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Johan Kruseman
After drinking the noodle soup in the grass in front of our ger and as it started to rain lightly, another family felt sorry for us and invited us into their ger. And that completely changed the evening. We talked a lot with hand gestures, both sides took many photos of each other (they took even more of us than we did of them) until we found out that we were visiting the proud wrestling champion of the village. I couldn’t resist challenging him, which he enjoyed so much that seconds later, we started a wrestling match in the ger between the stove and the beds.
To thank the family for the entire evening where they continuously fed us with food and drinks, we decided to offer them our remaining vodka. At first, I thought it was just politeness that they didn’t accept it, which prompted me to insist repeatedly. Eventually, it turned out that they found our vodka to be worthless, and with a thud, the man put a top-brand bottle on the table, saying, “now this is vodka.” Hmmm... We decided to accept our status as paupers. It was truly an amazing evening with a super kind family. The next morning, the official wrestling competition was on the agenda (where I once again had no chance).
Traveled route: Ulaanbaatar, Kharkhorin, Hatgal, Khorgo, Tstetserleg, Red Waterfall, Zamiin-Uud
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