep. To tell your fortune you roll four bones together and you read the combination thrown off a chart to predict your future. The "best future ever" is if you throw all four animals. Now in the library Ger there is an old tin full of these bones. The boys laid out the horse track using about 70-80 bones, each bone represented a space on the board. We then picked a bone from those that were left to represent your horse. The four of us then took it in turns to roll four bones to determine your move. For each horse you throw you move one space forward, if you throw the "best future ever" you move forward four places. The game took a while and I was first to reach the last space on the track, I just needed to throw one more horse to win. When it came to my next go I managed to throw the necessary horse to win. Since Khashaa is a wrestler, and they do an eagle dance if they win a bout, I got up off the floor and did the eagle dance. The boys then continued with the game to see who came 2nd, 3rd and 4th. After the game Kenzo brought me the bone that represented my horse and said it I traditional to keep the bone if you win. I now have a small animal bones in my luggage that means so much and will remind me of sitting on a carpet in a Ger playing horse racing with the boys.
After lunch it was time to leave the camp and head back to Ulaanbaatar for the last time. Before leaving we had a photo call with the camp staff.
We had a two hour drive to reach the tarmac road and then another two hours to the hotel. When we reached the hotel it was time to say goodbye to Khashaa and Puujee, they have been great drivers keeping us save both on and off the tarmac roads.
We then meet up for our final group meal and to say our goodbyes as we head off on different flights tomorrow. Kenzo is stopping at the hotel tonight and is seeing each small group off as they go to the airport, it's a nice touch as I'm sure he would like to get home to his family.