The travel agent I used to get my Mongolian train ticket to Beijing arranged a private tour to drive out of UB and went to Genghis Khan statue, Turtle Rock and had lunch with a Mongolian tribal family in their Yurt/Ger and then on to Terelj National Park Monastery. We had a brilliant day great to get away from polluted UB and breathe fresh mountain air. Genghis Khan and his horse is the largest statue in the world according to The Guinness Book of Records. We climbed up inside the statue and took in a panoramic view what was on offer. We moved on to Turtle Rock so easy to see why they named it. Having lunch with the family in the Yurt or Ger was interesting. It was -30 C outside and inside with the pot belly stove roaring away you could easily just wear shorts and T shirt. The 2 little girls were watching 101 Dalmatians and it was in Mongolian. We were served 5 dumplings with some salad and pickles each for our lunch, really too much 3 would have sufficed but we ate them to be polite. Then we headed to
Terelj National Park Monastery all on a rough dirt road. We got there and it took us 20 minutes to climb up to the Monastery, the views where spectacular. I would not like to be there in the summer time as we were the only 2 there brilliant. With this extreme cold the camera batteries some times last up to 20 minutes so once taken photos have to keep the camera close to the body and keep warm. We are carrying a spare battery.
Coming back into UB you could see the smog what a horrible sight. I do not rate the locals driving practices, cars turning left across a 6 lane major road, they just pull out and all traffic has to stop and cars turning right just pull out in front of you expecting you to stop. The pollution from the vehicles is accentuated with the – 30 C temperatures you see it bellowing from the exhausts.
Back to the hotel thanked the driver for a great trip today, showered did the clothes washing in the shower and it is drying out on radiators in the room. We will be going out later on to celebrate 2019 in Parliament Square with all the locals.
Maurice's Travel 