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| Lowest temperature captured on my iphone Jan 27th |
According to the locals, this winter has been exceptionally cold. No kidding! As it is only the second winter I have endured in Mongolia, it is difficult to gauge if it was any colder than my first. In fact it might be because I'm not sure when one ended and the other began!! Anyway, as far as I can tell, once temperatures plunge below minus 20 it's stupendously cold and what you need to do to stay warm and survive is much the same as at minus 40. Whatever the temperature, living in the coldest capital of the world hasn't been too much of a challenge...providing you have access to all the modern conveniences :)
Although winter's here are intense they are definitely not bleak. The sun seems to be forever shining and the sky more often than not is a vivid blue -unfortunately UB is located in a basin surrounded by mountains which prevents smog from dissipating, so you may need to step out of the smog-filled capital to notice! The air is extremely dry (a bonus for those of us that have to dry our clothes indoors without a dryer) but it also means it is very unforgiving on the body, it's very dehydrating, lips crack easily, and skin becomes dry and flaky with or without attention. Dressing is also tricky. The questions being, do you rug up for the cold and suffer abominably in overheated restaurants and shops or do you brave a measure of cold to survive your indoor destination. After suffering more than a few distressing episodes of spontaneous combustion in my double layer of thermals, these days I'm happy to take the risk and wear none!
One of the many pitfalls of extreme cold temperatures is slippery roads and pavements. Although there is not a lot of snow, what does fall becomes icy and slick and becomes even more slippery once compacted by use. According to data released by the National Trauma and Orthopaedic Research Centre between 180 and 200 people are injured each day! due to falls on icy streets with many people becoming seriously disabled because of their injuries. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few people with missing fingers due to frostbite (commonly caused by excessive alcohol consumption and then falling asleep outside).
Despite the extreme temperatures our discomfits are actually quite minor. You don't have to look too far to see how it is for others. Some freezing cold mornings after a snowfall, I wake to see our ger-dwelling neighbours below making adjustments and sweeping snow from the roof of their ger. This is mainly a job for the women and children as they are much lighter and won't damage the struts as easily.
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| Roof sweeping. The rectangle structure in the foreground is a sea container connected to the ger in which a family with 5 children and 4 adults live (plus at least 1 dog and 4 puppies!) |
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| Early morning adjustments |
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| ...for many of the population in the city there is limited sanitation, little electricity and water can only be accessed by carting it. Hard enough in the summer months but in winter....I can't begin to imagine. |
It does surprise me though how quickly we learn to adapt to our surroundings. I look back on the photos of us in our first few months where I was rugged up against the elements with barely my eyes showing and I remember still being cold and that wasn't even taken in the coldest months of December and January!Now we would consider some of those warmer winter days almost balmy where hats and gloves are not an absolute necessity unless outdoors for extended periods and like I mentioned previously, the thermals stay in the cupboard!
So for those of you who are constantly expressing your amazement of the extreme weather conditions in which we live and wonder how on earth do we cope, I can honestly say, "very well, thanks!"
Lastly, checkout this video of one of the perks of winter transport in Mongolia-using the frozen rivers as highways and byways to make great progress against the horrendous traffic congestion within the city. We use the frozen river on a weekly basis to get quick access to the countryside. It does add a little excitement to the trip!
