Sunday 7th August and we woke up with a knock to our door, and in entered a staff member with a bamboo steamer containing hot towels. Our ger roof was opened (the tarpaulin just swept back), and we got dressed … Continue reading The Mini Gobi… Part 10
Having woken up and gone to toilet surrounded by an audience of yaks, it was sad to be leaving this very peaceful existence. I thought about family, thinking that anything could have happened and here I was in the middle of nowhere, with no means of communication. It was amazingly refreshing. We packed up and said farewell. I was offered a bowl of what looked to be milk. Of course it was milk, just not milk as I know it to be… It wasn’t offered to the children as it was Airag, the traditional national beverage of Mongolia. Alcoholic and … Continue reading Farewell to Nomadic Life and onto the Desert (Part 9)
Friday 5th August was our last full day in the camp. Eleanor woke up, took a bit of water, and then promptly brought it back up again. All the kids at one point during our stay had upset stomachs. Sadly there was no fried dough for breakfast, only bread that whilst supposedly fresh was stale. I had a breakfast bar. Eleanor went back to sleep, I was able to wake her up for permission to go on the penultimate ride. All changed ready for a 2 hour ride, this time we went to the east. On the first night’s ride we … Continue reading Mongolian Barbeque; Nomadic Lifestyle (Part 8)
Riding to the waterfalls and milking horses and gambling Continue reading Day 2 of the Nomadic Lifestyle; Riding, Milking and Gambling (Part 7)
On the Tuesday evening we were introduced to the family, all save the husband who would return later. The Mum had 4 children, a son aged around 14, who looked more like a grown man, a daughter aged 13, Bimba, … Continue reading A Taste of Nomadic Lifestyle (Land of the Eternal Blue Sky) Part 6
When you aren’t looking at your phone, or computer, days just pass. The only reason I knew what day we were on was when I sat down with my diary and the travel schedule to work out that the 1st of August was a Monday. It didn’t matter what day it was. At 8.15am we departed, onto the sandy road heading north until we hit the main road where we turned left and kept going. In the UK we have a phrase about the Romans having been there when a road is particularly straight. Every so often Yondo would slow down and we … Continue reading Long Drops and Ancient Capital of Mongolia (Land of the Eternal Blue Sky) Part 4
Stunning scenery but a mud bath for the camera puts paid to the pictures…or does it? Continue reading Back in the Saddle in the Land of the Eternal Blue Sky through the Orkhon Valley (Part 5)
Our night’s stay at the Dream Hotel was basic. But as we hadn’t paid Shang-ri La prices, I was in no position to be complaining. Eleanor and I had even had separate beds which we didn’t have on our first night. At breakfast I … Continue reading Hustai National Park (Land of the Eternal Blue Sky) Part 3
Ulan Batar, Ulan Bator, take your pick with the spelling. Be warned though, this is not a spell bindingly beautiful city. It is utilitarian, functional, and whilst we saw it at its best on the first day (blue skie and very little traffic), we then saw it on our penultimate day when we were stuck in traffic and on our last day, it rained and there was certainly nothing pretty about it. Its roads are concreted, not tarmaced and full of pot holes and they are bumpy (though not as bumpy as what we would experience in the forthcoming days). … Continue reading Ulaan Baatar (Land of the Eternal Blue Sky Part 2)
“Mongolia? As in Inner Mongolia? On your own- with Eleanor?” “No, Mongolia as in the separate country between China and Russia. Yes on our own, Martin is teaching in a summer school organised by DHSZ.” “Wow, you are…brave… That’s amazing… Why?” Just some of the conversations I had with people when discussing our summer plans. The Why question was the easiest… a country with horses, riding across a wide open space… well why not? I also wanted to give Eleanor a different perspective on life. No iPads, phones, television, internet, shopping malls, hotels with swimming pools, just green space, blue … Continue reading Land of the Eternal Blue Sky – Part 1
