It’s now Friday 22nd April and we’re on the move again. This time, off to Terelj National Park to the east of Ulaan Baatar. On the way we stopped at the memorial to Russian soldiers, up a great number of steps, so I didn’t attempt it! But those who did…! Well, there were these Mongolian wrestlers who used the steps as part of their training routine! I spoke to some of them who told me they were from the Mongolian National Wrestling Squad and had taken part in the Beijing Olympics.
Their routine:
- running individually up the steps
- carrying each other up the steps
- jumping with both feet together from step to step
Crazy.
Everyone on the bus after this was wracked by coughing after seeing from a great height just how smog-filled and dusty Ulaan Baatar is. Now we understand why people were wearing masks yesterday.
Terelj was just beautiful, little settlements here and there, a river of ice flowing (?) through an arid landscape at one point. We passed many groupings of gers, some of them occupied by nomads, others purely for the tourist trade. For people like us. We stopped at a large stupa, did our three-times-clockwise round it and I collected glass from broken bottles which had been rounded and smoothed by the sandy soil. Like beach or sea glass – just Mongolian Stupa Glass!
On the way we saw eagles, dromedary camels, yaks… How they survive here in the winter beats me – everything seemed arid. Winding our way through valleys between the hills and the rock formations, we eventually reached our ger camp.
It was in the most gorgeous setting, a cul-de-sac of a valley surrounded by fabulous rock formations against which the wind had whipped the soft-powder-like soil. There were a number of gers here, some occupied by locals. Pat, Ann, Linda and I shared a four-bedded one: lovely comfy beds, two duvets – so no need for the sleeping bags some of us brought. It was so inviting that 3 of us settled down for a rest and fell asleep! I blame it on the altitude: 1700 metres above sea level.
The dining ger (!) was gorgeous – so beautifully decorated, quite unexpected really. All in all, the entire place was so quiet, peaceful – and the air, though thin, was so pure after the city. There were a number of horses around, some manic dogs… and birds. Eagles, hawks, lots of crow-like birds. I went off for a walk, sat by another stupa and just enjoyed the fantastic scenery and the peace.
The next day, after a good night’s sleep and breakfast, we left. Altogether it was perfect – apart from the toilets! I cannot cope with squat toilets – with knees that tend not to bend more than 90 degrees. Enough said! 
Patamateria 