Mad Adventures in Mongolia come to an end

What an incredible trip, amazing on so many levels, but as always made by the wonderful people that we met along the way.
It was a privilege to see a small part of this nation that under Chinggis Khan around 1,000 years ago ruled EuroAsia, this small country fought to dominance and then introduced a diplomatic representation in each country, safety of traders and brought the East trade through the Silk Route to Europe,
I will miss the sheer overwhelming vastness of the country
The warmth of the people, as it was an incredible privilege to spend time with the Eagle Hunters and others that we met along the way
Making anywhere our camping home
The freedom of being the only jeep on the 'road'
Our fabulous crew of cook, driver and translator
Afternoon power naps in the back of the jeep.
Curd
And the only hard bit was camping at zero degrees and finding the right more secluded place to go to the loo!!!
Mongolia provides some of the remotest and beautiful scenery, still a true nomadic population, where the country belongs to them.
Life can be incredibly hard with such harsh winters, but their sustainable living must be truly envied, with rich traditions and amazing community spirit and cooperation. In the eagle hunters village they asked how we wash our clothes and heated our houses. Everything we do is at a touch of a button and it was great for a short time to wash by the river, and help collect dried dung for the fire, with no buttons in sight!   

Chinggis Khan fell off his horse

It's amazing to link your holiday with a festival and the Nadaam festival across Mongolia in mid July was the reason for coming. So we organised getting a day trip including tickets to the amazing opening ceremony of the festival. In the National stadium hundreds of singers, dancers, United Nations peace core soldiers and wrestlers and horse riders all danced and paraded their way through the grand opening ceremony. On a tight schedule we then headed to the ankle bone shooting, where the good luck humming throughout the stadium was impressive. Then to the archery where the opposing players sing and chant, mocking their opponents as they aim their bows.
Like any large event we then spend an inexplicably long time getting out of the car park and then headed out of town in a long slow procession of cars to where the horse racing was taking place. Here the young horses and their young riders galloped for 30km and with over 200 riders this was a long and hard race. When they came past us they looked like they were hanging on for dear life!!! We were weirdly surrounded by other riders on their horses, pushing forward, which was a bit scary, when you turn around and there's a row of horses almost looking over your shoulder.
In the evening the main square filled with revellers wanting to celebrate, listen to the live music and watch the fireworks. Ulaan Baatar was ready to party

Farewell Ulgii, hello Ulaan Bataar

Another early rise and breakfast at 6.15am. Bidding a fond farewell to our cook, and ensuring that she is now the proud owner of the memory foam pillow, we head to the airport. This is a crazy airport surrounded by hills, with only a couple of flights a day. Security, searching and passport check was a one woman show and we all sat patiently watching the plane arrive from UB, unload and then get ready for us. What a trip !!!! It's blown my mind by spending so much time outdoors, freezing, overheating, feeling overwhelmed by the warm hospitality that we encountered, the yaks, camels and over friendly dogs, this has been an amazing adventure, and now we're heading back to the the second coldest capital in the world, but not to worry as it's summer and it will be in the twenties.
My only concern is my mossie bites as my wrist and arm are swollen and I'm munching on anti-histamine! I'm sure that I read that there were no Mosquitos in Mongolia - lies, lies,,lies!!!! 

Stoney face or sleepy face?

Our last few days of the camping trip  were jeep bound, as we went across to the far west Russian and Chinese border and then round to the stone paintings and stone faces, dotted across the land marking battle grounds and lost kings and soldiers. As ever the back seat crew of cook and guide snoozed through this amazing scenery, as they had seen it countless times before and now made full use of my memory foam neck pillow, as I sat like an upright meerkat at the back taking in the vast space around us that was forever changing from lush valley to sparse moon like landscape. 

How many meals in one day!

Our two night stay in the national park became an eating fest. In the morning after eating five pancakes, as the guys hadn't got up yet we walked to the top of the hill to have a better view of the snow capped mountains and of course we had lunch at the top. Then we went to visit a Tuvan family, living such hard remote life. They put out the normal Mongolian spread of cheese. curd, curd biscuits etc and then we have a delicious horse stew and then fried fish that the son had caught that morning, washed down with home brew vodka! Finally we then have dinner of a traditional Kurd dish of stewed mutton, dough and vegetables and it comes on a large tray and we all eat with our hands.
The food on the trip has been amazing as we have the head cook with us and our three meals a day have ranged from crepes, pasta, hamburgers and mash and various stews and soups, all cooked on a single gas hob!!

