Yurts or Water Tanks?

I had always wanted to visit the country, Mongolia. But as it is kind of difficult and inconvenient to arrange for a trip there, I resorted to an alternative – Inner Mongolia of China.

‘Mongolian yurts or tents are made of compressed sheep’s wool with no windows…. Live like Mongolian’s nomadic ancestors and be closer to nature than you can imagine – you basically sleep on the ground,’ this is what was stated in the itinerary of a 7-day Inner Mongolia Delight, organised by one of our local travel agents, which I had signed up.

With that I was very much looking forward to staying in an authentic yurt as I remember how much I enjoyed staying in one when I was in Tian Chi (Heaven Lake), Xinjiang many years ago.

But alas, as soon as we arrived at the destination, our excitement turned into disappointment. We saw rows and rows of round concrete ‘dome-shaped’ structures which look more like barracks. And some of the group members commented that they look like water storage tanks back home.

And sleeping on the ground and be close to nature? That was not to be. We had comfortable conventional beds. Not that I did not appreciate being given a comfortable bed, but the authenticity of ‘living like a Mongolia’s nomadic ancestors and close to nature’ was gone!