We staycay-ed at a Mongolian yurt in Yishun with 'wilderness survival' activities

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We staycay-ed at a Mongolian yurt in Yishun with 'wilderness survival' activities

Can camping in the corking outdoors of Yishun really transport you to an exotic faraway country? And what about the rats, bats, snakes and mozzies? Here'south how our "Magical Mongolia" experience went.

thirty October 2022 06:34AM (Updated: 01 November 2022 01:16PM)

In the last year and a half of non being able to travel, Singaporeans have resorted to some pretty desperate measures, like staycationing, glamping and ordering airplane food in to consume at abode just then they tin can feel like they're someplace else (or at to the lowest degree en route to someplace else).

All the same, when you lot lay eyes on a full-on Mongolian yurt sitting in the centre of a plot of overgrown land in the Yishun-Mandai area, yous practise wonder if you need new glasses.

No, it'south not a underground foreign spy lab. Information technology'southward not a delusion or a motion-picture show set. It'south a "Magical Mongolia" experience brought to you by Beyond Expeditions, a travel outfit run by 29-year-old Scott Tay that used to specialise in tours to Mongolia pre-pandemic.

Popular with families every bit well as those who dear the outdoors, the ii-twenty-four hour period-one-night programme, which offers "wilderness survival" activities similar how to chop wood, pitch tents and "the art of firecraft", is currently booked out until December.

The program is run in line with the current safety direction measures, with each experience kept to a maximum of 4 participants and the maximum number of people in each group capped at two (not applicable to families from the same household).

Exotic Mongolia in the wilds of Yishun? Well, of course I had to sign up.

YURTING IT Up

Not having been to Mongolia, though, I could only assess the authenticity of the experience based on how united nations-Yishun it felt.

I'm happy to report that once you arrive at the yurt, decked out with colourful flags, right by a little lily-padded pond and engulfed by greenery, y'all know you lot're not in Kansas any more.

The beautiful round structure comes straight from Mongolia and was a gift from the Embassy of Mongolia in Singapore. Many of its furnishings, like a brightly painted bed, cupboard, tabular array and stools, were fabricated in Mongolia, too. And it's equipped with all the luxurious comforts you don't arrive a regular tent: Existent mattresses, downwards pillows and the holy grail of glamping – air-con.

Yurt life was certainly enticing, not to mention Instagrammable.

It was rainy on my get-go day, so in the evening, later on the weather had cleared upwardly, Tay and his partner, Kavita Kaur, welcomed me by putting a pot of pasta onto the portable stove to eddy.

Tay, who's led expeditions all over Mongolia as well every bit in places similar Republic of kazakhstan and India, has spent so much time in Mongolia that "later on more than twenty visits, you end counting".

Helpfully weighing down a felled tree trunk to continue information technology stable while Scott Tay saws through it. (Photograph: Joyee Koo)

His mission is to help people experience the essence of the state, which he says can exist summed up in two words: "True freedom".

"When you're out there in the wilderness, sometimes it actually feels like you're just there alone by yourself, because of the vastness. And I feel so nowadays when I'chiliad standing in the middle of the steppes. I experience like I'one thousand part of the universe and nature. I sort of lose my identity. I have no concerns, no worries. Whatever I've planned in my calendar merely disappears. And I feel and so light, so contented with life, because I don't feel similar I need anything at all any more," he shared.

"That's why, afterwards my showtime trip there, I wanted to bring more people, particularly Singaporeans who keep visiting places like Bangkok to shop and eat. I hateful, that is okay, but there are and so many other places to experience, like Mongolia. The raw ruggedness; the manner the nomads alive every single day, is authentic. I want more people to feel that earlier it becomes too touristy or commercialised."

EVERYBODY YURTS SOMETIMES

Chopping upwardly wood for fuel, practising skills with axes and saws, and starting a campfire around which yous can sit and toast your marshmallows are all the things that Tay enjoys sharing with his guests as role of the package he offers.

Every bit I came to find out, information technology helps to think of this less every bit experiencing what it's like to be in Mongolia and more every bit sharing in Tay and Kavita'southward enthusiasm, hospitality and dearest for the country.

What does vegetarian pesto pasta for dinner have to do with Mongolia? Non much at all, but Tay and Kavita are vegetarian and tin make some mean meals on a camping stove. They likewise brew yous their own make of chai in a roiling pot for breakfast, despite the fact that Mongolians would simply have tea with milk.

Can y'all actually feel what it'southward similar to be in Mongolia – in Singapore? That's what travel bazaar agency Beyond Expeditions is bringing with its "Magical Mongolia" feel. CNA Lifestyle braved the wilderness of, erm, Yishun and here'southward what we got upwards to.

So, no yak's yogurt, dumplings or barbecued mutton here – simply ask Tay any question about the Mongolian culture, landscape, wildlife or people, and he'll happily share his stories about dog sledding over icy rivers, huddling around stoves with the locals in winter time and cluelessly walking around in a woman's traditional dress on the primary street. (He might too share some traditional Mongolian vodka, squirrelled away in the yurt'south kitchen cupboard.)

After dinner, we settled in for movie night under the stars, with a projector and screen, and Tay shared some clips of his Mongolian expeditions.

He and Kavita and then went home, leaving the states all alone in the center of nowhere. Good affair in that location was a lock on the yurt's door.

Getting ready for bed, though, I was preoccupied with another security result: Rodents. What if a rat infiltrated the yurt and decided information technology wanted to share my bed in the middle of the night?

Well, this concern was quickly addressed. Noticing a ring of yellow powder around the yurt, I was told this was sulphur that functioned to keep snakes away. Ah! If in that location were any rats around, the snakes would probably get them get-go. There was mention of a "1.2m-long black cobra" that had been spotted in the compound. Phew! How reassuring! Particularly coupled with the fact that the toilets and showers are a iv-infinitesimal walk abroad, so if you lot have to pee in the centre of the night, well, the world is your toilet.

If you lot're a sensitive sleeper, it might take you a while to migrate off into dreamland. Firstly, information technology'south advised to keep the lights outside the yurt on, to keep the bats away. And secondly, the area is abode to a lot of very song frogs, for whom it'south offset once the lord's day goes down. I once went to a 9 Inch Nails concert and suffice information technology to say that they had zero on these bullfrogs at 2am.

But the sun rose the adjacent morning and lo, there had been no vermin-related encounters, although one niggling green frog did hop right up to the yurt and try his darnedest to gain entry.

The vast open skies of Yishun. Pets are welcome at the yurt, likewise. (Photo: Joyee Koo)

The early morning, when y'all step out of the yurt and are greeted by the dominicus's first rays, dewy greenery and a tranquil pond, is where all the magic lies, if you inquire me. This is where you feel the peace of isolation, fresh air, Vitamin D and wild nature (minus the bats and rats, give thanks you). And it truly does feel lite and free.

Sipping my warm chai while basking in the sunshine, I realised I had learned many things from my Magical Mongolia gamble. I learned that you can never be too educated about other cultures. I learned that an open mind and heart are the key to having fun, whether y'all're in Mongolia or Yishun.

And I learned that even if yous remember y'all take an adequate arsenal of bug spray for the tropical wilds of Singapore – well, you're wrong.

For more than information about Beyond Expeditions' Experience Magical Mongolia: First In Singapore 2D1N Yurt Getaway, visit https://beyondexpeditionssg.com. Cost: S$580 per pax. Sign up with a buddy, S$500 per pax. Sign upwards with two buddies or more, South$450 per pax. Children 12 years old and below relish an additional l per cent off.

We staycay-ed at a Mongolian yurt in Yishun with 'wilderness survival' activities

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