There's a camel outside our tent

After a really rocky eight hours drive to Altai National Park we pitch put tent up not far from the snow covered mountains and river rushing with glacial water. There's a ger that we can use for our kitchen/dining room and once settled in having a cup of black tea the door opens and we can see a pack of camels outside. This is truly an exceptional holiday and we're out of our comfort zone with camping in the middle of nowhere, sometimes in zero degrees with wind chill factored in, but this is such an extraordinary adventure with so many rewards of scenery, amazing people and the surprise of how the landscape changes Round every corner,
Our crew is fabulous, our 44 year old cook, Kenjejan, who is the wise leader, having done this for ten year but hilariously hates the countryside, preferring her winter job as a nurse in Ulan Baatur. Then our guide and interpreter, Iman,  21 year old Justin Beiber fan who's a law student in UB and does this as a summer job. Then there's Mukhanet,  our thirty year old driver is constantly leaning forward in concentration for driving, but has a wicked sense of humour, often laughing at us, which is fair as this is a hilarious trip and often it's just us wherever we go! 

We've been on Mongolian TV

It's been years since I've taken a holiday in the summer, but the lure of the Mongolian Nadaam festival was too much. The Itinerary for our ten day camping trip in the west got changed around as the president of Mongolia was coming up to open their Nadaam games. Luckily we were able to see the amazing spectacle of the wrestling at Ulgii Stadium as an added bonus and whilst siting in the stadium were interviewed by the main Mongolian TV crew on where we were from and what we thought the Nadaam festival was about. The next morning the driver said that he had seen us on TV!!!! 

Are you saying we're fat?

Travelling in a land with no roads outside of the cities is tough. There are points when our land cruiser squeals with the sheer effort of getting up hills, or overheats with the stain on the engine, but this tough environment demands tough vehicles and often you can drive for hours without seeing another car, camel or goat. Often we traverse hills at crazy angles and at one point the hill was do steep we all had to get out of the car and walk up, admiring the view but also feeling breathless in this unforgiving high altitude. The four of us leaving the car enabled a lighter journey.

How many chores to complete in one day?

Having the opportunity to spend two days in this rural nomadic community you really see how hard life is, especially for the women. They are the first ones up to milk the cows, then they round up goats, collect dung for the stove, cook for the family, wash the clothes, and it's never ending. It was amazing to see the team work involved in the daily rounding up of goats to be milked. They're separated by the colours painted on their horns, to show that they belong to different families and they are all bound by rope hooped around their neck, as they're milked. Then the vat of boiled curd needs to be spooned into the muslin cloth and so the work continues! Then more dried dung needs to be collected, or special branches from high up the hill and the girls scramble up to get them. In the pouring rain the dung needs to be covered and the women rush out to do that.
It really makes you appreciate how easy your life is - washing, heat, cooking all at the press of a button. 

Vodka for breakfast

Heading for a very early morning hill loo stop I was beckoned to a van by the uncle of IChopin the eagle hunter, he was on the drivers seat and with a couple in the back I was offered vodka and all this before. 6am! The van was to transport a cow into town and they seemed to be celebrating this early! So have a drink, then read by the river till everyone is up . I'm on photographic duty and go to the older eagle hunter's ger and he puts on his wolf skin coat and hat and then I'm snapping away. Then head to the eagle hunters family and do some portraits which end I'm tears, as the young boy doesn't want to be photographed and then Ichopin's hat is wonky and she goes off in tears!!! Still get some great shots and bid our fond farewells as it's been such a privilege to get to know them and stay in the village.

I'm on a horse in Mongolia (for 5 minutes)

Awoke in the middle of the night with the ger door flapping in the wind and it's freezing, this is the coldest I've been in a long time but at least now we're in a ger and sleeping on a mattress.
The morning starts with a game of catch with the young brother of the eagle hunter. After breakfast we walk up to the steep hill where there are some eagle nests. The sisters scarper up the steep rocky side and start collecting twigs for firewood. I decline this challenge and watch as they scamper up the hill and sneak in a power nap to recharge for what's next. After showing the girls how to make stones balance like Jenga my horse arrives!!!
With an audience it takes me ten minutes to psyche myself up and I get on the horse screeching, then as I'm led round I wince and squeal with fear at every step and after five minutes decide that trotting across the valley to the glacier is not going to happen. No one around me quite understands the problem as they are all on horses from the offset !!! Relieved to be on firm ground I walk behind the horse with Rachel on and we head to the glacier. The valley just gets prettier and prettier and after about an hour, with the little brother as my guide we get to the glacier for a snow ball fight, which ends really quickly as the snow melts so rapidly !

Can you help me find my pants?

When travelling there's always the conundrum of when to hand wash and when to use the launders service, but in the middle of nowhere you make use of rivers to make it all more natural. After a washing session we hang our smalls on a line by the ger and later I see that a pair of pants have gone as it was so windy. By the power of sign language I get the eagle hunter and her sister to search. ... Hang on a minute, I should of got the eagle!!!! Hurrah, they're in the small river, so my smalls live another day! 

