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!!!

How difficult can it be getting to Gatwick !!!!

With so many tube and train works on Sunday it was a real challenge just to get to the airport.  Normally I fly from nearby Heathrow, so a lovely taxi ride door to door starts the holiday in a relaxed style. However trying to get through London when all south bound trains aren't going where you want them to and confusion at west hampstead means time is wasted as overground trains aren't going through London, and the taxi company announcing that there's nothing until 10 left us tutting and tired and we were still in zone two. Still this trip is all about being challenged, and I have never been so relieved just to arrive at Victoria, taking almost two hours!!!! Thank goodness we left with plenty of time to spare. When travelling so long as you are moving nearer your destination, however slow, you're moving in the right direction. 

Moving in the right direction

After 21 hours of travelling we arrived safely but delirious with lack of sleep, to one of the remotest capital cities in the world Ulaan Baatar. Nestled in between a mountain range this sprawling soviet style city is home to just over a million Mongolians, a third of the entire county! Everyone has been so friendly and helpful so far, a guy at the airport got us a crazy old taxi driver who didn't over charge!!! The the receptionist walked us to the nearest bank and made sure we headed off on the right direction in our jet lack fog and the bus conductor was lovely as we headed home after an afternoon of seeing most of the Gengis Khan statues in town!