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!!!