Yak's cream, fresh baked bread and a wood stove

Tsetserleg was described as the most beautiful aimag (province) capital and it didn't dissapoint. Leading into the town were tree lined streets set between alpine mountains that wouldn't look out of place in switzerland.

We found a cheap hotel this time round which was a treat to sleep on a bed with a matress although over the next few nights we began to realise why it was so cheap! The first night was where the error happened, we left the window open all day not realising it would invite a fair number of beetles into our room. Not as much sleep as we would have liked followed as the occasional beetle would fall from the ceiling onto our head or somewhere on the bed. Wising up to it the second night, we lined a water tray outside the door and used a wet towel on the inside to stop them getting under the door. Armed with a flip flop each, we went on a killing frenzy which resulted in two almost bug free nights and some good sleeps.

There was a really interesting museum that showed everything about the traditional mongolian lifestyle including their clothes, hunting tools, musical instruments etc with some beautiful artworks detailing real life scenes. Even how they pack up their gers when they move from place to place.

Our next stop was a place called Tariat and after our last successful hitching mission, we decided to give it another go. Three long boring hours ensued before we gave in depleted and organised a private car and a driver to take us. The option turned out to be the best as it was a comfortable ride, the driver was incredibly helpful and after seeing how many people went in the same direction plus the state of the roads, it was no wonder people were laughing at us trying to hitch to Tariat! We stopped along the way to try some fermented mare's milk which we won't be having again and arrived 5 hours later where our driver dropped us at the door of a guesthouse.

The lady that owns the guesthouse also owns 3 gers down by the 'White Lake'. We took the option to cook for ourselves as we are embracing the nomad lifestyle, it's been pretty cool making a fire for the wood stove and using traditional cooking pots. Seeing it's a freshwater lake, we have been drinking directly from the lake and using the water for boiling and steaming. Our morning shower has been a quick dive into the lake which is definitely enough to wake you up in the morning even if Jo needed a bit of encouragement!

Grandma, who lives in a ger a few metres away has been treating us to fresh bread, yak's yoghurt, yak's cream and yak's cheese which makes a nice change to our current diet of cabbage, potatoes and rice. The land of blue skies hasn't been that blue here, more like a winter white haze but hopefully that will change when we head of to do our horse trek.

After a 4 days of relaxing and going for walks in the country, we left Tariat for Moron. We were intially told it would take 6 hours but due to a dodgy russian jeep and an exageration of the truth, we arrived 13 hours later only after ditching the jeep and asking a tour of thai ladies to take us the remaining few hours. It was such an entertaining few hours as they always seemed to be laughing about something.

The disappointment of missing the annual nadaam festival (wrestling, archery and horse racing) in the capital was soon forgotten as our first day was the beginning of moron's local nadaam. Alex managed to get entered into the wrestling competition and came a respectable third, you can see a photo of the winner above!! Over the past few days, we have encountered so many pissed mongolians, some even passed out on the street. Most want to befriend us which can be a little annoying when they won't leave you alone and you don't have a clue what they are saying!! The thumbs up tends to go down well.

Off to the pearl of mongolia to see one of their largest freshwater lakes and try to fit in the horse trek and maybe a bit of hiking.

Love to All

Jo & Alexander the Great xx