Down at Turtle Rock

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We made the day trip out the Terelj National Park (about 2 hours from UB) to do some hiking and check out the rock formations we'd read and heard so much about. The public bus ride from the city was a breeze, a man selling cigarettes by the street even went out of his way to help us find the bus stop, a rareity in Ulaanbaatar, especially when we compare it to Seoul, where people actively went out of their way to help us out and be friendly.

After arriving in the town of Terelj we picked a direction and set off in the hope of making it to Turtle Rock. Using the ultra sensitive compass attached to the watch we picked up at Namdaemum markets in Seoul that requires flicking to help it turn we made our way into the pine forests and began the climb.

A couple of hours later we stopped for lunch and to catch our breath. The view was amazing and well worth the mosquito plague we had attracted. We hiked the 13km to turtle rock, which as you'll see really does look like a turtle.

As we waited for the bus back into UB we watched the ambush of teenage airag (alcoholic, fermented mare's milk) merchants along the road, strategically positioned on the bridge where cars would have to slow down. What better when driving than a glass of fermented milk that's been sitting in the sun all day? Ah, refreshing.

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Photos

In Terelj, halfway up the mountain
Steve has been likened to Sadaam Hussein by one guesthouse owner and is currently planning to shave.

Dinosaur ger camp
Mongolia has been a archaeological hot-spot for dinosaur bone discovery. Especially down south in the Gobi desert. These concrete replicas actually looked quite real.

Where's wally?
If you look really closely you can see Neen, dwarfed by the rock formations

Turtle rock
To get an idea of scale check out the tent pitched in the foreground...