Clean Slate

Another long day's journey over bumpy roads with more carsickness experienced by the kids brought us to Tsagaan Nuur. Our plan was to enjoy maybe 3 places for a few days each to limit the time spent in the cars. Our relatives wanted to travel far more than we wanted and hit as many scenic spots as possible. We were at an impasse. We stayed at Tsagaan Nuur in another Ger at a Tourist Camp that had actual bathrooms and hot showers. Hooray! After a good night's sleep, our family put three beds together and slept five abreast while my sister, Aav and our driver had their own beds in our big ger, I awoke to this view. As I hiked the hill, the clouds began to lift. There were yet more wildflowers to examine and enjoy. The view of Tsagaan Nuur from a lower level hill. The lake had some nice veggies in it for play. It had wonderfully relaxing soft pebbles that helped to massage your feet as you enjoyed the cool but not cold water. The who...

After two days in the Arkhangai countryside it was time to move out. Now our way there was a bit rough so we sought an easier way out and our host led us there. After 15 minutes of driving we no longer saw any gers, no animals and then not even any winter quarters. It was our four vehicles and nature as we followed a lightly traveled path. Four vehicles loaded with twenty-eight people and gear headed into the big blue sky countryside of Mongolia It was sunny and gorgeous. Once we made it to a paved road we crossed the Chuluut River(Chuluut Gol) and saw a brief storm. The Chuluut cuts a deep gorge in its flow. Even with a layer of dust, Chelsea fans showed that they bled United Red. An unfortunate aspect was the occasional dumping of garbage in otherwise pretty spots. Packing it in and pack it out or as they say at Kalmia Gardens: Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. I assure you that she is not pick...

On our trip we were lucky to have my sister-in-law, Moogii, traveling with us. She is a great cook, organizer and always upbeat. That pays dividends on a long and bumpy trip. We added a junior Cook to the mix in Arkhangai.                                          Making khuushuur, my favorite Mongolian dish. Rolling out the dough. Passing on the skills We were lucky enough to see sme attempts at training horses while visiting Arkhangai. Here is a short video, I quickly discovered that videos eat up memory and power so I limited my videos on this trip to two.                                          The Michael Bolton of Mongolian horses My Aav in one of his deels Aav with two of his beautiful daughters ...