Day 12

Since this was supposed to be our first day of the tour, we had nothing planned and all we managed to do today was head to the "Black Market". It was huge and had everything you could imagine for sale. I bought a soap-dish as my soap-wrapped-in-flannel idea seemed to be bad news. The first one I bought had those holes in it for the water to drain away - not good in a back pack so I found a new one without holes. I also bought some food at the market and Steve and I got our hair cut at a place near the food-court. Pick pocketing is rife at this market so we were advised not to take our cameras so no photos I'm sorry. Steve felt his empty pocket being dipped into at one point so it was good advice. All I had in my pocket was a soap dish with holes so it would have been worth being pick-pocketed just to see the thief's face once he realised what he'd got!

1 Create your own Stir Fry

For our evening meal all six of us went to a barbecue grill restaurant. It was expensive by Mongolian standards (four pounds for all you can eat - ouch!). But the food was fantastic; they had a create-your-own stir fry where you collected up raw veg, meat and sauce in a bowl. You hand the bowl to the chef and he cooks it on a large open hot-plate. Great fun to watch, though with six dishes being done at once you had to keep an eye on which one was yours.

2 Group Photo