Thurday, July 17- Visiting the Mountains

We got all our bags packed this morning and ready to check out of the hotel. We packed in such a way that all we need for the rest of the trip is one of our small bags. We jockeyed everything around to get the weight distributed right, then headed downstairs. Daryl went to get some supplies for lunch at the Sky Store while I finished some last minute things in the room.

Erdene was supposed to pick us up at 10:30, but it was a little after 11:30 when he finally showed up. We got into the car and headed out the same direction was had gone when we went to Choibalsan. We were headed to a National Park in the mountains just outside of the city. The trip only took about an hour.

As we entered the park, it reminded us very much of the Colorado foothills. We looked for place to have a picnic lunch, and found a table on the side of a hill. We hiked the short distance up there, and enjoyed a lunch of bologna sandwiches, chips, pickles, and olives.

There were many tourist camps along the road, and after driving nearly to the end of the road, we turned around to find a place to stay. The first couple of places didn’t work out, but the one we finally settled into was beautiful. It was nestled up against the mountains, pretty far off the beaten path. We each checked into a ger, and then went up to the restaurant and had a drink and enjoyed the beauty of the view.

After visiting for quite some time, we returned to the gers, and took naps. Daryl climbed to the top of the mountain behind the camp and took a lot of pictures, before returning to lay down. At 7 p.m., we went back to the restaurant and enjoyed dinner on the patio.

Khuslee had found a new little friend to play with, and the two boys played while the rest of us napped, and through part of dinner as well.

After dinner, we pulled some chairs out of the gers and sat around outside ours and visited and watched the moon come up over the mountains to the east.