The plan was to post this story on 20^th May. It didn’t happen. I trashed it. Last week, I retrieved it from the ‘bin.’

Mongolia was the holiday my husband and I were looking forward to since March this year. We researched and identified tour companies, flights, and hotels. We finalised our bookings when sister number 3 confirmed her flight and stay with our mum from April 27 to June 6.  

I was both excited and fearful. Excited as it would be the first real adventure holiday since 2012, when my husband and I quit work, and took a gap year to travel. Fearful as uncertainty swirled within me. My mum wasn’t doing well. Yes, she was 90+. Her breathing was more laboured. Her lungs were more congested. She was fed-up with life as a whole, and mentioned Tata’s house regularly. That said, she had a history of conquering a number of hairy-scary situations, over the three years, that she was unwell.

I justified and consoled myself that sister number 3 was very well equipped to care for our mum, whilst I went gallivanting. She has medical experience. Is inherently kind and caring. Enjoys Tamil serials and movies that the two would and could watch together and dissect. A wonderful chef who prepares Indian food the way my mum likes it. Voila. What else could I ask for? Plus, my mum was looking forward to sister number 3’s visit.

On 17^th May, I got on the plane with my husband and left for Mongolia. To be honest, it wasn’t Mongolia, the country, that drew me. Don’t get me wrong, Mongolia has been on my bucket list for a very long time. After all, it’s one of the few countries in the world that’s still off the beaten track. Vast and wide. Uncrowded with dramatic landscapes. Nomadic people and culture. Free roaming animals. But for me, the main attraction was Ulaanbaatar.

I liked trivia when I was younger. Now, not so much. Anyways, the two favourite trivia questions that I loved to ask were, ‘What is the capital of Mongolia?’ and ‘How much does a baby elephant weigh?’  It was a lot of fun revealing the answers because no one had a clue. This was back when I used to organise quiz competitions for upper secondary students, who were members of the English and Debating Society of St. Nicholas Convent, where I studied until I completed my ‘O’ levels and Sultanah Asma Secondary School where I did my ‘A’ levels. Why were my school mates clueless? Mongolia was not a familiar country. Too remote, even now. The weight of any baby animal was not top of anyone’s mind, except mine. And, there was no Internet to Google information. 

On Saturday morning, my husband and I arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Yes, the answer to the first question. Yay. I thought it was spelt Ulanbator. I’ve always imagined that it would be incredibly cool to be present, physically, in Ulanbator. A name that I bandied about a lot in my youth but knew little about. A place that seemed too distant for small town me from Alor Setar, Kedah. I discovered that it’s far but not that far. Some 4,686 km compared to England which is 10,514km. While its half as far it’s also half as easy to get to. There are no direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Ulaanbaatar. Airlines that do cover this route have long layovers. Out of the shortlisted three, Korean Airlines, MIAT Mongolian Airways and China Airlines, we flew China Airlines.   

I felt a little surreal finally being in Ulaanbaatar. I needed/wanted a photo-evidence of me with a sign board of the city just to be sure. We found an Insta-worthy one in red bold cursive letters at the Tsedenbal Square. Ulaanbaatar is a sprawling city with a fair number of high-rise buildings and traffic jam. The city centre is modern. The periphery is dotted with Ger/s or traditional tent-shaped portable homes. The ones outside the city are mostly permanent, with or without full amenities.  

On Sunday morning, we visited the impressive Genghis Khan Statue Complex. I remember Genghis Khan of the Mongol empire from my history lessons. Also, Kublai Khan and Jehangir Khan. This is true. As kids, we used to call each other ‘Mongolian’ (why though?) when one of us was being stoic for some reason.

On Sunday afternoon, we rode ponies and climbed the Turtle Rock at Terelj National Park. About 5pm, sister number 3 called. My mum had passed. Actually, on Monday morning, my husband and I, were scheduled to start our eight-day adventure to the Gobi Desert, the second largest in Asia. Grateful were we that we were still accessible, and just under 90 km from the airport. On Monday night, we were back home with my mum.