Terelj International Resort and Spa Hotel Ulan Bator

... etc! There’s a big monument at Karkorum that shows a map of what was apparently the largest empire ever. The main attraction though is the old monastery that dates back to 1200s but it was about -5C so we couldnt make ourselves particularly interested! We stayed in another ger camp that night and were treated to an amazing performance of Mongolian throat singing which was hilarious! So much so that Sarah couldn’t contain her laughter and had to run out ...

... to get stranded... it's a windy, dusty (well, at that time anyway!) kip of a place with its only positive feature being the road out. Even the internet cafes, always a useful diversion, were closed, so we couldn't even check the weather websites and find out exactly what was happening up there.


But luck was with us the following morning when we went down to the guest house 'restaurant' and got chatting to Nassa, a Mongolian ...

... night stay, we said our goodbyes and left the family.

The wonderful memories of our stay will remain with us forever.

ELSTEI TOURIST GER

We then travelled from the west of UB back through UB to the east for our 2 day stay at the Elstei Tourist Ger Camp.

This time we will mention the toilets. They were sit down and they flushed, also there were showers. Carol thought she was in heaven.

The camp is in the middle of nowhere on ...

Last night was the best night sleep I have had to date on the trip. I slept for over 8 hours and felt refreshed and ready for what I hoped would be the best day of the trip so far.

I didnt bother with breakfast as i was still full from my all you can eat bbq. I also managed to have my first hot shower in over a week as well. We went to visit the Gamdamtegchinlen kahid monestry which has been the best sight in Ulabantor so ...

... so we waded to shore with
our remaining equipment and our guide set about making pasta
arrabiata for lunch while the driver went for help.



After four hours sitting
around, swimming and learning Mongolian card games, the driver
returned empty handed. Shortly after, a herdsman passed by with
powerful ox pulling a cart. The natural solution was of course to
pull the two ton jeep out of a metre of fast flowing water using a
cow. As ...

... The trans-Mongolian has opted for the latter so we were bumped and shunted around whilst the train was broken up, and taken into a massive warehouse. Once inside we had hydraulic lifters fitted below the carriages and were lifted clean off the ground (and our bogies) whilst they slid out the old set and rolled the new ones under. We had not been allowed off the train for this performance but Ritchie managed to ...

שוב אני באולן באטור, יום מוקדם ממה שתכננ 14;י, אבל היום היה גדוש חוויו 14; לשבוע. אתמול החל ...

Hey everyone Me and Pete have just been to Terelj National Park, some 80km north of Ulanbatar. We set off with Matt, Danny and Nick (the guys from Olkhon Island and the train) in tow and after an hour or so drive we arrived at our camp site. We were staying inside a Ger, a traditional Mongolian tent like thing (the first of many Ger's to come). Inside it was pretty basic, a bed, a stove and thats about it but it was pretty cool. Seeing that we had some time ...

Hello from Mongolia, So far so good! We successfully spent a few days in Bejing, China and saw all of the great sights such as Tiannamen Square and the Great Wall. Its a pretty busy place with a population of 30 million. The smog is so bad that you can't see any blue sky anywhere. After some great Bejing highlights and great food, we boarded the trans ...

For lunch we were relegated to a ger fitted out like a model-home because the "governors" were occupying the restaurant. It was a far cozier arrangement being served lunch while setting amongst the stylized clothing and implements found in a normal ger, only with fewer flies buzzing around. After donning traditional headgear, Ho-Ki joked to Muujie while setting next her that that must mean they were now married. Ho-Ki laughed, Muujie only smiled. Hmmm, I wonder ...