Young Mongolian Highlanders Fans

One day, as we were nearing the end of a particularly bumpy ride, we dropped by a family and were invited to stay the night. As we had come up to a nest of Gers a group of kids had came scurrying down and met us by the road side.

They would have heard the Lada grinding its way along the sweeping valley and had prepared well, for each had a container tucked under their arms.

The teenagers, with the younger kids tagging along, applied their marketing expertise on us hungry weary travelers coaching us to try their assorted samples of fresh sheep, goat and mare milk and cheeses.

We were easy beats but more so due to the kids delightful nature. Their initial success resulted in the younger ones jostling for position with boisterous chatter and laughter.

A few fathers wandered down to see what all the raucous was about. Well that, and the usual eagerness to catch up with the outside news strangers brought, Anyway we were now buddies with their brood and were invited to stay the night.

Soon we met with the grandmothers, mothers and toddlers and with lowered heads ushered into the guest spot in the Ger and with all the family squeezed in around us were welcomed with a bowl of mares milk scooped from the large container near the door.

The summer evenings are long in that neck of the woods but time waits for no man so in a while after essential protocol the men wandered off to tether and tend to the animals while the women went about doing their things.

This left us with the opportunity to hangout with the kids. I’m Dunedin born and bred so a staunch Otago and Highlanders Super Rugby fan. Back home I'd picked up a half sized ball and stuffed it into my light weight pack thinking… Well here was that very chance. What better than a game of touch. The boys took to it like ducks to water showing all the agility, determination and grit any Highlander team would have been proud of.

Here is the point of this first blog. Those boys had never seen a rugby ball but they adapted picked up the game plan and got right into it. Travelers Rest offers such an opportunity to run with all your might with the chance to make a difference to ones life and likely to others too.

The dads quickly finished their essential chores some to venture in and have a go others just to watch and grin.

The youngest lad slipped out of bed and slept with the ball like a cuddly teddy bear for the remainder of the night. In the morning his mom, deeply embarrassed scolded, profusely apologized and put the ball back into the pack.

Returning after the early milking for a bowl of milked softened dried mutton I noticed I’d be traveling lighter.

As we set off, a wink and a nod with the lad's dad, out of site of his mom, was enough to confirm that this wonderful family would gain so much joy from this bit of Highlander leather.

Like disruptive tecknology, it would make a huge difference to their lives, just a small token for the joy we had gained sharing their roof and life style for but a fleeting moment.

Next up, milking yaks