The host family ger and beds
The nomad families, we choose for our customers have extra gers in which visitors can stay to enjoy privacy and comfort at night. The gers have 2-4 beds. The nomads wash the bedclothes after each guest visit. Although, using freshly washed sleeping bags provided by us is the best option.
Meals with the nomads
Different types of meals offered simultaneously are not customary in Mongolian tradition. There will be one meal at a time – soup or a main dish. You should expect a lot of meat for meals, mostly mutton, beef, and goat. The nomads may serve horse or camel meat if you agree to eat it. Mongolians consume lots of flour products (homemade cookies, pancakes, and bread) and dairy products such as milk, yogurt, milk butter, hard and sour dried curds, salty milk tea (black tea is available), sour fermented mares’ milk, and sometimes vodka. If you have dietary restrictions, please inform us in advance. We will gladly arrange the meals accordingly.
The nomadic bathroom and washing facilities
You should expect lower levels of privacy and comfort than you may be accustomed to while staying with a nomadic family, including WC, shower, and tap water to wash. Hand and face wash is done using a mobile washstand with a re-fillable small container connected to a small tube. Mongolians use a water-filled kettle when washing their face and hands. Nomads hand wash clothes in a washing bowl or portable bathtub in heated water.
There is usually a pit latrine in the nomad’s relatively permanent residing areas.
Electricity and internet with the nomads
Mongolian nomad families do not have 24-hour electricity. Although, the majority of nomad families have solar panels or battery devices for light in the evening and possibly watching TV. Regarding the internet, we advise you to buy an internet data sim card before leaving Ulaanbaatar. 15GB sim card costs approximately 5 to 6 USD (15000 to 20000 MNT)
About your nomadic hosts
You will find a nomadic host family in all regions and almost at each location. Although we have some requirements when choosing the host family – the family should be authentic nomads who are naturally hospitable and happy to share their experience with our clients. Thus, some of our host families reside away from the main tourist attractions. Near the main tourist attractions, you will find many gers built by local nomadic people, and those guest gers are a good alternative for budget travelers than experience seekers. You will be one of their many daily visitors, and they tend to refuse to cook meals for you because of their daily chores with animals and the gers. Therefore, if possible, please inform us of your interest in the nomad experience and let us choose a family. The second requirement is sanitary. We have some measures to choose one family above the other family.
Mongolian nomad family stay length for various experiences
Within 1-2 days, you can experience and learn much, including several traditional Mongolian meal samples, sleep in the ger, see and help daily chores of nomads, do animal-based outdoor activities such as riding horses or camels, and help to milk animals. 1-2 days is an appropriate amount of time as you can have a shower and feel refreshed after your felt tent stay.
If you have more time and interest, the nomad family stay can be as long as you wish. You will build a traditional dwelling ger, learn to cook Mongolian meals, improve your horse riding ability, tend pastureland animals, and gain even more knowledge about the nomad’s life and culture.
What do the Mongolian nomads do for a living?
Mongolian nomads are self-sufficient with their five kinds of animals (horses, sheep, cattle including yaks, goats, and camels) and move with their mobile and collapsible dwellings gers in search of better pastures and water for their animals from place to place all year round. The types of domesticated animals kept by nomadic families differ, depending on where they live, local weather conditions, vegetation on the pasture, and other factors. Thus, animals and animal-related products are the key sources of their living. The majority of their income comes from selling animals. In particular, they sell or slaughter animals in autumn to prepare for the winter, prepare school supplies for children, and pay for university tuition. They earn money in spring, selling cashmere and ship/camel/yak wool. Dairy product selling is another income but is limited to the nomad family location, surplus, and the pasture condition of the year. Therefore, please be sure your stay with the Mongolian nomad family is mutually beneficial, as you can discover a unique way of life while feeling their heartwarming hospitality. The nomads earn income, which helps their children gain education, and both children and adults learn, and hear news from you. Moreover, you will save animal lives because there will be less need to sell or slaughter the animals. This way, you can help support the nomads and help ensure the longevity of the nomadic lifestyle, which is gradually being affected by modernization and urbanization.