Playing catch with the Eagle Hunter

In a country so big, you can't help feeling so small. Each day you drive through vast expanses on dirt tracks hardly passing any other traffic. Just being engulfed by the vastness of the land and sky. It's an extraordinary feeling to be so in the open, one that I've experienced in Uganda, Australia and Kenya and of course on road trips in the States but here in a country of 21 towns you have so much land, belonging to one of the last nomadic people on this planet. You move your ger (tent) in winter, in school time and your country belongs to you.
We stop for many direction/loo/car overheating stops but eventually we head into Tavan Belchir and down into a valley with a village of 6 gers. We head into one and are met by a lovely family, two daughters, a son and one of the daughters is the recently famed 13 year old eagle hunter daughter. I was just looking at pictures of her and her dad last week in the office and now  I'm having tea with them in her house!! Eat about seven varieties of curd, washed down with curd tea with added curd!
Then head out to the tethered Golden Eagle and take photos with the multiple award winning father and then IChopin the eagle hunter girl puts on her outfit of wolf skin hat,  black top with gold embroidery and take some amazing pictures. Then I hold the eagle and it's so heavy. Move from a squat position to standing - this should be a new yoga move - eagle arm!
Head for loo stop over the hill out of sight from the camp and them see them shear the sheep and pile the wool high on the truck. All of this is a real team effort with all of the village out to help and amazing to see, as life here is hard and nonstop with so many children and animals to look after.
After lunch get out the small rugby ball I packed in my rucksack and pretty soon all the kids are out playing catch, which in the first hour is pretty tame, but then becomes rough and it's amazing that no one twists an ankle on the stony terrain, but what a hilarious evening workout. Then joined on the last hill climb loo stop by one of the women and then together we sit on the hill side taking in the view, a wonderful way to end the day spent with these welcoming and hospitable villagers.

Five in the four wheel drive

Woke up to the sound of the flowing river and bursting to go to the loo. Here's its hilarious as everywhere here is your toilet, as we are camping in the middle of nowhere, there's few paved roads, so our four wheel drive is crammed full of our driver, cook, guide and Rachel and me, a motley crew on an incredible ten day adventure through Western Mongolia. If you need to go you find a large plant or small hill to crouch behind, travelling here is not for the faint hearted!
The sky was so bright full of stars and our first night camping by the river has been amazing. Washing your hair in the cool river water is certainly a thing to really wake you up!
The curious children eventually came closer to our tent and the fun begins when we get out the large rainbow frisbee and we're all playing - hilarious, don't think that they get many foreigners just appear as their neighbours for the night. We then head through Hovd and off to a large lake for lunch,  although we seem to be on the menu as we get badly bitten!
Then off again towards the mountains, as we head towards the Eagle Hunters recently featured in an amazing set of BBC pictures!
We camp on the middle of nowhere with view of the Tsamba-Garav Uul, one of the largest mountains and there's still snow on top in mid summer! There's just us and a far away camp with horse riders preparing for Nadaam festival. Eat by the river and have an early night - slowly adjusting to all this fresh air! 

Happy birthday Mr Throat Singer

Thank goodness for jet lag, needed to get up at 4am and head to the airport for our domestic flight out west.  Headed out on air Mongolia in a tiny plane, with the staircase only six steps up to the plane. After three hours of flying west we arrived at Ulgii airport and were met by our guide and driver. By this time our two breakfasts led us to out third of the morning, a packed lunch from the hotel was swiftly eaten at the airport, our plane meal quickly devoured and then we were on to a buffet of omelette, toast and jam and tea, I've got a feeling we're not going to go hungry!
So the jeep gets loaded with our provisions, our ten day itinerary gets changed round, as the president is making his once in four years journey here to climb the sacred mountain and then we're off.
The scenery is extraordinary. Hundreds and thousands of miles of nothing but mountains, wild camels, goats and sheep with very occasional gers (nomadic tent dwellings) and the very occasional passing vehicle. In the middle of no-where everywhere is your front room,  your accommodation to pitch your tent and your bathroom!! In this vast space it all feels so liberating and for once you feel so small.
In a country of 21 towns we head into Hovd, now our third city to visit and weirdly we head to the flat of the best throat singer in town and take him to the picturesque riverside where In local costume he sings for us! Not saying I'll buy the albumin (don't worry there isn't one) but his singing is extraordinary, from the throat to his nose and somewhere in between this incredible multilayered sound appears. Weirdly it's his birthday and we delight him with our singing and when there's silence over "happy birthday dear " ...I pitch in mr throat singer!!!
So we pitch our tent by the river near some gers and settle down for the evening. An impressive noodle and mutton dish is washing down with tea and we watch the sun set and have inquisitive kids pass by ever closer to get a good view of this gathering of five, our driver, our cook, our interpreter and us!!!