The Golden Gobi and adventures in Central Mongolia

(There are photos attached so click the web link on your e-mail is you can't see them)

We have just spent the most amazing two weeks in the Mongolian countryside and have had a fabulous experience. We organised a driver and a guide through our guesthouse and were joined by 2 Spanish girls and a Danish couple. Accomodation was mainly in Gers owned by Mongolian families, although we slept in tents occasionally. There was no luxury, beds were hard or the floor, no running water so no shower for 12 days and the toilets were holes in the ground surrounded by small shelters, or where the ground was too hard to dig a hole, poo where you want. The Gers all had fires, fed either by poo or wood depending on whether there were trees around. There's no regulating the temperature though, so at times we were hot and had to take off all our clothes, and at other times we were ridiculously layered up against the cold. The boys had the hardest time, travelling with four girls who always wanted the fire hotter. Occasionally we had light in our Ger, powered by a battery and solar power, but most of the time it was candles.

The roads in Mongolia are dirt and bumpy through the desert and the countryside and towns were few and far between. Short distances took time, but the scenery is so ever changing you don't really notice. You, your backpack and everything in the van gets covered in a thick layer of dust by the end of each day. We shared milk tea, local vodka and every kind of dairy product from yaks, goats, camels and sheep with the locals who were so welcoming with their hospitality. They let us inexpertly join in their milking and loved trying to communicate with us. One of the highlights was when we turned up to a Ger to make our lunch, there was no-one home, but we went in made and ate lunch, helped ourselves to their cheese, washed up and left a note to say we'd been through. It's tradition in Mongolia to do this.

We road camels, spent two days on horseback and trekked for four hours through newly fallen snow. Patrick, Tobias and I spent the two days on horseback trying to make the horse go faster, although the others were a little more reluctant, especially when one of the Spanish fell off. Patrick also had a fall when trying to mount , he was walking the horse at the time because his knees were so sore, but wanted to get back on to ride up a steep hill......he wasn't hurt, just dusty and he got straight back on again.

We reached a hot-spring by the end of the 12th day, and were finally able to shower, and then head to the bath for an afternoon of soaking and beer...bliss!! We arrived back in UB with no clean clothes, desperate for a shower and some western food, but thoroughly content. WE LOVE MONGOLIA!!

I have added some photos, and there is an album on Facebook via the attached link.


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55338&l=9ad75&id=680385046


We are now researching Russia. The train leaves Tuesday.

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