Day 13

At about 9am we headed off in the guest-house mini-bus to Terelj national park. Our driver was Sanka who drove like an absolute lunatic. In one manoeuvre he over took one car that was already over taking another one. The road was normal one-lane each direction so we were actually on the gravel on the other side of the wrong lane! It reminded me of a sublime move that Nigel Mansell did once with both Prost and Senna on his inside. None of those legendary drivers were carrying six frightened tourists though. I suppose we should have said something but sometimes it's best not to look and let them get on with it.

1 The tour minibus

We stopped at the entrance to the national park and the view was awesome, a mix of rolling hills, streams, gers (Mongolian tents), and pretty wooden shacks. Later down the road we stopped at a cave and explored around, we were called down though by some traffic police and I bashed my head racing back down. There had been loads of lone traffic police in the area, on each side of the road spaced about 50m apart. It felt weird all these police, it couldn't be normal could it? We got to the part of the park we were headed for and were told by more local police of a state visit by the Czech Prime Minister and either a high ranking Buddha priest or the head of state for Mongolia. Either way we were told to get off the road for four hours while they looked around the same temple we were heading for. Our driver wasn't happy about this and not being one to obey authority drove on and found us a nice spot near some famous rock formations. From up there we got to see the entire visit, as a convoy of 20 black cars drove up to the temple. They were there for about 90 minutes, but we were happy just to sit up there and take the breathtaking scenery in. It was serene, and so peaceful that one crow flew past and you could hear each beat of its wings. We did a bit of rock climbing, and after the convoy left visited the temple ourselves.

2 Mongolia views

So we didn't do any real hiking, but we enjoyed the afternoon anyway. Later on, we drove to a small town called Zunnmod where we would be staying the night in a traditional Mongolian Ger (those circular white tents). It was a relief to get out of the bus and we were all interested in what kind of night we would have. We were ushered into the tent by Idre's mother. It seems he lives in the city managing the guest house while his mum lived out in Zunnmod receiving guests on his tours. Not a bad arrangement and not one we were critical of as we avoided the tourist camps where it's all laid on for you. The Ger was really cosy inside, four small beds (for the girls, Steve and I would be on the floor) a low table, a sink and tap, some low plastic chairs, a fuel burner of some sort, and a chimney pipe right in the centre and disappearing out of the roof. The frame was wood, and the yak coat insulation was hidden by some floral fabric in lieu of wallpaper I guess. The fire was already hot and the early evening sun suggested we wouldn't need it. A Mongolian woman the same kind of age as Idre (possibly his sister) came in an explained about the three meals we would have and the horse-riding that we would do tomorrow. She left to prepare dinner and we went and found the toilet.

3 A train bound for China

I've used some bad toilets in my time but this was just hilarious. A tiny shack with two planks of wood to stand on and an eight inch wide gap between them. I won't tell you what was below. Last night's all-you-can-eat barbecue feast did not seem like such a good idea anymore.

Our evening meal really was good, everything was brought into the Ger and put on the table, we had more dumplings, vegetable soup, rice and bread. I briefly wondered about where this was prepared but it was good and I ate up. We tried to put some more fuel on the fire as it was getting colder - to our surprise it wasn't wood or coal, it was dung. Dried up yak/horse/cow poo that didn't smell anymore and actually gave out a lot of heat. I admired the Mongolians at that moment - life out here is nothing more than simple and functional, no frills living.

4 Lone traffic cop

We had bought some Sangria earlier in the day - it was the only wine in the supermarket with Ger-friendly screw-tops, all six of us drank wine and chatted a very pleasant evening away.

Outside the temperature had dropped and the stars in the perfect-dark night sky looked stunning. I don't think I've ever seen the sky so full of stars. We get so much light pollution at home we don't realise how many there are to be seen. At about 11pm the woman came into the Ger and made our beds for us. We went to sleep with the sound of distant dogs barking in this small town in the middle of nowhere.

5 Mongolia Views

6 Mongolia views

7 Climbing the Rocks

8 The Buddist temple

9 The convoy on its way.

90 Steve and Sanka

91 Surveying the landscape

92 The Temple

93 Back on the "road"

94 Our hotel for the night the ger.

95 The out house and the town