ok so a bit more dog sledding

The day started at 8:00am with a trip out to Terelj via a place to collect the food for the dogs. Large chunks of  meat were simply stacked outside and several sacks of solid meat were loaded into the van.

Then with our precious cargo intact we headed off to the National Park. The snow was drifting off the fields and across the road in places and with the snow so fine it looked like smoke wafting across the tarmac.

We arrived at the camp about 10:30 and were shown to a ger for tea and a gear check, as well as some instructions about what to do if there was water, and what to do if the sled tipped. They were also short of a couple of dogs so there were only 2 sleds. Sarah opted to ride in the sled of the French guide while I was given 4 dogs and my own sled.

We headed down the Terelj river, it was beautiful, so nice to be out of the city and great to be in and around dogs again. 

Roxanne was funny she was interested in everything and most unhappy when we stopped. There were moments when we came along side ger dogs, herders on horseback, camels, young cows and followed the footprints of either a very big lone dog or a lone wolf. Roxanne was interested in all of it but kept pulling and yelping whenever we stopped. The lead dog on the team pulling Sarah was new and had not quite got her left and right sorted (or her gauche and droit) so there were regular stops as the sled had to pointed in the right direction.

After about an hour and half we stopped the guide built a fire and produced some hot buuz from his bag and made some tea.

buuz and sauce

about the only time Roxanne was quiet and stationary 

After lunch it was time to head back down the river and the rather unnerving experience of being out at around -20C stood on the back of a sled being pulled by dogs along a frozen river with a significant amount of water on the surface. I still don't know how that works but 

great day out, great dogs, great fun. 

A birthday or three

Sarah's birthday started early as it should...

Thursday 17th the French restaurant.

Thursday we went to the French restaurant in town for great salad, ok steak, wonderful chocolate desert and a good bottle of red wine.


Friday 18th...

Friday we went to the Japanese restaurant,  for great sushi, wonderful sushimi, brilliant company, and a bit too much sake, Sarah also got given a complete set of Mongolian vodka miniatures.

Saturday 19th...

Then on her actual birthday the real festivities happened in a ger camp out of town.

sadly a lot of snow leopards died to decorate the walls, though these were all confiscated by customs

It all starts with milk

and gifts

and songs


Click HERE for some Horse Head Fiddling

dancing

dairy products foreground - Khuushur and Buuz backgound

and then out came the goat

gutted, filled with hot rocks and anything edible and then cooked on an open fire, or with a blow torch

yum!

Mae and G.B. announced their engagement in matching sweatshirts

and then on to another ger with more animals on the walls

...and another birthday toast - it was Geoff's birthday the day before

on to what is reputedly the biggest ger in the world

And then continue the party outside

with a bit of Gangham style which is apparently a traditional Mongolian dance as Koreans do not  ride with  two reigns

there were lots of furry hats on show

which Sarah joined 

the drinks table was brought out with a seemingly endless supply of spirit

There was of course singing.

happy birthday in Mongolian

and a bit of wrestling 

Scott takes on the Mongolians

while birthday cake was provided inside

 What a spectacularly good day out.

And then on Sunday we went to a very personal and very special 'hair cutting ceremony' but that story is for the next entry - for now just be assured it involved a lot of food, a lot of vodka, some singing, and toys for the wee one. Special very special.

"Great steaming drains Batman, it's cold"

With the heating and hot water (not that we'd know much about hot water) being provided centrally there is a great network of pipes running throughout the city. Some are underground, some above it and most of them leak, so steam rises out of the ground and some rivers/streams continue to run, at least for a little way. Of course once the steam has risen - it freezes again creating some interesting snow/ice sculptures.

More steam rising from the next manhole a bit further up the road. (Those of you in the UK may not recognise the big yellow shiny thing to the left of the picture, it's called the sun, you may have forgotten what it looks like.)

Our walk continued as it often does out to the river and along the embankment. The river is unsurprisingly frozen over completely now,  and is now in use as a thoroughfare. There is a well worn 'road', many other car tracks, and a number of 'footpaths' all clearly visible on what was at one point a flowing river. Sadly the low sun meant the photos did not come out, but as I'm planning on making the river a bit of a run sometime in the next couple of weeks I'll try and get some pictures then.

One of the 'riverside' gers was inhabited and the stove was on, burning cheap coal (rather than tyres) by the smell. Just to emphasize how well suited to this environment those dwellings are, despite the stove belching out smoke and the inside undoubtedly warm and cosy as a result, there was still a layer of snow and ice on the roof, that showed no signs of melting. Now that's insulation.

It was a beautiful day. The track was easy walking, and ... umm...driving - they will drive anywhere, sticking to the roads is simply not part of the psyche.

The riverside embankment/dyke, if it's wide enough for a car and this section is, it gets driven on.

It was a lovely walk but it was cold, the ski pants and all the gear worked well, though we could both have done with jackets that came a little lower and covered a bit more of us and as ever there was the constant battle with visibility, steamed up/frozen up glasses and a frost nipped nose.

You can't cover your nose and wear glasses, they steam up instantly, then the steam freezes, and cleaning them, even with a proper cloth scratches the lens. Also if you do cover your nose, eventually what ever you are using freezes making it hard to breath. So it's a real dance to maximise breathing, see where you are going without going snow blind, and ensuring your nose doesn't turn black on the end. Then without the glasses the moisture from your breath catches on your eyelashes giving you an entertaining white mascara effect.

...and apparently it was 'only' -18C (positively warm ;-)

It's good to be home!