Travelling in Mongolian Time

I’m really excited to leave as our work set the Credit Union up well, and although I really like my coaching partner and interpreter, we have spent way too much time in the same room. At 9 we would be off to our new location and then have a fun day to relax. That’s what the plan is supposed to be. At noon we are still in our room waiting. No call from the host picking us up and no sign of her. I’m not surprised. One wrong turn on the unmarked dirt roads and you could end up in Siberia. We decide to go for a last swim in the river and cool off. We get the call that the car got stuck in the mud and they would be collecting us after lunch. 

We finally get picked up and pack our stuff into a luxury Toyota SUV. Things are looking up... No hold on...No sooner do we leave the village than we have to turn back as our new host Narra has to purchase something at the store. Its now close to 4 and we are finally leaving. We drive like crazy in the dirt, avoiding potholes and multiple dirt paths. At one point our driver decides it’s time to get off the road and drive through a field of grass straight towards the mountains.

Now we are making our own road. It’s a lot smoother then the dirt road however we do have to drive through rivers and bogs. Not sure what we will do if we get stuck. I asked Narra how they managed to get out of the mud. She said they waited for a herder to come along on his motor bike to get a push by hand...however, Narra looks impeccably dressed and is wearing high-end glasses, matching purse and high-heeled shoes. She said she was covered in mud and had to stop and clean by the river and then dry her clothes. That’s why she was late. I guess that’s what we will do also. Just then, a clear plastic bag filled with cream falls on my lap. It’s breakfast, Narra says and then holds it on her lap for the rest of the trip. 

We come across some unusual stone carvings that stick straight out of the land. Narra explains that they are Deer Stones from the Ottoman Empire. Very cool ... you can barely make out the dear carvings.


The mountains are really just large hills with some larger rocks and at a high elevation. We get to our first destination... dinner at a herder’s summer home. Narra says as we arrive “There are many members here to greet us and hot pot is on the stove... You will be expected to make some speeches and possibly sing karaoke please enjoy.”


I was able to sit in the ger and get in a few formal toasts and make my introduction while my interpreter restated everything in Mongolian. I actually see the hot pot before it comes off the stove and they let me photograph the cooking and preparation. The stones help regulate the heat. Once cooked you take the stones out, let them cool briefly and then try to hold them... moving them from hand to hand before they burn through your skin. They are all greasy and slimy from the lamb fat. The hot fat and rocks make your hands super soft. It’s actually disinfecting as well as we are about to eat with our hands, no utensils.

After a delicious dinner (it was!) we start up a generator and turn on the computer and speakers and get the microphones going. People begin to pick the songs and I get myself out of it by being a so-called judge. Close call, not sure if I can avoid singing for the next week
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The Mongolians are very persistent when it comes to telling your story through song. First up the young herder and his wife... he begins to sing and the cows all look up and begin to come towards the ger. It seems that a stampede is about to run through our camp any second. The cattle stop about 100 yards away and listen to the singing and appear to be enjoying the show.

-- Bruno Dragani

Bruno Dragani's last day in Binder Soum

The village is filled with excitement as today the credit union will be having its fifth anniversary celebration. Members have been entering a contest all year and they have been anticipating the big draw for some time. In fact, the credit union delayed the draw so that we could be the dignitaries to award the grand prizes: a fully loaded 150cc motorcycle and a satellite dish with all the goodies. They also have a series of cash prizes. Ken and I are asked to make speeches to encourage members to move savings deposits to the credit union and attract more memberships. The event is going to start at 3 pm sharp and it might last an hour. Then we are off to camp overnight and cook “hotpot”. As usual Mongolian time dictates the start of our event. So we are at the town hall at 3 only to find it empty with the prizes all set up on stage. The building starts to fill up at 4 and we get going at 4:30 or 5.

Many of the elders are dressed in traditional Mongolian clothing.

