Florence and Lawrence and yaketty yak yak

Sand dunes, snow and the simple things of life.........vodka.
Paul and I once again had the opportunity of being chauffeured around the Mongolian countryside by Rod's friends Tumee and Suldee. We were picked up early Tuesday morning and headed towards Central Mongolia stopping for a camel ride before visiting the Erdene Zuu Monastery in Kharkhorin which is surrounded by a walled compound. This is Mongolia's oldest monastery and was the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. It had between 60 to 100 temples and also many gers inside the walls and up to 1,000 monks in residence. Unfortunately during the Communist times most of the temples, bar three were destroyed and many of the monks were killed. Our guide informed us that many of the statues were saved or stored by locals and this place remained closed until 1965.

On to the next stop which was along a road that changed many times. Smooth tarmac to completely rutted roads, via detours and tracks we were closing in our destination. As the sun went down so did the temperature and before long our first sighting of snow. Paul was very excited about this as this was his first experience with the white powder. Photo shoot stop followed by a quick nip of vodka had us warmed up and ready for the challenges along the way.

We had been booked into a small unfinished shop/lodge and by the time we got there the cook had retired for the night. Instant noodles purchased with a cup of tea and another shot of vodka had us sleeping like babies. The only thing was the toilet was downstairs and then a short trek to locate it outside. Paul did this in his shorts and Dunlop vollies! Up early with a quick snack and off to find the crater. (Horgo extinct volcano)

To get to the volcano we needed to cross an icy flowing river by way of a very rickety bridge A new bridge had been built but wasn't opened. I am not kidding when I said to Tumee...."You've got to be kidding me. We are driving over this bridge with all the uneven planks that are not joined together"? For my benefit Suldee and Paul got out of the car and straightened some of the planks then they both walked across. Knowing that Tumee swam like a rock I stayed with him in the car to drive across. The snow was absolutely beautiful and the trek to the top of the crater was memorable to say the least. After a snow picnic we headed off to the White Lake with the backdrop of the Khangai mountains to gaze upon.

Another  treat for Paul and I was to be able to visit the Tsenker Hot Springs set between pine and larch trees. It was dark by the time we arrived so we settled into our bungalow as it was too cold for the gers. Most of the resort rooms had gone to some locals who were there to attend a wolf hunt later on that night into the early morning of the next day. Paul was about to get out his placard to save the wolf however Tumee said he would get out his placard to save the sheep. A group of monks were also staying and I believe they were from Tibet however living in India.

Due to me having a few vodka injections early in the day I had a hot shower instead of sitting in the hot pool. All the guys went off to the men's pool and immersed themselves into a hot bath of 40 degrees. At the source of the water it is around 86 degrees......you can see the steam. There are pipes all over the place, which all the villagers tap into. After a goodnight sleep we left and headed back towards  UB calling into a Turkish Museum.

                                       Amazing stretch of sand dunes mixes into the landscape.

A bridge we crossed to get to the crater.

A new bridge had been built next to it but wasn't opened.

During the peak time these shelters would be selling food.

A snow picnic. Baileys, vodka.....you decide.

A short stop for a prayer.

Volcanic rocks that dot the landscape

On top of the crater.

Yaks on the move

Thermal springs.....hot pools.

Local herdsman

On the return journey to UB we stopped

at a lake.

Paul and Tumee looking for a drink

Where's the car?

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.

Berlin, Bears and Segways.

Looking out of the plane window coming into Berlin I was amazed at all the trees that you could see. Forests everywhere. We landed at Schoenfeld an airport out from the city. No questions asked and passport stamped very quickly. Before flying I had quickly checked how to get from the airport to our hotel by train........mmmmmm. Looking back we should have just paid the 40 euros and caught a taxi. Paul and I would still be talking to each other. The info mentioned by the hotel said that the train fare was around 3 euros each and we would need to make 1 change at the Zoological Garden to go to Wittenbergplatz in the Tiergarten area and then a 5 minute walk to our destination. We followed the directions to the station and passed the ticket machines along the way. We even stopped at one and helped another person try to buy 2 tickets to Berlin for 6 euros. We decided that we would get ours closer to the train on the platform. Bad decision as there were no ticket machines on the platform or anyone at a service to sell you one. I said I would go back and buy them but Paul said he would so off he went. He was away for such a long time that I was imaging that he had been abducted or he had got lost on his way back. The train was already there and waiting when a conductor jumped down to sell tickets. Paul arrived and showed his tickets to the train driver who told him to jump on and the conductor would assist him. Train got underway and eventually I asked Paul what took him so long. Apparently the machine wouldn't take 50 euro notes so he used the travel card and it cost him 40euros. I was astonished that he paid this much. He said he just picked the station name closest to what he thought was ours which was a place called Wittenberg. There were at least six places that all had Wittenberg or something similar to choose from he said. When I told him how much he should have paid he was glad that he didn't select first class tickets as these would have cost 100 euros. We explained this to the conductor who smiled at us. She understood that we wanted to go into the city and showed Paul on a map where his tickets would take him......150kms away to Wittenberg.

