Mongolia June 2007
+ Hong Kong, China

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant today (instead of the normal packed lunch in the countryside) and were shown to the VIP room. Baghi disappears off somewhere after we all order the bacon salad. It arrives and has a pretty bad smell to it. Sansar takes charge and we leave the restaurant just as they start to deliver mains. The waiter had a pretty sour look on his face and we felt guilty as sin, but that's the way things are done here.

We end up in a better restaurant and ordered as quickly as possible before Baghi could moderate our spending (how evil are we?).

We had been rotating seats throughout the van and Pete takes his opportunity sitting next to Baghi to learn some Mongolian words. Novsh is Crap, Yana is Strewth and Yakshte Whatever.

Nearing Khuvsgul Lake we pass some reindeer herders. At the start of the trip we were told that it was bad for some reason or other to pay these guys money but the chance to have photos taken with cuddly reindeer proves irresistible. Before we could do that I was racked by pains into my bowels and barely make it to the toilet to unleash a horrific crap. The most painful movement I have had in months if not years.

Gail then added to her burgeoning list of 'animals milked' by getting her mitts on a reindeer. The process proved difficult but she managed to get a few squirts out of it.

Lake Khuvsgul is beautiful. It's 136km long and 252m deep (not that we checked) and is so pure you can drink from it. This is despite the 42 Soviet fuel trucks that broke through the ice and are currently nestled on the bottom. Hmm...

Oh Hell again after dinner with Sansar playing and doing quite well! His English isn't much but it's good fun doing cards with him as he plays with a certain panache lacking in the Western game.


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