Speeches, a powerpoint presentation, and then our speeches. Both Ken and I present a gift from our respective credit unions to Nassa, the Chair and Executive Director. Neither Ken nor I talked about giving and yet we both brought something small from local artists to present so they could remember us. Interestingly, we both chose carvings of birds. His was a rock carving of an eagle and mine a wood carving of a humming bird. Both artists were Aboriginal people from our areas. After Ken and I are done our speeches, the draw begins and it goes on for at least 2 hours as they start with the equivalent of $1.00 Canadian and work their way up to the grand prizes. I get to pull the name for the winner of the satellite dish which happens to be one of the shop owners who is thrilled. Ken gets to pick the winner of the motor bike. He picks one of the elders who can barely walk or hear. Later he joins us for dinner and presents Ken with chocolates and vodka. He keeps thanking Ken and I’m sure if he could package him up and keep him as a luck charm, he would.

Winner of the motorcycle!

By the time we leave the hall it's beginning to rain and Nassa suggests not camping. Good thing as the bugs would have eaten us alive. We get back to our one room cell in which all three of have been sleeping, eating and working for the last 3 days and are told we will be collected at 8ish. Dinner would be ‘Hot Pot” in the kitchen/pub/nightclub/whatever you want it to be room next door. Hot pot is lamb shanks and other sheep parts with carrots, potatoes and large rocks all cooked on an open fire in a cast iron pot. I never got to see it made, but I am told that it’s a local favorite for Mongolians so it’s likely I will see it when we visit another area. They could use the help of Iron Chefs, as the presentation needs some work. Its heaped into a large mound of meat and fat with a few vegetables and then placed in plates for two to three people to eat from. Yikes... utensils aren’t necessary and I begin to dig in with my hands. Surprisingly it’s also my fav. It’s cooked perfectly and the meat falls off the bone. Probably the best lamb shank I have ever had. Here they call all the meat we are eating mutton, but I keep correcting my Mongolian friends that it must be lamb because it’s so tender and tasty. It also sounds better to me… I going to write in and get the next Hell’s Kitchen to be filmed from Binder Soum. It’s shocking that something so unappetizing can be so good to eat.

Hotpot with rocks!!

The dinner is basically a private function, but people keep coming in and looking at what’s going on. At about 10, I realize they want us to get out as the place needs to transition into a night club. By this time we have had so many toasts and words of kindness that a night club sounds good to me. We begin dancing and enjoying all the new people who join the party. That lasts until 1 pm and then off to the credit union to finish the night with rounds of Mongolian signing. They should really have a Mongolian’s Got talent show as they can all sing so confidently. This lasts until 2 am and our host sends us to bed. I can hear them still going well after I settle in to a good nights sleep. Nassa tells me the next day that they left at 4 am.

-- Bruno Dragani

August 14: The road to Udurkhan Kentii

On the way to our new site Undurkhan Kentii...which is still about 220 km away from Ulaanbaatar. It doesn’t seem like a far distance yet it’s another world in the back country. The dirt road system is so bad that it could take days to get back to UB. On the way to Undurkhan we stop and visit a few members' Gers and are treated with the traditional milk tea which is one speck of black tea in warm milk. Yuk… I take a few sips and decide that I have become lactose intolerant for the rest of my stay in Mongolia.

...spinning a prayer wheel, not generating power

The gers are really cool. All of the ones I have been to have flat screen TV’s, satellite dishes and generators or power that they take directly from a power pole. They all have computers and cell phones. It’s so weird as they seem to still do so many things in the traditional way and prefer their gers over wooded structures. Cow dung is stacked and drying next to the ger as it will be used as a heat source by burning it in the winter.

Mongolian saddle

Bruno in the saddle

We make our way to the next Ger and this time I get to ride the owner's horse. This horse seems really small when you are on it. They are really nice to ride and have a smooth gait. Now I have ridden a horse in Mongolia. Not many people can say that.

