Like I mentioned in my first post, I’m running late, because winter is
now ending, although I began typing
this when it was still beginning. But I can’t use spring again, because I did
that last year.
Mongolia is famous for
its winter. Mongolia is the
coldest country that Peace Corps sends volunteers, and the rumor is that volunteers
in tropical countries drink “to the poor guys in Mongolia.” Ulaanbaatar and the Kazakh capital Astana
compete with each other for the title of the world’s coldest capital. Parts of
Siberia, Greenland, and Antarctica get colder,
but they don’t have their own capitals. It’s not just latitude that makes
things cold. Northen Europe gets the gulf
stream. Also bodies of water moderate temperatures while dry land makes them
more extreme. Mongolia
is in the middle of the biggest solid landmass in the world. Furthermore, it
has a comparatively high elevation. After adapting to the air at 5000m, another
volunteer explained his experience of returning to sea level as feeling like he
was on speed. (Which makes me ponder, “How much wood could a Mongolian
woodchuck chuck if the woodchuck could chuck wood in Hawaii?”)
This means that more than half the months of the year - all of winter,
and most of spring and autumn - have an average temperature below freezing. The
ambient temperature drops below that point in October and doesn’t rise above it
until March. Autumn and spring are the big times for snow. Snow rarely falls
during winter, because it’s too cold for water to evaporate to form
precipitation. Nevertheless, winter is full of snow, because the snow that
falls in the autumn may not melt for 3-5 months. Despite predictions to the
contrary, this winter was mild. Snow didn’t fall until October and it didn’t become
permanent until November 1, and it already began to melt by the end of
February. My first year it snowed on September 12 and became permanent by late
October and didn’t melt until mid-March - about 3 weeks more on each side. Even
that year was considered a good year though. In previous years I’ve heard of permanent
snow on September 1. About 3 years ago, I heard, the thermometer read -60 C
late one evening in Kharhorin.
Winter has its advantages. It’s cleaner than summer. Diseases that
spread easily in warm temperatures disappear once it starts snowing. Flies, and
most other insects, disappear completely for half the year. Nothing smells bad.
Regular bathing becomes unnecessary (and uncomfortable) because you don’t sweat
a drop for days and days. You can keep huge quantities of food frozen for
months and months for free without electricity just by leaving it outside in a
shed. You can also refrigerate stuff just by leaving it on your floor. All this
winter, I never saw mold on anything. I’ve had milk sit in my ger for 2 weeks
without spoiling. Alcohol can be safely and easily distilled by leaving it
outside to partially freeze. Baking, which would make you swelter during the
summer, can be comfortably accomplished in winter in the normal course of heating
your home by putting the food on top of your wood stove. You can always add
more coats and blankets, whereas when you’re too hot, there’s a limit to how
much you can take off, even if you disregard modesty. For travellers, you can
lodge in nearly empty guesthouses for lower prices than summer, because almost
everybody visits during the summer. There are also the aesthetic pleasures of
snow and wood fires.
