Have Passport, will travel.

Ao I feel a bit more relaxed now, I have passport, monwey and have met some amazing new friends just from chatting with people at the guesthouse. So where was I? Ah, the Gobi.
As you can tell from my last post the Gobi is the most amazing place. (By the way, beautiful and amazing are words I'll be using a lot to describe this country...the English lexicon doesn't have enough wods really to describe this place.)
The two local Nadaams were both in Gobi and after National Nadaam it was interesting to see the smaller ones. Sat in the stadium you never got see things close up but ant the locals you could really walk around and watch the wrestling. For me it was good to have seen both, although the local ones seemed slightly comic. I should laugh, the wrestling has a real skill of it own and the egal dance has a cultural significance but it is funny to watch up close. But it was also wonderful.
The towns, however, were not. They were built during the Communist period when they were trying out c0ollectivisation and are, therefore, functional, squat and ugly. I found the towns really depressing. If you imagine a western frontier town, you know the type that have seen better days and have tumble weed blowing through them that's pretty much what the Aimag (provincial capital) towns were like. I always felt very depressed entering a town and I think it is because they were designed for function rather than beauty. There is nothing ediffying about these places. However we did stop in one (Dungov I think) and had the most fabulous meal of Horshaw (Mongolian mutton pancakes) provided for us by a local family. I have loved the food here and mutton has proved to be a suprisingly delicious meat. Goat cooked with hot rocks was too fatty and rich for my pallette but it was delicious.
So the next thing I rember is Tsetsleg and White Lake. Hmm, that proved to be an interesting experience for many reasons, not all of them great (But I'll get to than in a minute!)
Again Tsetsleg was not a beautiful place but Fairfields was. After walking around the town and visiting the container market we went to Fairfeilds which sold English food and drink!!! :D by this time I was just gasping for a cup of proper coffee and some trad home cooking so Fairfields was a jewel in a barren desert. I had my flat white coffee, which I always drink at home, which was a lovely reminder of home and had a burger. Then we picked up Ganzo.
Ganzo was a lovely Mongolian guy who had been in America and spoke very good English. There qwere some people who were on a shorter tour and he had been hired (blind I might add) to escort them back to UB. However it soon became apparent that he had a drinking problem! It's not uncommon to find alcoholics in Mongolia, it is a legacy of the Comunist period. Mongolian Vodka is made from distiling mares milk and is not as strong as Russian Vodka, however when the Russians came they brought their vodka and things got a tad out of control. The Mongolian government is now trying to promote beer instead of Vodka as it has a lower alcohol content but it is a newish program and the results have yet to been seen (or felt).
Anyway, back to Ganzo. Not only was he a drinker he decided he didn't like the staff and they weren't overly kean on him! SO it became a word of words. Sadly he decided to bad mouth the drivers to me almost all the way to White lake, down the Horg volcano (More of which I will write later) and late into the evening. I felt ver conflicted but I stuck up for my friends (Because after 2 weeks they were more that drivers they were friends).
It was decided that Ganzo could share my tent that night which I had no problem with. We sat by the fire, drank, had a laugh and retired to bed. Anyonewho knows me will tell you however that I am a bear with a sore head when it comes to sleep. I need a clear 8 hours uninterupted to function. I was very cleart to Ganzo on this point...if he waas to share my tent he must come to bed quietly and not wake me up.
So I was woken to the sound of raised Mongolian voices and the sound of a body hitting the floor twice,. I opened the tent and told Ganzo in no uncertain terms to get in there. He literally fell into the tent pissed out of his skull alledging that one of the drivers has assulted him. His story kept changing depending on what I said. I had, what seemed llike, a long talk with him and then fell asleep.
The next morning it transpired that what had happened was that Jess had taken Ganzo to the tent, one of the drivers had had a verbal go (the shouting that I heard) and then it seems that Ganzo might have fallen twice. Jess was stood outside the tent the whole time and heard everything! She thanked me for what I had done to contain the situation and asked me if I was alright. I siad yes.
The outcome of all however is that it brought the drivers and I closer, so it was a good thing.
so I am now tierd and will fill you all in on the nest instalment later. I'm also going out with some guys from the Guest House so I'll have to get myself all spruce moose.