I’m also treated to some of the social programs this Credit Union is doing. One is water conservation. We stop at a corral-like structure surrounding a small amount of water. It’s a natural spring and the water comes up from the ground in a small amount. It provides a water source to all the herder families in the area. It has to be protected from the animals as they will trample it down to a mud pit.

We arrive in Undurkhan and see an actual 'hotel' sign. We check into our adjoining rooms with a shared toilet. Ken and I still have to share a room but at least we have a room for Mongo. However a shower is only available at the public shower house. The shower room turns out to be a real treat. It’s absolutely spotless and disinfected after each use. It’s the best hot shower I can remember having.

Is this hotel five-star??

Hmmm...maybe not

Clean and fed, we return to our room and people keep poking their heads in. I try to lock it but there's no lock on the exterior door. Later the housekeeper comes by and lets us know that the hotel is full and our water closet is the main one for the hotel. She then hands us a padlock key for the toilet and locks our bedroom doors. All night long and all morning it was a steady parade of people using our so-called sink. I finally get out of bed, open the door between our adjoining rooms to get to the water closet and find her outside my door. I’m just in my undershorts, but she had no issues with that and takes my hand leading me to the sink to show me how clean and shiny she has kept it. So I wash my face and then go over to the toilet room. She unlocks it for me, throws a bucket of water into the toilet and flushes. Then she lets me in and points to how clean it is. She then shows me the incense and matches and shuts the door. I then realize she must have been outside my door all night guiding each person through the same ritual and cleaning after each one. That’s why it was so noisy.

-- Bruno Dragani

Aug 10: Binder Soum

The credit union office

Driving on the river...with no bridge!

A swim after a hot day at the office

We got up to an amazing sunny and hot day and attempted to get ready. No towels and a small basin with a trickle of water was all we had to work with. No problem, we made it work and still dressed up in our near-best work duty clothes. I was told that later in the day Nassa will take us men to the river for a bath;.maybe we did’t do as well as we thought in cleaning ourselves up. I have resorted to using my t-shirts as a towel so hopefully he can supply one or I’m going to run out of clothes fast. Interesting how we take the simple things in life for granted.

It is blistering hot outside all day and we basically worked most of the day in a small office space with seven people. No fan, no air conditioning, just a small window circulating the hot air. I was really looking forward to the river. It takes a long time to get the history of the credit union and to clarify the financial statements. Every question we ask has to be repeated back through our interpreter. Then a discussion occurs between the employees and then our interpreter responds. This went on until about 2 pm. We stopped for lunch and I was looking forward to getting outside. No chance, our lunch was served in our room. Interestingly the hotel and credit union are in the same building so we never have to go very far. On the back side is the kitchen and small bar. No running water.

I asked to have a tour of Binder Soum after lunch. Many of the gers are not in town at this time of year, so the village looks a bit sparse with wooden huts and leftover Soviet large concrete box buildings. The horses and cows roam freely through town and roads are made by driving through any passable area. It looks like a small organized town centre is developing in the area of the credit union. Some new structures are getting built. The village acts as an outpost for supplies for the surrounding countryside and in winter the herders come with their gers and fill up the village.

We end our day around 6ish and go to the river. The Onon shores are now filled with people swimming, washing clothes and just socializing. We find our spot and go in for a cool swim. The current actually moves pretty well so you have to try to keep yourself from drifting downstream. A tractor pulls trucks across the river as no bridge has ever been build on the river in any direction. It costs about $3 to get your motorbike across and $15 for your car. It’s deep enough to make a small truck float away so it’s quite the sight to see the river-driving in action.


-- Bruno Dragani

August 9: To the countryside

Our day started at 9am and four of us got into a mini SUV   After we loaded the bags we barely fit into the car.  Then off to the market for water and snacks.  Not sure where we would put that??

