LATEST:

LATEST:


1/10/12 Together again in England. Preparing for our biggest adventure yet.

1/6/12 A final fix of dulce de leche before leaving South America. It is now summer in England, right?

1/5/12 We're sad to leave our friends in Buenos Aires but we're itching to put our backpacks on and head off into the wilds.


Friday, September 11, 2009

Central Mongolia

We have completely fallen in love with The Land of the Blue Sky. Many thanks to Ju for bombarding our travel suggestions' box. Mongolia is a huge, utterly beautiful, unfenced wilderness. We hired a Russian 4 wheel drive minivan to get out of Ulaanbaatar and explore...


Only a few miles out of the city and we were enjoying breathtaking sights. Our first stop was in Genghis Khan's ancient capital Kharkhorin and the monastery of Erdene Zuu, where we felt privileged to witness a Buddhist chanting ceremony in full flow.

Our trip involved long days in the jeep and overnights in gers (also known as yurts). This one kept us safe and warm in the middle of wolf territory.


Testing hours of driving were broken up with the occasional photo stop. This one at Chuluut Gorge, where we somehow became a source of entertainment for a boisterous group of Mongolian tourists.

We gazed out as the landscape unfolded from grassland steppe to volcanic starkness, some of it pretty frightening.
At Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur (Great White Lake) we finally stretched our legs. Hiking up the local peak to enjoy magnificent views of this eerie landscape.

Temperatures were plummeting and the nomadic families were busy preparing to move on. Time for us to hit the road too, this time for a long ride north.

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6 comments:

  1. liz nicholsSeptember 21, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    Amazing photos, great to talk and also to have worked out the video clips.

    Enjoy the Golden Eagle Festival - is this a frightening experience!! Sounds a bit scary to me, or is that just me!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AliSeptember 21, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    Hey Great Blog - just spent an enjoyable hour reading about your travels! Good luck with the rest of it. Will be interested to hear what you make of China...
    Will check in again soon..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sam and PhilSeptember 23, 2009 at 2:12 AM

    Thanks Ali, happy to hear it's good reading! Not given much thought to China though... any tips??

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  4. kate jSeptember 24, 2009 at 9:03 AM

    Just been catching up with your blog. It's fantastic! Love the photos and all the interesting information about the places you're visiting and the characters you're meeting! Brilliant!
    Mum
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. AντώνηςSeptember 25, 2009 at 5:43 PM

    Hi Guys...
    Well well...what can one say..but admire...envy for not being there...?? Its the 2nd time actually reading the blog..(1st one very briefly), and its like reading one of those N.Geographic Articles I love so much...seriously..!! Can't wait to see and read more..and hope that ONE day..I'll be able to follow the well documented tracks/trails you've left behind...!!
    Take care of yourselves..
    Andonis

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  6. bryonyOctober 19, 2009 at 12:36 PM

    omg Phil on tht pic of you n sam sittin outside of that hut u look sooo much like George(<3)and Olivia Harrison!!!
    i am the walrus koo koo kachu!
    BTW if ur goin to japan go to Harijuku the vintage part! (Turn right at shinjuku! bwahaha);) bryony x

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