We got off at the first station and went into an office and explained the error of Paul's ways and purchased our 1 euro tickets for the second stage of our trip. She was able to direct us to the next office where we could ask for a refund. When stating our case to someone with minimal English you knew straight away she was thinking how dumb we were to buy the wrong tickets in the first place. We were refunded the money less the cost of the first stage of our journey. You knew who she would be discussing at office drinks that afternoon.

Next stage of the journey fairly easy and as we walked out of the station we walked straight into a political rally that was happening. Police everywhere and streets blocked off. Paul took a couple of photos with me thinking that his camera would be confiscated. We checked into the hotel for a short rest before catching a bus into the city. Very easy transport and we are charade masters by now so traveling on a bus easy as.

Paul had in his mind that he wanted to do a Segway tour of the City and for me I was miles away thinking about what Berlin must have been like before the wall came down. We jumped off and headed towards the TV Tower where the tour left from. Toby our tour guide and instructor was very nice and we spent around 30 minutes learning how to ride and operate the Segway. I wasn't as confident as Paul but managed to stay on and it was a fun thing to do and experience. Paul of course being Paul was scooting around everywhere and Toby asked me to speak to Paul about slowing down. I said that was impossible as I wasn't speaking to him.

After all the sights and excitement  we grabbed some tea at a small Mexican place called Delores 2 doors up from the Dockers shop. Berlin at this time of night was buzzing and after a short walk we found our bus with an English speaking driver who knew all about us kangaroos.

After a sleep in and breakfast explored the area around our hotel. We stumbled upon the Green Party's live broadcast as it was election day. Everyone was hoping that Angela Merkel would not be returned however we have since heard that she was re-elected. Taxi to the airport for our destination of Mongolia.

Segway tour of the city. Brandenburg Gate

                                                                  Jewish Memorial

Paul with his 5 euro heart that he cut out from a

Felt cape from a bride to be. The money he paid

was probably funding the hens night out.

This car a 'Trabi' was produced in East Berlin and

                                            was in front of the Presidents hotel where

we stayed. Can you spot Bob Hawk?

                                     This was the Green Party's headquarters on election day.
                                     They were doing a live broadcast answering questions
                                       inside the dome.

   
                          A fun way to get around and you see some of these with a keg of beer.

I did think about doing a handstand!

Bear spotting

Another bear with the map of the city.

Mini hot rod cars to hire.

One more photo please Paul

Should we cross here in front of the rally?

Mizen Head and Marconi have things in common

Returning from Portugal we had one more night in Kinsale where all the staff at the Old Bank guest house are one big happy family so Paul thought. Paul had noticed that all the staff were wearing name badges with the same surname…… Mary – Failte, Maureen – Failte, Magna- Failte…..he asked me if I thought they were all sisters. I soon realised what he was on about…….Failte in Ireland means welcome and it is on doors to most shops, pubs etc. Snow globe points for that one Paul or a touch of the sun from Portugal.

After saying goodbye to Kinsale and all the Failte sisters, we proceeded to Schull which is a small village where I was hoping to meet up with Sheila Whyte who had been my boss at the Geraldton Grammar School. After leaving Geraldton Sheila took up a position at Curtin University in Perth before returning to her Ireland home. Sheila has always been a very positive person to have in your community and from what we heard in Schull seems to be the case there as well. Sheila’s bookshop ‘Whyte Books’ is an amazing place so have a look on Facebook under Whyte Books and you will see what I mean. We arrived in Schull late afternoon just in time to have a drink with Sheila at one of the locals. Sheila had been very busy all through the summer months and was taking some days off to walk in the Wicklow Mountains.

Moving on from Schull we headed towards the Mizen Head Peninsula, Ireland's most south westerly point. Lots of high cliffs and rugged landscapes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The Mizen Signal Station had the first Radio Beacon in Ireland in 1931 and is open for viewing. Marconi had been in this area and where we had lunch at Crookhaven Harbour was where he came to get his first radio message across the Atlantic. He fitted the first telegraphic equipment on the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse allowing communication between passing ships. All along this part of the coastline it is treacherous to passing ships and it must have been a relief when the fog came in to have a signal warning you of the fog.

Paul and I were very impressed with this area and were looking forward to the Sheep's Head Peninsula, the lesser visited area by us tourists but a well known spot for walkers.

Which dinghy?

Arched Bridge at Mizen Head

                                      Barleycove is a large sandy beach on the way to Mizen

Railway Bridge

Drumbeg Stone Alter with a pondering Paul

                                                          The Mizen Signal Station

What a view from Mizen Head

                                                 The view of the paths to the bridge

The two of us

                                                               PC on the arched bridge

                                                                    Along the way

                                                               A small fishing village