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