Mongolian Magic and Khan you're the man.

Snow capped mountains could be seen from the plane window as we flew into Ulaanbaatar the capital of Mongolia on Monday 23 September. Rodney was there at the airport waiting for us and his two Mongolian friends Tumee and Suldee. A quick trip from the airport to Rod and Aaggii's apartment located in the middle of the city through peak hour traffic. Paul and I noticed straight away that the Mongolian drivers love using their horns. It seemed like every chance they got they were hooting it. Buses were packed with commuters, that made the London tube look very comfortable.
I have to admit that at first I was shocked to see the lack of trees especially after being in Berlin. With it being autumn here in UB the trees are losing their leaves and are a golden brown. Lots of building works of new apartment blocks around the outskirts of the city and also in the CBD as well. Paul has taken lots of photos of the buildings in various stages.

Aaggii and Rod have a large apartment on the 6th floor which is the top floor of a city apartment that does not have a lift. I am gradually getting use to this form of physical exercise. Apparently it came as a furnished unit! Aaggii told us that the owner of the apartment delivered a new fridge to them and when the four guys got it to their floor it wouldn't fit inside the door. The fridge then had to go all  the way back down the stairs again. After a wait of a few days to round up four more guys to bring it up again, this time taking the doors off the fridge and the apartment to fit it in. Paul and I have bought very little shopping so we don't have to lug it up the stairs.

Tugsuu attends a school close by and we were pleasantly surprised when we saw him after school as he has changed so much. He is taller and much thinner, keeping himself busy with judo and guitar lessons.

On the second day, Rod's friends took us on a road trip heading out of town. The first sight was the Chinggis Khaan monument. An absolutely fascinating Museum attached to the Interpretation Centre added to this unique experience. Suldee took us to his Uncle's place which was very close to the Monument for a traditional meal. This meal was 'horkhog' where the meat and vegetables along with water (Tumee did add a good quantity of tiger beer to the liquid proportions) are placed in a container and then the hot rocks are then added. The rocks were heated in the fire and are river rocks.

We were made very welcome by his Uncle and Aunt who sang songs for us. They were very surprised though with Paul's drinking habits as in Mongolia red wine is considered a woman's drink. The uncle added vodka to Paul's red wine so I guess Paul is now a he-she! After eating we continued on to a tourist camp to spend the night in a traditional ger or yurt. We were very lucky as ours had heating under the floor and a small wood fire inside. The next morning there was ice on the small pond. We travelled through the countryside, noticing yaks, sheep, many horses and lots of tourist camps. Apparently in the summer months many Mongolians visit the countryside for their holidays.

We had a fascinating visit to the Mongolian Observatory and were treated to a night of star gazing, We set our alarms for midnight so we would arrive at 12.30pm. There were 3 students who were studying astrophysics that joined us. Lucky for us the astronomer spoke English and was able to explain the constellations we were looking at. The moon was an amazing sight through the telescope.
Whilst we were sitting in the dark taking it in turns to view the various stars I noticed that Paul had his biro out and was writing some notes about what we were viewing. The next day I asked Paul for his biro so I could finish off some postcards. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his biro wasn't working. Not sure yet if he has discovered that he has no notes on the stars that we viewed.

The amazing Chenggis Khan monument 

Snow capped mountains

Prayer wheels.

What will happen if I ring the bell?

Turtle Rock

View from the temple

Me and my ger

Dublin the fair city to London the Mayor's city

Our goodbyes completed we left County Tyrone and headed to the fair city of Dublin. As our hotel was located near the airport and about 8kms from the city we caught the bus to enable the driver and the navigator to have a few drinks. We did the walk through the Temple Bar area again and called into various bars to drink and listen to the music. Bussed back to the hotel.
The next day I suggested to Paul that he should go off by himself into the city while I had my haircut. I didn't think this was an unreasonable request and he would have some fun exploring by himself. He decided that he would go on a tour of the Guinness factory. The Paddy Paddy was in the car if he needed assistance with directions. I told him that I would meet him back at the hotel.

PAUL'S PARAGRAPH
I only got lost once driving to the Guinness factory in drizzling rain by myself. I managed to get a free park after asking a local to change some money for me. He actually pointed out to me where the free Guinness car park was. After queuing and paying my 13 euro entrance fee (Seniors price as I am now 60) I listened to the 3 minute blurb before setting off on my self tour. The tour was in what is now the called the 'Guinness Storehouse" which was a Fermentation Plant from 1904 to 1988. This adapted seven story visitor experience is lit by a same height Guinness pint shaped atrium that, if full, would hold over 14 million pints. I spent the afternoon learning the woe to go of the Guinness experience culminating in me receiving a certificate of successfully pouring a Guinness. Dropping off some new acquaintances in the City centre in peak hour traffic I then proceeded to get horribly lost on my way home in drizzling rain. Ringing the navigator who was safely ensconced in the hotel room with her new hair do I was then able to make it safely back to the hotel car park. As I was alighting from the car a strange phone ring emanated from the back seat - a mobile phone had fallen out of the pocket of one of the acquaintances. The long and the short of it was that we bussed back into central Dublin that evening and delivered the phone back to Blooms Hotel in Temple Bar where John and Ann from Derry were staying. We were rewarded with ales, wine and Irish Coffees. No late buses home ....... taxi.

Returning the car we had no problems catching our plane to Gatwick and then a train to London. Paul was not looking forward to the big smoke. Our aim was to get our visas for Mongolia and then explore some more of the city. Mongolian Embassy was very efficient and had our visas within the hour. Tube into Carnaby St (spell check wanted to spell this as cannabis) first night for a photo shoot with Jimmi Hendrix and a stage show at the New London Theatre on the second night. 'WarHorse' was an amazing production and so glad that we saw it. We even bumped into some people from Geraldton.

                   
                                                             The great pour

The perfect pint.

Paul's new phone friends.

A window display made out of cardboard on Oxford St.

Expensive Ugg's

Double Decker bus supporting the Dockers.......

An omen before playing Sydney Swans.