Oyuna Guesthouse Ulan Bator

The time passed amazingly quickly - about 1.5 hours at the border crossing - strange to see the Gers everywhere - we hadn't realised that they are still VERY much a part of Mongolian life. Arrived at the Lotus Hotel - very good and our for a group meal. Sadly - John and I let ourselves down - we went to a couple of Mongolian bars after the meal and drank vodka - in 100ml shots !! We have no idea how we ever found the hostel - no ...

... hours.<br><br> <br>When we got to the top though it was spectacular. One phenominal view. And I felt great, the hangover had been flushed out with the exercise and a few adrenalin pumping moments of slipping down a pretty steep slope.<br><br>Back at the Ger camp there was not much to do.... You can read, hike or sleep. After my morning hike, I slept then I read then I got bored with reading and it was 3pm...<br><br> <br>After this ...

... out the taxi window at 7AM still yawning, arguing with the taxi driver that we will only pay 3000 for the ride, and not 5000 as he wanted. We're tourists, not stupid. We were on our way to the Dragon Centre, UB's bus station, to depart the city for a 6 day nomadic adventure, that we booked the day before. It cost roughly 160 quid all inclusive, which means bus ticket out of town, and back, jeep to the location, and something called a community fee for staying ...

... qui vivent dans les yourtes et se déplacent au gré des saisons. L'hospitalité et le partage sont innés chez ces nomades et il est très facile de se faire inviter à manger et dormir. Ces yourtes sont souvent très confortables avec des tapis moelleux au sol et un poêle central qui chauffe efficacement l'intérieur et sert à faire la cuisine. Pratiquement toutes possèdent également à l'extérieur une parabole et des panneaux solaires, ce qui leur permet de regarder de temps en ...

... conduct their lengthy searches which included ordering us all out while they got to work unscrewing panelling and seven hours later, we were finally over the border; the harvest festival returned but was not 'seen' by the Mongolian officials. <br><br>At First Glance<br><br>We were a happy crowd of foreigners cooped into one carriage (as we were to join a much larger train) and a veritable united nations of English, French, Dutch, German and Italians going ...

... it intense. Thinking back, I feel silly because about 2 days before I left in June there was a lightning storm above Pleasant Hill and a friend and I drove to the top of a hill to get a better view because lightning storms just don&#8217;t happen often. Now, I see lightning every few days now, and much more intense storms than the one I went out of my way in Plesant Hill to view. <br><br>Two days ago we were supposed to have ...

... followed, complete opposite from the previous session. The boys were also better at English overall. It amazes me how good some of these kids are at English. I have learned that most of the ones who are good at English go to a school in UB called ASU. It is an American school where most of the teachers are from Canada and all of their classes are taught in English. Besides their Mongolian classes. I asked them which classes they like more, their ...

... some good, some bad, and some pretty damn scary. There were time that I regretted not writing up a will before I left. In the last 48 hours, I have almost drowned (ok, I'm kidding) lost my pants temporarily, met the Mongolian "police", almost died (not joking), heard our driver almost die (not joking), talked to the REAL police and seek medical help for someone else from the French. I'm going to relate everything that happened and divide it up ...

... it until we were all satisfied it was drinkable.. To be honest some of us were less fussy and would have settled for whatever .. Although Karl lost the smile off his face when I joked the poxy stuff was non-alcoholic....a long days drive ahead awaited and the attraction was a narrow dark cave which we crawled through. It was a short drive after that to the White Cliffs where we took in the sunset and got some great pics before reaching our next Ger where the Goats and camels provided ...

... deep to be considered complete. We fervently hoped that it would be finished within the next six months. <br><br>When we finished volunteering, a local woman invited us into her ger for salty milk tea and traditional cookies that resembled doughnuts. It was a perfect ending to an excellent day, and the perfect recognition to all of us for a job well done. <br><br>