I think Inner Mongolia sounds soooo far away and sooo deep in the bowels of the Asian continent, yet of all the places we have been to in China, it is the only one we have arrived at by driving a car. The drive, I must say, has beautiful scenery but also a constant lineup of big diesel monsters clogging the motorway. Love hate love hate. You can’t stop to admire the gorgeous vista because you’ll lose your place in line, but you can stop when nature calls, as we witnessed often.

The crazy congested Beijing city highway abruptly changes from flat valley to craggy mountains with peeks of the Great Wall. Then you start to notice little villages all neatly in rows squeezed tightly between the highway, the small stream and the foothills. Rice paddies and other beautifully bordered vegetable gardens fill any unused spaces. You see young and old mostly, with woven straw hats and bent backs, gleaning their harvest, stacking on little carts, and poking at ditches. Sooo picturesque!! Then, slowly but surely everything changes and realize you are on one of the holes of the U.S. open. Wow!! Is this the biggest golf course in the world with these perfectly planned sand traps? They could really turn this into something big and if it weren’t so late in the evening I would have run forever.

Now getting to Inner Mongolia is the easy part, but getting IN TO it is a carefully strategically, and patiently put together plan, that will eventually go completely bust. So be ready for anything and just try to enjoy the experience because that is why you’re there. With that said, we could easily have freaked out and been miserable. Maybe some of us were but when you are dealing with two different cultures and you are the third and everyone wants their share of the deal then, there are bound to be some hangups. I actually think it really helps to be the dumb american sometimes. Ignorant bliss.

So, while we waited and waited for who-knows-what, we ran around the hills, scattered sheep, rolled down mountains, picked flowers, contemplated the universe, and thought about using the toilet which would have to be au-natural. We watched Chinese tourists in full cowboy regalia hang on for dear lives to their pony horse’s saddles and watched the real cowboys ride their motorcycles to herd their flocks. Whose land is whose…big question. It was like a factory belt on large scale. Every 15 or so minutes a shepherd with staff, motorcycle, or sometimes horse would herd his flock of sheep, or goats through the little valley to a watering hole. Then, after a spell, he would move on through a bunch of forest like tree groupings and up the hill to the next munchable section. It was loads of fun to be right in the middle of their animal highway and the kids loved having the animals rush by them with their bahhings and bleatings.

Finally, a plan!! Not far, five minutes!!! Really???? An hour later through unknown hills and roads, a little farm house, a beautiful lake, blue sky forever, green rolling Montana landscapes, and wandering cows and a few bulls. Wow for reals!!! Set up camp….ahh! Icey cold dips in the lake were the first order of business, then “run off and get lost but watch out for the bulls” for the kids and sit back, relax, and enjoy Inner Mongolian conversation with the grownups. Our Chinese friends thought we were crazy to let our kids out of site. But the Beijing environment is so invasive that running away, way away into the freedom of space is the only medicine to cure their claustrophobia.

To top of the evening, a whole lamb sliced right down the middle, eaten only with hands and a big knife. It was all very macho. Then an evening campfire with songs and stories and smores, which our Chinese friends found to be very interesting and I could tell they loved the singing time.

After hearing other’s less then pleasant adventures, I feel like we were really lucky to have gotten away with our special camping adventure. An Inner Mongolian trip is a tightly controlled vacation aimed at milking you to the max and you ask no questions, you just do what they give you and stay where they say. Real camping is very rare because the yurts are there to bring authenticity and give you a sense of entering another world. Yes, they are fun but tightly controlled. So we were all thrilled with what we experienced. A good time, a beautiful and trying place, inexpensive and definitely worth it!!!