day 112, Ulaanbaatar

Woke this morning after having an excellent sleep, the ger was just the right temperature till about 5 this morning, then when it was getting a bit cold a marvellous young woman came in and relit it for us. I then had a shower (stood up this time) and breakfast, before packing up and packing in the bus to head off back to Ulaanbaatar. On the way we stopped off to see some Camels and other landscapes, a hour and bit later back in the hustle and bustle of Ulaanbaatar. We chilled in the hotel for a hour, I washed some clothes and pinched Brian’s photos, then went off for a snack (traditional Mongolian kebab, which made me all meated out) then onto the Mongolia National history museum which was  really good. It was interesting to learn about the country (admittedly my knowledge was quite poor) and what they stand for and how they have come to be where they are now, dating back from the Khan Dynasty to  having been ‘freed’ by the Bolsheviks, supporting Russia in WW2 including going over to fight Japan once Germany surrendered to being suppressed by Stalin to their now apparent freedom, and their active promotion of Peace and world unity, good on yer Mongolia. I also picked up my Flag patch which made me happy. From there we took a taxi ride up to a hill which had a Soviet given memorial featuring an interesting statue and a cool Mosaic. After climbing the steps (either 644, 615 or 607 depending on who you ask, Me, Kim or Brian) we saw this gold Buddha then back in a taxi for the ride home. The taxi there took about 4 minutes, the taxi back took about an hour and a half. Mongolian roads are bloody crazy, they don’t believe in lane discipline or even lanes for that matter, cars are everywhere, a normal two way street with one lane in each direction can turn into a 4 lane one way street, then when a car comes the other way the solution is just to lean on the horn. At a junction it was like a shit synchronised driving display, with people going all different directions while in all different locations, weaving in and out, cutting each other up. It wasn’t boring a taxi ride, the fright kept up the interest. We went back to the restaurant which we ate at the first night as it was top notch, had a good meal (thankfully no meat) and back to the hotel to pack and sleep, even managed to sort out a couple of nights in Beijing so I can plan what I’m doing and get back into the swing of things back out on my own.