The Mongolia Diaries: Day Ten

After a very good sleep, we were awoken at 8:30AM to breakfast in our ger. We had a long day of driving ahead of us so it must have been our guide's way of saying get up and get ready!

A rough idea of our route

Our van had a flat tire that morning so we left a bit later than scheduled. We set off around 10:00AM and traveled along bumpy, dirt roads for about 180KM before stopping at the Ongi Monastery for lunch. As we made our way to Central Mongolia, the scenery was no longer flat and desert-like. It was becoming more and more mountainous.

The monastery we stopped at was no longer in use, it was ruins of a monastery. There was a temple within the ruins but it was deserted. There was also a fair-sized, luxurious looking tourist camp called the Secret of Ongi but it was empty. There wasn't much to do in the area so I'm not sure why one would want to stay there. Maybe as an overnighter on the way to Central Mongolia?

The surrounding grounds were gorgeous, so we took off to explore while our guide cooked lunch out of the back of the van. My group didn't seem too interested in the ruins and took off to play cards while I wandered the grounds alone. There was a hill over the ruins with something religious-looking on top. I contemplated climbing the hill but wasn't sure how long we had until lunch and I didn't want to keep everyone waiting if it took longer than I thought.

Lunch was a simple fried rice with veggies and goat's meat. Once we cleaned up, we continued on the long drive. The goal was to get as much of the driving out of the way as we could.

Just before our first rainfall in Mongolia

Over time, the skies started to change. We came upon our first rain in Mongolia. We began driving through beautiful forests. The oranges and reds and greens from trees and plants were a lovely change from the browns and light greens of the desert. The roads became more treacherous. A lot of the paths seemed like they weren't meant for cars or vans. I thought the van was going to tip on its side at many points.

We did another 200KM or so. We would be camping in the middle of nowhere that evening and everyone was quite tired upon arrival. We stopped driving around 7:00PM and we all rolled out of the van with an 'ugh'.

It was lightly raining and cold and windy. Our guide starting preparing dinner as we set up our tents. The rain stopped long enough for us to have dinner along with some cold beer outside. We played cards until it became too dark to see. With the darkness came the rain. We called it a night and bundled up in our tents. It was cold and I worried about being warm enough overnight.

I recorded my journal before going to sleep that night. I noted one of the highlights that day was seeing two foxes! I sounded exhausted and said on a number of occasions that there were a lot of bumpy roads and a lot of driving that day.

At some point in the wee hours of the morning, there was a huge rain storm. It kept me awake for some time and I was having trouble staying warm. I had no service on my phone so I couldn't check the temperature but I recall it being an uncomfortable sleep. We had about another 120KM of driving the next day and I was hoping for more sleep, less rain and a quick drive!