A View From the Top

So Friday morning Amanda, Ben and I set off to the countryside of Mongolia. Our plan was to go to the ancient capitol city - but we learned it was a 7-hour journey -- most of it not paved, so we decided to trust our driver, Tushig, to show us around the countryside. We drove north of Ulaanbaatar towards Terelj - a national park.

Our first stop was at a sacred shaman's hill - traditionally you need to walk around the pile of rocks three times (and leave gifts) and you will receive good luck.


There was a woman selling airang - fermented horse milk


Ben bought a fancy new hat


A view of Terelj National Park


We got settled in our ger for the night at Khann Terelj Toursit Ger camp.





And then we decided to brave the on-again off-again rain and try to go hiking. I wanted to rent a horse for a an couple hours and explore, but everytime we got to a place to rent a horse, it started to downpour. Not only did I not bring a rain jacket on this trip, but because it was so hot in UB and at the horse races, I was wearing a t-shirt and long shorts - not smart.

So we walked around Turtle Rock - appropriatly named, don't you think?



A (sideways) view from the top of turtle rock


There were, of course, Ben fans everywhere we went. This little boy tried to give him a hug:


Ben showed him who was boss:


Next we drove to the base of a mountain where the Aryapala Buddhist Meditation Retreat was located. I can't even begin to explain how cool this little hike up to the monastery was. These pictures just don't do it justice.







Well maybe this one does... our jumping series continues...



We went back to camp to write, hike, relax, eat, and got to bed, the tapping of rain against the top of our ger.