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30 May 2010 | Ulaangom, Mongolia (49.9910, 92.0649)
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After the eagle-hunter, we passed through Olgii one last time for some supplies before making a two-week drive across the country to reach the capital, Ulaanbaatar. On the first day, we managed to spook a camel, cuddle a baby goat, and get lost only to find a mountain range between our destination and us.
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Bumping along, we startled this poor camel. Humps flying, the rider barely stayed on as the camel jumped off the road to avoid the car.
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Rasa made friends with a baby goat. Our guide told us they are just like dogs when reared around people; this one liked to sit in people’s laps.
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We stopped for a horsemeat sandwich at the last colorful, Kazakh ger before driving into Mongol country.
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Famous Mongol poets talk about ‘taking pleasure’ under the big blue sky. There really is not another alternative in the middle of the Steppe.
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As informative as the road sign is, we still got lost on the way to Uvs. We ended up going over this pass with no road at all (because it was washed out) and arrived 11pm at night.
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This is an ovoo, a type of shamanistic cairn. Buddhist followers usually build them to mark springs or high dangerous passes. We made the customary stop and circled three times for a safe journey down.
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Making it over the pass, we now had to cross a ‘creek’ but were unsure exactly where to forge. As you can see, the rain had flooded out the track.
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Even though, we arrived in town at 11pm and got miserably lost in the dark, it was still a great drive, especially seeing the countryside turn from high desert to lush valleys and lakes. Tomorrow, I go swimming in a freezing emerald green lake so more adventure to come.
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