Ulaanbaatar

Trip Start Sep 04, 2006
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Trip End Aug 20, 2007


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Flag of Mongolia  ,
Monday, September 18, 2006

After waiting 9 hours on the Russia border to exit the country, complete with cabin searches and thorough customs checks, the Mongolian border guards greeted us with smiles and waves. During the brief stop, the locals welcomed us in the nearest bar for our first vodka of the trip.

Mongolia has a population of 2.5 million, with 1 million of those in the main town Ulaanbaatar. The remainder live off the land in the plains and desert areas; roaming with cattle in felt gers, trading meat for Yaks milk and worshipping the horses they depend so much upon for herding. A trip into the Gobi desert means finding a nomadic family to stay the night with.

Overall Mongols are very proud people celebrating all past achievements - 1st Mongol on the moon (1978), 1st to top Everest (2005), and everywhere their hero Genghis Kahn, the 9th century great Mongol leader. We were also treated to a cultural evening of fabulous traditional costumes and "throat singing" - sounds painful but Chas has been practising since!
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