Meeting Blake and central mongolia

So we got back to UB all in one piece. Did a mad rush to have a shower and get our laundry done. We left to pick up a few things for our next trip and found an ice cream parlour. We met our new trip partner Blake on time and no problems. We all seem to get along quite well. We went out for Mongolian BBQ. It was just like the Mongolian grill in Kamloops. But way bigger and some funky stuff you could add to your meal. Such as intestines and toungue ect. WE called it a night early and went back to our guesthouses.

Day one in central Mongolia. We get picked up 8am sharp and are off east to see Terjl National Park. It is right close to UB. We first stop at a Cheggins Khan monument. It is huge. It is their statue of liberty. You can climb a flight of stairs to the top and look at the views of the valley. It is made of stainless steel. and inside the building it contains a museum full of artifacts from the bronze age. This is a private collection owned by a Mongolian person.

We leave to go into the park. It is quite close and the roads are all paved. Whew what a difference. We are so used to hanging on for dear life that we can't relax . WE pull up to this huge ger camp. It has showers a lodge with fancy linen tables. wow. A 5* ger camp it is. They have a set menu for lunch and it is part of our stay there. Kinda like a all inclusive but no beach and no umbrella drinks. WE have a 4 course western style lunch. ALOT of food. I have to admit it was nice to eat chicken. Nothing mongolian about this place. Other than the ger. After luch we drive to turtle rock , which is a huge rock formation that looks like... you guessed it a turtle. We climb it to the top for a great view. Had to squeeze through a couple of tight spots but it was fun. Then we drove to a monastary. It was built in the 90's pretty new looking. No monks live here it is more of a meditation center. After we spin our prayer wheels we hike back down to the van and head back to the camp.

Our Van for this trip is a russian van that looks like Mr. Bean would drive. It looks really old. We asked the driver how old it was and he said that it was from 2003!! I still think he misunderstood. These vans can carry six tourists and 2 people up front. Lots of handles all over to hang on. They seem quite top heavey and bob and rock all over the road. We saw lots of these in the desert on the really rough roads and I am glad that we had our jeep. I would have been motion sick in a van. Half of the people in the van have to ride backwards. So not only are you bouncing around like crazy you can't see what is coming to brace your self.

The central part of mongolia is supposed to have mostly paved roads. Which are still pretty bumpy and have random craters in the middle.

We have our 3 course dinner of pork chops and steamed veggies and play a rousing game of sheep ankles. Every time I pull out the ankles our new guide and driver make a face. My ankles I was given still have a little "meat" left on them. I guess I should clean them up before I import some sheep meet to Canada.

Blake did well with his first time playing and picked up the rules quickly. Not sure if we will be sheep ankle champs or not but in canada no one will know that I suck here.