Tomroo, our driver rocked up to our ger around lunch time and after a day of organising camp gear, buying food for the next few days and getting someone to translate our intended itinerary to him we finally hit the road! We had a pictogram itinerary to give to him as back up and he seemed to understand our drawings of horses, beds etc!
Our first stop was Hustai National Park. It took about 3 hours to get there from UB. All bumpy unpaved roads, driving over mountains and through valleys (mostly in the dark). Outside UB there are no roads. It's all dirt tracks, and anytime Tomroo got lost and asked for help, the locals pointed to a mountain and he seemed to understand where to go. How anyone but a local could navigate their own way around is beyond me! It was pretty cool driving as the sun set, we drove through herds of wild horses just about making out their shapes against the horizon. It was really beautiful.
Our intentions to camp outside the park were quashed when a guy at the park entrance said this wasn't possible, and directed us to a tourist ger camp and a local family ger nearby, opting for the cheaper option Tomroo drove through the dark and somehow came across this family ger. He pulled up with music blaring, lights on and horn beeping disturbing this family who happily obliged us!
We were shown to two nearby gers which our host lit with candles. It turned out to be one of the scariest nights I've spent on this trip. I was woken by what I strongly suspect was a rabid dog sniffing and growling around the ger Jim and I were in. He circled it for ages growling viciously and loudly! I was absolutely terrified, didn't know if there was a way he could get in or not, as it was dark all around me. Dave had a similar experience in his ger. Fitzycam slept through it all, the mess. haha.
After that we were all woken again by someone pulling up to our gers and and beeping their horn, shouting in Monglian looking for somewhere to stay. Again I wasn't really sure what was happening, all a bit strange and scary. An early rise around 5am ensured that we caught the sun coming up as we stepped out of our gers which was absolutely spectacular. Everything seemed more reassuring in the morning light!

We hit the road back to Hustai, and managed to catch a glimpse of takhi, a rare breed of wild horse which come down from the mountains at dawn and dusk to drink water. We caught them mid feeding, and saw them come down in large herds from the mountains.
We tagged onto a proper tour guide and she informed us about the takhi and their special attributes and how they were declared extinct in Mongolia decades ago. However due to some found in zoos worldwide they were successfully integrated back into the wild in outer Mongolia. This was a huge conservationial success considering the logistical and political barriers in place over the years.
Meanwhile we temporarily lost our driver as he disappeared into the bush waving his toilet roll in his hand laughing loudly much to the embarrassment of the female tour guide! Not the classiest of drivers we were quickly learning but highly entertaining!
We drove to Mongol Els that afternoon which are essentially sand dunes, pulling over on the way to have a look at an eagle that was perched on a stick on the side of the road. He was tied up there. An absolutely enormous bird, Jim and Niall both tentatively held him on their arms. Later at Mongol Els we rode camels! Non stop wildlife!
We later stopped in Kharhorin, considered by some Mongolians the true capital, as it was in the past, but now only a small town, a long way behind UB. We visited a buddhist temple there named Erdene Zuu Khiid. Again found ourselves laughing at Tomroo, as he pulled up to the temple, "I just called to say I love you" blaring from the car. He showed us around demonstrating how things were done, whilst talking loudly on his mobile, this guy was a howl. We made the mistake of buying two tapes with what looked like American music, and spent the following 5 days being subjected to the same songs over and over. Beegees "How Deep Is Your Love' and the Eagles "Hotel California" forever ruined, as well as Kylie and Jason (yes it was that good). Not the most apt music for driving through the Mongolian countryside!

We drove to a view point over the town, where there is a stone penis positioned in a valley (apparently vaginal in appearance) and it was put there to help stop frisky monks from committing a sin. And it's good luck in relation to fertility for a woman to straddle the penis, and so I did!
Tomroo took us to a fantastic spot to camp whilst he snuck off for the night to his lady friend in Kharhorin. A local musican trying to make a few quid gave us a super performance playing traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing. He arrived in a wornout Nissan Micra and popped out dressed in full traditional costume and hat, hilarious stuff. So there we sat beside a stream, whilst he entertained us. James had a go on one of the instruments and managed to play "No Limits" much to our amusement, legend!
The following morning whilst having breakfast we were joined my various animals, a herd of sheep and goat, followed shortly by horses, and then a herd of bulls, all of which just rambled around us and across the stream. Packs of dogs are a fairly common occurrence too, which I found quite unnerving.
Back on the bumpy road again for a few hours before stopping in a place called Tsetserleg - a nice spot, popped into a cafe run by an English couple and got a good meal and some English magazines - excellent. Tomroo persevered and found another excellent camping spot for us where we chilled out for the evening. Feeling very primal out in the wild we washed in the river the following morning, lay in the sun, generally relished being such lazy articles!
Day 4 brought us to Ogii Nuur where we experienced riding on Mongolian horses, not the most comfortable on Mongolian saddles which are made of birchwood, plus the horses are more like ponies.The lads looked ridiculous precariously perched on three small horses! My horse preferred eating more than walking so I didn't get very far. We did a short trek on the lake front before setting up camp. Beautiful views over the lake as the sun set. We met a French fella (for the third time om the trip so far!!) who has cycled all the way from Paris - mad mad young man ( he's only 20!). His website is www.maxvelomonde.com.

We arrived back in UB Friday evening eager to shower and sample the nightlife. Unfortunately our attempts were futile, one nightclub was closed, the other was surrounded by cops and letting no one in and the other didn't appear to exist. We ran outta steam at that point and gave up!
The following day we had a general wander, visited the National Political History Museum, had a beer outside it - as you do!

S\


Mongolia prides itself in its status as the 'only democracy in mainland Asia', and the museum gave us a glimpse into its recent political history. We walked around the burnt out Communist Party headquarters - the result of the recent riots there - and were reminded that people power is still well and truly alive here.


The overall impression of UB is that it's a bit of a kip - a dustbowl with no real planning to it at all. The countryside we saw was amazing however, and the people were fabulously warm and generous. The nomadic culture seems to imbibe them with a real sense of kinship, a genuine friendship that was really refreshing, and that provoked a questioning of the pompous label we Irish sometimes attach to ourselves as the worlds most welcoming nation! The landscape was stunning, the airag (fermented mares milk) was disgusting, I got sunstroke at one stage and puked my guts up, tha Chinghis Vodka was very smooth, my tan is getting there, haha...oh and I got on a camel for the first time - fantastic. Now on to our last leg of the Trans- Mongolian, and our last big train journey. Its hard to take in just how much ground we have covered, and all of the incredible people we have met along the way. It will sink in eventually I suppose, but at the moment it just feels like a whirlwind!

On to China and the Games!!!!