Monday, July 14 - A Day on the Road

We rose early this morning and packed for the trip back to UlanBator. We left the hotel at about 7 a.m., gassed up the car and went to pick up Bolor and Khuslee at Actaa’s apartment. With that done, we headed west, where we would meet Bolochulun at the wheat farm. This was about 70 kilometers from Choibolson.

When we got to the farm, Daryl, Erdene, Bolorchulun, Enkhbayar, Baterdene, and the farm manager toured the various fields where the irrigation systems were that Daryl had sold. He answered some questions about the systems, and then we were back on the road. We had spent 2 and a half hours at the farm, and Daryl was very glad we had made that stop.

Bolorchulun with Daryl at the farm
Looking over potato field

As we reached the main road, Bolorchulun’s car pulled over and we pulled over behind it. They pulled out a new bottle of vodka, and toasts were exchanged in friendship and to say goodbye.

We passed through the countryside once more, traveling with more purpose then we had on the trip here. We stopped for lunch at a roadside table next to the Kherlen River, the only such stop we had seen in any of our travels. Erdene boiled some water over the portable stove, and we ate bowls of noodles there by the river.

We were very entertained by Khuslee several times, when Erdene would put a cassette tape in the player and he would sing along quite enthusiastically with the songs he liked. He would seem nearly asleep, then would suddenly jump to life!

After 14 and a half hours of travel, we were back in Ulan Bator and the Chinngis Khaan Hotel. We said our goodbyes, and agreed to spend the next day just relaxing before getting back together for dinner.