The Gobe

21st September

This is the final stretch of our Trans-Mong experience. Have left Ulaanbaatar and are heading south towards China. The scenery is fast changing from quintessential Mongolian rolling grassland to desert. The gers are becoming less frequent although we have passed several horsemen hurding in their traditional dress.

We have just passed through 'Eagle Valley', a wide floodplain where I have seen about 30 big beast eagles sitting on posts, stretching their wings, slowly gliding and even being mobbed by a flock of crows. It seemed that this stretch of steppe could not support such a large group of predators but there they were, not mating, not feeding, just chilling. Maybe it was a Mongolian Tourism stunt...

Lonely Planet

20th September

The weather out here changes fast. Last night, as I drifted off to sleep, lightning lit up the circular sky light in the ger. By contrast, tonight we have a perfect cloudless sky. Myself, Paul, Ian and Richard spent the last 2 hours lying on our backs, half way up the hill counting shooting stars.

I counted 10, including a few that were so bright they seemed to cut open the sky. The beer and vodka we took up there did the job of keeping us warm and we spoke about the cosmos. It made me realise:


a) how little anyone knows
b) how little I know
c) of the little I did know, how much I have forgotten

I will be looking at Wikipedia as soon as I get to a internet cafe where it is not blocked.

Mare

19th September

We were invited to a family's farm today and all politey tried the dairy products which had been kindly made for us; the butter and yoghurt were pretty good but the fermented mare's milk is definitely an acquired taste. One that I will give a miss. Luckily I said that I would share my bowl with Ed, and luckily he'll consume anything!

Yee-ha

18th September

Staying in a ger tent in the middle of a national park in Outer Mongolia. Today we explored the countryside on horse back. Despite my horse being far too small for me and having no hat (Ed said that's just a British thing), we had a great time.


Pretty much given a free reign for two hours; trecked through forests and streams and even managed a few gallops across open plains (Jess etc; check me out). Loads of fun and looking forward to doing it again in equally amazing surroundings.

Red Hero

17th September - early morning on the train to Mongolia.

Those little things that you take for granted on the Moscow train have slipped away - no quilted toilet roll, no complementary foot massages, they don't even have sky sports. This redefinition of 'basic' seems to be driving our party to vodka. Again.

17th September - later in Ulaanbaatar

We have arrived in Mongolia in the middle of the celebrations of 70 years of state education. The kids are out in force in the main square, dressed in various costumes from traditional warrior to fluorescent satin outfits. I was disappointed to learn that the children in formal suits were not undersized butlers or hoodlums but in fact just children in suits.

Despite the fact that the city has been around for several hundred years, one gets the distinct feeling that if they wanted to, the population of Ulaanbaatar could up sticks and get back to a nomadic lifestyle on the plains in no time at all. Nothing seems particularly permanent and ger tents can be seen next to brand new office buildings.

The people are refreshingly friendly after Russia. Although mobile phones are available, many people sit around on the pavement and hire out their satellite phones to passers by. The country also seems to be keen on its weight, judging by the number of people sitting on the pavement offering the services of their bathroom scales.

We ate at a top end Mongolian restaurant this evening and the food was fantastic; seldom do I feel the need to photograph my dinner (although I had to try it first...). However, to put this into perspective, the meal and a couple of beers came to about 15 USD which is between a 7th and 10th of the average monthly wage in the city - the equivalent of eating in Nobu in London.