Mongolian Mountain Adventure

10th August 2017
This morning we woke to a blanket of mist, we are quite high here and it soon started to lift.
So this morning some of the group are going rafting and double kayaking. The yak cart takes the equipment up the river and then they came back with the flow. They all seemed to have fun but got very wet and cold, one of the ladies, Maggs, ended up in the river. They also had a dog accompanying them who swam some of the way, more about him later. Anyway, although all in the group are nice people I decided to spend some time alone and go for a walk on my own. There are are few ridge walks near the camp that form horse shoe shapes. So once the mist lifted and armed with a map drawn by one of the best cartographers in Mongolia, Kenzo, I walked one of the ridges above the camp. The ridge had lovely views of the surrounding mountains. I had hoped to sit on the high spot and eat a nice bit of smoked cheese I had saved from breakfast, but as I approached it I could hear the familiar rumble of thunder so headed straight down the other side of the horse shoe to eat my cheese. About 3/4 of the way around the rain started so it was on with the water proofs. When I got back to the Ger, Robert my roomie, lite the the wood burner which helped to dry me off.
After lunch three of us went horse riding. The horses are not stabled so the local herders go out and collect them from the country side the day before. Each herd is in a harem group and consists of a stallion, mare's and a few bachelor's. They roam free throughout the winter and protect themselves against the wolves, therefore although they are calm natured you don't want to make a sudden sound around them. Kenzo and two herders accompanied us, each of them riding their own horse and had a rope to one of the other horses. Also accompanying us is the dog that went rafting this morning, no one seems to call it over it just sees people getting ready to leave and joins them. As we ride along we can hear marmots calling and we can also see one in the distance. It's lucky for the marmot that he is off in the distance as the dog goes into hunting mode looking to catch one. The others get ahead of Kenzo and I so Kenzo gets the horses to trot a little to catch up, not my favourite part of the trip! We are out for about an hour and on they way back the dog disappears and then reappears wet, not sure what it was hunting in the river.
Upon our return the majority of the group are leaving with one of the camp staff on a guided walk. They are going to do the same ridge I did this morning, for me I have hired a mountain bike for an hour and head off up the valley floor on my own.
The library Ger also contains his and hers traditional Mongolian clothing to try on, I declare it the dressing up Ger and dress for a photo.
The dog that likes rafting and horse riding also likes been stroked and gives you a nudge if you stop. I went and found him and spent some time fussing him up.
Tonight is out last night sleeping in a Ger, tomorrow it's back to Ulaanbaatar.