Mongolia - Central

After leaving the Gobi, we are heading North towards the Central part of Mongolia. The landscape becomes more hilly, green and we can feel during the night that we are going up a little - the Himalayas sleeping bag pays out again. An overnight stop at a family ger with fresh horse milk and some unidentified others eatables gives us the smell of horses, so it is time to ride the famous (half) wild Mongolian horses. And it is later at Terkhiin lake that the horse guide gives me a horse, helps we onto it and let me go - excuse me how do I go forward or left and right? What's about start and stop? Basically the horse - I call it Gobi - is doing what it wants. The guides just smile and don't necessary understand that I haven't grown up with horses. What did they say: "Show the horse who is the boss..." ? Just yell "Shuu" and hit the poor horse hard with your heals and it should move. Easily said so the first hours turn out to be quite exciting - hmmm or more nerve wracking?

Anyway, my bottom realises quickly that it is not used to a Mongolian horse seat, well to be honest not used to any seat except my bike seat at home...(to be cont.)

Before we actually reach the lake and the volcano, we drive past one of the biggest monasteries of the country, Erdene Zuu. Unfortunately with the arrival of the communists in 1930, the monasteries in the country were all destroyed and the monks were either killed or deported and only with the indepence in 1990 they are slowly coming back to life.

more images here

Take a horse (female preferred) and pair it with it newborn and...

...you get fresh milk.

Granddad is watching carefully after the horses.

Erdene Zuu, Kharkhorin

Ladies day in the monastery

Boys, sure you want to touch the fellow,
he might just have your fingers as an appetizer.

Russia 1 : Germany 0

Russia 2 : Germany 0 (watch the water coming out of the door)

Once somebody get stuck, everybody stops - Russia 4 : Japan 0

The winner is a Russian van - ours of course.

End of the life in sight...

...and over for this ones just to end...

...here with the ladies in the blue uniforms.

View from our next camp site - nobody there.

And finally we arrive at...

...our ger at...

...Terkhin Tsagaan lake. Horses are waiting to... 

...take us to the volcano - if they would just go where we want to go.

Khorgo volcano