"I'm here," comes the text message of Erdenetsogt. Exactly 4:45 in the morning of Wednesday, August 6, 2014, as promised. Dawn is just breaking.
I quickly descend by elevator to the ground floor, weighed down by our lunch bags and shoulder carry-on. No matter what, we are going to find Mary Lee to give her a send-off worthy of a Warrior Queen of the Mongolian Steppes.
By 5:00 a.m., we are by the Mongol Kino building. Enkhjargal, my colleague at the International School of Ulaanbaatar (
ISU), and her brother Bayraa, CEO of
Exquisite Eye Entertainment (Tugs Nud) pile into Erdenetsogt's car, camera/video equipment and camera stand in tow. Everybody in high spirits.
"So, how do we find Mary Lee?"
"Can we call her?"
"No, we can't, they're in a secret location and they're not allowed to tell the name. Anyway, even if she'll describe the place to us or know its name... And I didn't get her number, it's a US one, so she'll pay too if I call her."
"So, that's our challenge today. I have this picture in my mind..." This line produces much laughter.
Our guide: pictures in my head, what I saw on the web site of The Adventurists, organizers of Mongol Derby, of a ger camp with 12 gers, two rectangular tents, one white and one with patterns, a tall rock in the middle of the steppe, and a kind of relief map of a little village, the green start flag, the black and white finish line flag, and blinking blue spots (from the riders' tracking devices).
Two nights before, working on my iMac, I clicked on the green flag and it flashed Erdenesant, a name of a village. Google Earth showed rocky mountains and a steppe area. Flickr featured colored photographs of Erdenesant sum and its location along the highway to Kharkhorin. It also showed the village road marker, with its name and the Soyombo symbol. But there was no ger camp. There was no rock in the middle of the steppe. Just a roadside teeny-weeny village with its felt gers and wooden houses, little shops and rocky mountains as its backdrop.
I loaded all these information in my head and turned on my homing device.
It is just amusing to think, getting up at three in the morning, grilling some Korean sauce-marinated meat, boiling rice, and driving hundreds of kilometers away from Ulaanbaatar, searching for our friend Mary Lee, so we can give her good luck wishes and hugs on her big race day.
At 8:30 a.m., my friends and I come face to face with the rocky mountains I have been telling them about.
"Mary Lee is behind those mountains."
"Really?" Enkhjargal says. We all smile. What a crazy idea!
"Yes. I just know. She's behind them."
I look at the other side of the road where a verdant green mountain beckons at a distance.
"No. Those are not the mountains. I don't get any pull from it.
Mary Lee is behind these rocky ones," pointing to the solid wall on our right.
Erdenetsogt and Bayraa leave the car and try the family in a ger by the road.
"Is there a ger camp somewhere here, with 12 white gers, one big orange one and a big white rectangular one?"
"No, there is no ger camp in this village. We have never seen a ger camp here."
They come back to the car.
"What's the name of the mountain?"
"I remember a Bat Khan Uul. The other didn't have a name."
"Bat Khan Uul?"
"Yes, Bat Khan Uul. There are two mountains and the race starts in between these two mountains."
The family tells them that Bat Khaan Uul is situated farther out of Erdenesant.
"Oh no, it's almost 9. The
race starts at 9:30 a.m. We really need to cross this mountain."
"But how, we don't know where the road is."
But I am not ready to give up. As if on cue, a herder on motorcycle materializes and he drives right to where my two friends are standing. He stops his motorbike. I watch as their faces get animated.
Erdenetsogt and Bayraa run back to the car, breathless.
"The herder has seen the ger camp with the 12 gers and the orange one! It's been there for two days now."
We follow the herder as he drives slowly for a dozen or so meters. Our sense of excitement pervades the air, but it is controlled. We still need to see the ger camp, if it is the right one.
The helpful herder stops and he points to the track road that will lead us to the foot of the rocky mountain and over it.
We drive bumpily for 10 minutes or so, over grasslands, rocks and mountain. Ours is not a 4WD, but it's a trusty Hyundai.
As the car edges to the summit, we catch a glimpse of a ger camp tucked in a corner of the valley, with, in fact, 14 white gers, one big orange-looking tent and a big white rectangular tent. A giant upright rock stands alone in the middle of the steppe. The whole scene look just like in the The Adventurists web site.
We find Mary Lee.
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Mongol Derby 2014 official route - 29 horse stations, 1,000 kilometers (621 miles)
August 6-16, 2014 - Mongolia
The toughest, longest horse race in the world - Guinness World Record Holder.
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AND MARY LEE IS TOP HORSE!
Web sites: Mary
Lee - TwistedLamb, American fashion stylist and Mongol Derby 2014
top contender
Enkhbayar Sanjaasuren, CEO, Exquisite Eye - Tugs Nud Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The
Adventurists, organizers of Mongol Derby
The International School of Ulaanbaatar (
ISU), Mongolia
Photography by: Greca Durant
