The drive was long and very bumpy, and looking out of the window was punctuated often by wiping ice off the inside of the window. We had snacks for the journey, and were traveling with VSO people that we hadnt met before, so it was quite a cheery journey, despite the loss of feeling in the toes.
On the way, we stopped to look at a Shamanist Ovoo, like cairn, a pile of rocks with a rag-festooned stick, that we walked around thrice for luck, making a wish at the end of the third circle. I wished that my complexion would be spared the ravages of the weather. I am going to come back to the UK looking 40 years old at this rate.
When we got out of the bus, we were in a little Ger encampment that had one Ger for tourists to hang out in. It was very warm and cosy inside, being heated by a wood burning stove in the middle, the smoke from which went up the chimney. it is tempting to get very close to the stove.....it is even more temptig to touch it....and I melted my socks - but avoided melting my actual feet, thanks be.
In the Ger we were brought boorch and hoshoor, these are meat filled dumplings that are either steamed (boorch) or fried (hoshoor). I must make a note here about the mongolian words i write, the mongolian alphabet is like the russian, and it is impossible to write in english letters what the words sound like.
Anyway, the dumplings were very nice, I have liked all the mongolian food i have eaten so far, but I think that living in the city, I have escaped the truly horrifying dishes - I have heard that in the remote countryside, dinner is a bucket of roughly chopped animal in salty milk, and a diner party is passing the bucket around so that everyone can take it in turns to fish for eyeballs, trotters, tails and other delights.
After lunch I went on a little stroll and had a very nice chat wth a bunch of cows that were eating sticks. here i am 
and here are the cows
and here is some scenery what I saw
cool huh.
After our walk we piled into the bus to head home, stopping a few times to ogle a cople of camels (!!! my new favourite animal, they were fab) which we were not able to take photos of unfortunately as the herders with them didnt take to us goggle-eyed foreigners at all. However, I discovered later that one of the girls had managed to sneak a photo through the window of the bus, it is slightly blurred, but check out how lush these Camels are, to ride on a Camel has become my new ultimate ambition.
We also stopped to view a huge boulder named Turtle Rock. Can you tell how it came by this particuar monniker?!
Homeward homeward we headed, tumbling out of the bus at Sukbataar square to hobble back to the guesthouse via the Minimart where we picked up some Mongolian beer, which is very nice. Re-ensconced in our little sanctuary, we sat around chatting and laughing. I was reminde again of the Bg Brother house, especially since we were all paying particular attention to our new arrivals.
Today, sunday, i had a blissful lie in and leisurely morning. I went for a Berlin Burger with K and G, and then wandered of fon my own to the Mongolian National History Museum. It was free entry today in honour of a cultural day of celebration, but the Museum was surprisingly quiet, and I was able to spend over an hour perusing the really very interesting artifacts. From pre-historic finds, cave drawings and burial sites, to the end of the 21st century when Mongolia broke away from Russian influence, the history of Mongolia is artfully covered, and, helpfully, almost all of the information about the exhibits is proveded in english.
One whole floor of the Museum is devoted to the traditionl dress of the different Mongolian ethnic groups, of which there are about 20. They are wonderfully ornate costumes, which I realised looking at them, had been the inspiration for the costumes of Queen Almidala in the hideous travesties of celluloid which were the latest "starwars" movies. I tried to take a picture, but was sternly told "NO" by a very scary Mongolian woman.
I have more to say about this, but my computer keeps freezig up, and i have to go get some groceries and drop my computer at home before heading out again for a VSO social dinner (groooan) where I must be jovial and friendly, which is not really my natural disposition, but it wouldnt be fair on them to be my true grumpy self.
Sounds very exciting! But I think your hand must have slipped when you thought you were photographing yourself - if you look carefully you will see it is a Mongolian lady, or perhaps Chinese - you can tell by the angle of the eyes!
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