Lost track of the days (last day in UB): Ulaan Baator - see a large number of poorly stuffed animals, eat gourmet Mongol food and learn all about Mongolia's first (and possibly ast) cosmonaut.
Goomba, Ita, M and I set off after a smoky night in the Ger, and a bread and omelet breakfast. We've never figured out where the showers are, so decide the smoky smell of sleeping in the coal powered ger is probably a good thing. We take a slight detour to drive around the dead carcass of the horse Goomba and the other guide dragged over in the night to see if there are any wolf tracks but luckily there are only foxes. We're not sure what the the vegetarians in the other car (Mark and Julie will make of this) We go a different way out today, and it seems appropiate that our last sight of national park is the lone horseman trotting his shaggy beast across the plain, as his forbearers must have done for the last few centuries.
Today is the city tour, and once back in the hustle and honking of UB we stop first at the buddist temple, a cheerful multicoloured concoction of buildings in the snow on the hill. The temple was restored once communism was quietly done away with, and is now teaching and worshiping again. Scantily clad (for the cold) saffron monks are walking about, along with elderly tribesman from out of town. Everyone walks around and rotate the drums and kisses the building on the corners etc. We make do with admiring the buildings (they are pretty cool really) and trying to avoid the flock of pigeons that are annoyed we haven't brought them food...I hate the damn things...rats with wings.
The shrine at the back has the tallest Buddha in Asia, coated with gold and it's pretty awe inspiring...then it's back out into the cold and back to the car.
In the afternoon we visit the natural and the national museum...not easily confused as one holds a very old and moulting collection of stuffed animals and the other interesting tribal hats, modern history and lots of information about Chiggis Khan(you DON"T say Ghengis in Mongolia...or at least you only say it once before you are politely corrected), and his considerable efforts to rule China...all of which goes a long way towards explaining why the Mongols plumped for Russia over China when push came to shove.
We've run out of stuff to talk to Ita about and run out of historic places to see, so Ita drops us off at a cashmere shop (yes folks...some of you will be luck enough to get cashmere from Mongolia this Christmas) and trudge home, nostrils freezing in the cold to stock up on train food and do once more wash before our last day or so on the train.
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