My Glamorous Life

Or, tales from an ice- cold ger on the stepped of Central Asia

The pee bottle was sitting stop the rusty stove in the middle of the ger. I needed to find it, having awakened with an annoyingly full bladder at 1 am Mongolian time. The rain, which had marched in last night just as my guide and driver finished schlepping all our gear to our separate gers, pattered lightly against the fabric, which flapped in the wind.

I love that sound.

However that sound also makes me want to pee in the middle of the night.

I flailed around in the air near my (hard as fucking concrete) bed for the hanging light switch. Couldn’t find it.

Shit. So I threw back the six layers of blankets- which, given that laundry services can be scarce out here, were a bit gamey- and padded to where I knew the stove sat. Right into a puddle of water on the floor.

A very cold puddle, if you will.

After cursing loudly enough to wake up the same folks who kept me awake last night well into the wee hours, I found the pee bottle. It’s just a dark blue water bottle, nothing more. However it has saved my ass on multiple occasions. Here, a walk to…