No Gobi but the national park was lovely....

Got up a 7:00am and had breakfast with S, now both eager for our trip to Terenji National park. We were to have a driver and translator / guide for the day. The driver was a cheerful chap called 'Ocha' and our guide, a quiet lady by the name on 'Inka'.

The vehicle was a robust looking Russian jeep, painted in authentic Russian Army Olive drab. It didn't look like it have any suspension so I was expecting a bumpy ride. A round of introduction and we were off. The journey was very bumpy and this was on the main roads of Mongolia! It took about 90 minutes to get to the park entrance and we paid the fees and we were in. There were plenty of tourist camps here and our first stop was some Mongolian cairn topped with a blue silk flag. It was a place for travelers to pay their respects to the mountain and nature in general. One had to walk around it three times and possible give a donation. I saw sweets, money and food. I put in 50T to the pile and hope it would bring us luck.

S wanted to get her picture taken with an Eagle that the owner had brought out; the eagle looked a lot bigger than I had expected and S looked terrified! It cost us a few thousands Tugriks for the honour of photograph. We were also invited into their gift shop / house ger but we politely declined. There would be plenty to follow am sure.

The next stop was an odd hanging rock and inside it, there was a cool and dark cave. The guide explained that during the communist purges, 100 monks had hidden here from the Government forces during the violent suppression of them but unfortunately they were discovered and killed.

We rumbled and rattled onwards into the national park, everyone enjoying the sights and sounds of this place. Mongolia is known as the 'Land of Blue Sky' and it lives up to this name. Very wide and one does feel quite exposed in the open.

The weather was excellent and enjoyed the sights and sounds. We both visited a Buddhist temple, that was unfortunately full of loud Americans, with one of their number deciding to stretch out to sleep under a picture of the Dalai Lama....much to the horror of the locals!

I tried the fermented mare's milk and butter. The former was difficult to swallow, while the latter was foul....I unfortunately, grabbed a rather large rancid piece of butter and had nothing to wash it down, except the fermented mare's milk. I tried not to breath when I had the whole mess in my mouth!

The rest of the day was fun - love them Russian 4 x 4s!

I made it back to the UK after a nightmare 12 hour in Moscow. The flight from Ulaanbataar was delayed by an hour and since my connection in Moscow was only 50minutes, it wasn't looking too good.

What was more funny was that as I tried to get off the 'plane in Moscow and rush to the transit area; a burly Aeroflot steward held me back telling me that only Business class were allowed to disembark. I replied that I was missing a connection due to the aeroflot delay and the steward grunted back that 'it was my problem, sit down!'. I did no such thing and struggled out of his grasp and made my way off the plane. Not a good introduction to Moscow's famed Sheromotevo airport.

Anyway, arriving at the transit check-in I was informed that my flight had left already, therefore me and six others had to wait over 12 hours for another flight!

Ach.