My musings on Mongolia continued….
#11 The Mongolian steppe is very curvaceous. The soft rounded hills look like they have been draped with a plush green velvet.
#12 The men are rather handsome….. especially when they are riding their horses!
#13 Milky tea is popular here.
#14 There is a South Korean influence here so some of the supermarkets are stocked with Korean food. Great, if like me, you’re a fan of Kimchi.
#15 People are often packed into cars. Sometimes it looks like there are 6 or more people in any one car. In the cabs of minivans and lorries the children are often pressed right up against the windscreen.
#16 Mongolia is at high altitude. We’ve spent much of the time at 1500 – 2000 metres above sea level (highest we’ve been is 2500m). Because of this you really feel like you’re living in a thin sliver between the land and the clouds.
#17 Animals that have been accidentally killed, most likely by cars or lightning, are left where they died to be slowly devoured by nature. We passed a dead dog in a village covered in flies and two horses on one side of the road, stiff as wood, with a burnt out car on the other side. We also saw a dead calf on the road that had at least 8 vultures patiently waiting – while a dog tried to chase them off defending a member of his herd as best he could.
#19 We are caked in dust and sand. I understand it’s been the hottest July in the world ever and that’s no exception here. It’s hot and hasn’t rained in weeks; with many river beds dried up and lakes low. As you can imagine cars leave a trail of dust in their wake and, as we like to have the windows open, the inside of Totty is covered. It’s playing havoc with my curtains as the curtain tracks are full of dust so it’s increasingly difficult to open and close them! A soft-furnishing headache 😉
#20 It is very windy in Mongolia especially in the evening and night.