Our ride was mainly on pavement for the first six hours and that was the halfway mark.  Only 200 km in six hours.  Then onto a dirt road for the next six-and-a half hours. The amazing driving skills of our host Nassa took us through the gigantic potholes and gullies with great safety.   We arrived in Binder Soum in darkness and checked into our one-room hotel.  We had dumplings and settled in.  Our room has four beds and Ken, Mongo (our young female interpreter), and I all went to sleep.  My internal clock has still not been reset so in the middle of the night I had to get up and find the outdoor toilet.  Our plank style toilet was not a great site… more about that at another time.

What we saw along the way:  The largest Chinggis Khan monument outside of UB.  Some villages and gers, The dirt road that went on forever.  Ran into an unusual cultivated field of rapeseed growing and had to take the shot (which I'll add when I get better Internet access back in UB) as it was in such contrast to the rest of the landscape  and quite striking to look at.  And my first brilliant sunset under the biggest sky I have ever seen.  Could not capture the stars, but they were breathtaking….

--Bruno Dragani

Credit union success stories

Ken Doleman is my partnering coach and he was here last year.  We were fortunate to meet up with one of the credit unions he worked with last year.  By coincidence the Chair of the board is Oyuna and our credit union hosted her during the women’s mentoring program about two years ago.  It was a great visit and I was able to see the results of the coaching that Ken provided to the credit union and the work that Oyuna took back from Coastal Community Credit Union.  It’s an amazing success story.  In just nine months of very hard work, the team was able to meet many of their goals and improve overall performance.  Loan growth of 48 per cent, reduced loan losses, increase in fee income, 106 per cent increase in net income, 8 per cent increase in paid in capital, and an increase in members.  Most of this was attributed to education programs provided by the staff and a focus on some good goals that Ken was able to help them out with.  There is a real story here for CCA, but I will defer to Ken as he can speak to the details.  

Ken Doleman (right) meets with Auggie, a member of the credit union

We also got to meet three of the credit union members.  One was a pharmacist who over the years went from a one room shop and no employees to owning the entire building, expanding to groceries and renting the extra spaces to others.  She now employs 15 people; she strongly encourages them all to open memberships at the credit union.  She has very low employee turnover and guarantees the employees loans when they want to borrow to achieve their personal goals.  We were introduced to an employee who recently borrowed to purchase material to build a ger, her first home.

Auggie is a young man who owns his own general contracting firm.  We met him at a project that he was about to finish.  We learned that he employs 26 full-time employees and another 20 on-call staff.  He renovates buildings and apartments and also builds the furniture to outfit the space.  It’s pretty high-end stuff.  We will get the opportunity to see his finished work when we get back to UB.  Oyuna was surprised to learn how many people he is employing and the extent of his business.  Just a reminder of how important it is to know your members and visit their businesses.

Lastly, we met a member who produces mayonnaise and ketchup in a very small industrial kitchen and sells them to food markets.  She employs four people and they sell about US $14,000 to US $16,000 a month of the product.  That’s a lot condiments for a meat-eating nation…

-- Bruno Dragani

Bruno arrives in Ulaanbaatar

Bruno Dragani, Chief People and Administration Officer at Coastal Community Credit Union in Nanaimo, BC, started taking photographs as soon as he arrived in Ulaanbaatar. Here are some of the images he captured during his first two days in Mongolia.

Bruno meets (right foreground) with his fellow coaches and the interpreters

Bruno Dragani

Ottawa to Seoul...13.5 hours, two full meals and at least 5 movies

After a 5-hour stopover in Korea, a three-hour flight and one more meal (at least he's not going hungry...yet!) Bruno finally arrives in Ulaanbaatar at... what else would it be called... Chinggis Khan International Airport.

 Check out the horse stop lights... Green is trot across.... Red means hold the horse back or it will become dinner!

Off to see a Buddhist temple and the Imperial Winter Palace which is now a museum and cashmere store.

Bags of water in restaurant windows keep the flies away. It actually works...

Getting down to work: the coaches meet with their interpreters and are briefed on the credit union system.  That's Bruno in the foreground,