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Wow. What a week we've had in Mongolia! Easily the most adventurous 6 days of our lives to date, that's for sure. It's been as diverse an experience as you could hope to have as a tourist - full of the best and worst of what travelling has to offer!
A lot of the time has been spent getting from one sight to another, and even though the distances weren't massive (we weren't ever more than 400km from the capital), the drives were long due to the appalling conditions of the roads - very much like an obstacle course swerving around potholes and over volcanic rocks for long stretches. Fortunately we had only one flat tyre (changed by our driver, a retired colonel, in under 10 minutes) and no accidents! (very lucky given that seatbelts are not compulsory and overtaking in blind sections of the road is common - surely everyone will hear you beeping the horn as you approach??)
The scenery was really awe-inspiring and alternated between reminding me of Scotland (grassy plains with shallow steams weaving their way across), New Zealand (quite dramatic jagged mountains and valleys) and America (desert-like grasses punctuated by big mountains, essentially made up of stacks of boulders). How funny is it that you can travel all the way around the world and find so many things to remind you of other places!
The amount of wildlife has been immense. We started off the trip asking the driver to stop whenever we spotted any sort of eagle/hawk type bird in the distance, and then realised after a couple of days in that they are just everywhere here. We had one particularly special moment after climbing to the top of a large hill in the Hustain Nuruu national park (to look for wild horses), where we found ourselves looking across to two clusters of enormous eagles (about 20 all up) waiting to take their turn to launch off the mountain and go soaring. Just so amazing. Even more so when it was just the two of us, our guide, and no other person for as far as the eye could see. Other than the birds, we've been treated to wild horses, farmed goats / sheep / cows / horses (so clever compared to the farm animals we're used to, perhaps due to centuries of being raised in small herds so closely alongside the nomadic farmers), two-humped camels, and gopher-like marmots that we're still not sick of spotting as they pop up on their hind legs in the grass (these are quite tasty little critters apparently, but tourists are warned agains trying them as they can have fleas that carry the bubonic plague!! Hmm...)
We're now connoisseurs of outdoor drop hole toilets, having seen the best on offer (a screen shielding your rear modesty, but with an uninterrupted view across the grasslands and mountains to the front) and the worst (maggots within reaching distance along with a mouse warren just to the left). I certainly feel well prepared for the toilets of China as surely there's nothing I now have not seen!
We may have been slightly tarred by our experience of Russians(!), but the Mongolians have been amazingly friendly, and have definitely lived up to their reputation for good hospitality. I'm going to miss sitting in the back of our 4WD listening to our guide and driver talking - Mongolian reminds me of a mix between Arabic and Japanese of all things, which makes an average conversation sound kind of like they're whispering the most exciting secret ever! I've even come to admire the resilience of the people in the capital, Ulaanbaatar - despite it being one of the most unattractive (and unfinished) cities I've ever seen, it hasn't stopped the people from trying to make it better - fix the roads and pavements, sweep the dust off the streets. I think other countries would probably just give up!
Dan and I have both been acutely aware of how special and rare these experiences have been. There were many moments where I almost felt like I was having an out of body experience - sitting in the nomads' tent looking out across their 'backyard' of the most stunning scenery, and then later that night standing and looking at the field of stars in the sky, unlike anything either of us have ever, or will ever experience again. This special place has been just as magical as we had hoped.
And now as sad as I am to be leaving this amazing country, I can't help but be unusually excited by the prospect of running water and well maintained roads!! :)
Love,
Sally & Dan
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