Love you all and will write again soon.
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After 18 days, a post. (All out of order, it's being writen just as it comes to mind)

So I'm back to civilisation and hating it. I've been back in UB since yesterday afternoon and I'm finding it very hard to adjust. I've met some amazing poeple and had experiences beyond my wildest imagination and now I havae to face the fact that it's all over. This country has been an amazing find, all the people (both western and Mongolian) who have traveled this road with me have made this trip. But before I go completely off on a tangent I'll write some more aabout what I've done and where I've been.
First it has to be the mini Nadaam and singing to the mountains. Our first camp site was incredable. It was the Gobi but we were situated in these rocky out croppings that were just beautiful. National Nadaam is takes place the 11-13 of July but many other Nadaams take place around the country in the weeks afterwards. I was very privilidged to see two local Nadaams and to sing to honour the mountains. FOr people who don't know singing is a great part of the Moongolian culture. When the kids are sent out with the herds they sing to keep themselves ocupied, the Mongolians sing when they are happy...if I had to give them a title it would be the people of song, so for me to sing to the group and to honour the mountains was a big thing. The Gobi is a semi desert with only three percent of it as sand dunes. I will always remember the coulores, pastle greens roling away into soft pinks, purples and oranges as far as the eye could see. Beautiful massifs with verigated red and brown folds on the horizon, tempratures of 35 plus. Our first stop in the Gobi (which is the Mongolian word for desert) was the Yolyn Am Valley in the Three Beauties National park. The Three Beauties was created at the same time as the Himilares and are the result of the aftershocks of the conlilsion of the Indian and Eurasian subcontinants. They could be called the baby foothills of the Himilares. I have found several explinations for the name Yolyn Am but the one I like most is the Vultures Mouth. It is the most amazing valley which has ice in it almost year round. Most of the ice had melted by the time we got there but it was still incredable to see pack ice in the desert and be out of the searing heat! The Valley/gorge itself was also beautiful and the on walk down we saw the Mongolian Horse and Yak ( a frequent sight later on in the trip). I was wearing my sandals which are not good climbing shoes so I took them off and climbed the Yolyn Am in bare feet. From the start I got a reputation as an excentric! Just as I remeber it said in the itinarery that we would be going down to Yolyn Am all in the one day but Jess decided it was to much so we camped in the desert, got rained on and had a lightening show! I got dehydrated at Yolyn Am (not a good experience) so when we got to camp Jess made me drink two cups of water and a cup of tea...It felt good to be finally rehydrated and I didn't have a repeat attack.
While on the way to Yolyn Am, the drivers decided they were going to have a mini Mongol Rally. We were going up to 100 KPH on some of the worst roads you've ever seen, flying over humps and bumps in Russian trucks with no seatbelts but boy was it good!! After a week in UB the open road was amazing, the freedom and thrills to be found with no speed limits and no other traffic as far as the eye could see, Bliss. Sophie and dad, you would love the off roading in this country...it's mad!!!!!!!!!
So After Yolyn Am, we camped in the Three Beauties. What I love about this country is that you can pull up virtualy anywhere and pitch camp. There are no designated camp site, you just go where ever the wind takes you. There I saw lots of wild Gobi Hampster. I don't know why but these incredably cute wee besties just made me squeal with delight. I suppose having kept hampster as a child it reminded me of all the fun times that these little things can bring. We were camped along a stream and the hampster came to the water to drink, fab!
After two nights in various locations in the Three Beauties we moved onto Hongren Ells (The singing dunes) and Bayanzag (The flaming cliffs.) Both were incredable for different reasons. At Bayanzag it was the water fight (insitgated by Dowaa and the Drivers!) and at Hongren Ells it was the camel ride to the base of the dunes, Basenhor's singing and the Ger home stay. Unfortunately I had managed to get grit and suncream in my eye so I retired to bed early but there is a hilarious photo of me with tea running down my face taking the tea bag cure to the nth degree!
Sorry to interupt this narative but I am so aware I have to go and pick up my passport so I will continue when I get back. I still have so much to tell you all, I can't wait!
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