big gulps...

well i made it back from the Gobi Desert in one piece...we organized a tour with this company called Tseren Tours that we found in the lonely planet book (the most amazing thing ever)...anyway, if you are ever in Mongolia and want to go on a tour, choose this company...they were great! we left wednesday morning with Roxy, Eugene and Roger (our original travel group) and picked up a lady from Australia named Andrea. The company provided us with a driver, van, english speaking guide, sleeping bags, tents, and food...it was incredible...and so much more organized than our previous adventure...

on wednesday we drove to the sand dunes in the northern part of the Gobi...unfortunately, the "sand dunes" were sort of disappointing...it kind of looked like the beach but without the ocean...i really think that we the driver got lost, so they just pointed to some sand and said "we're here!"...it's quite possible honestly...there are no road signs or anything...they use the sun and a compass for the most part...it's really impressive when their navagation skills work...anyway, after seeing the mighty sand dunes we set up camp...our guide (Mogi) cooked us a wonderful meal from these magic food boxes...seriously, the food just kept coming...it lasted the entire three days we were camping...they just kept pulling food out of thin air...mind blowing...after dinner we played some cards and then hit the sack...thankfully, it wasn't nearly as cold as i expected...

in the morning we woke up and headed to an old monestary after we had eaten breakfast...a few hours later we arrived at the monestary, and then spent about another hour driving around town, honking, trying to find the guy who had the key...after much searching, we found him...the monestary was very beautiful, but very small...and our tour was quickly over...then we had to go get some more water to cook with...but it was locked also...so we drove around some more...honking, ofcourse...and finally found the guy with the key to the well...it was a very extended stop...we kept on driving until we reached our final destination, the granite rock formation...the landscape was gorgeous! after another delicious dinner we walked these monestary ruins and watched the sunset...

this morning we packed everything up and headed home...but along the way we stopped at several gers to see if they would let us ride their camels...sadly, there were none...apparently all of the nomads are in the process of moving for the summer...we were real bummed...but we did get to go visit with a nomad family for a little while...in mongolia, it is extremely rude to not accept anything you are offered...especially in the country side...we all sat down and they immediately gave us this sweet bread (which was good) and goat milk tea (which was not so good)...you just had to drink it...during my torment, i discovered that the bigger the gulp, the less terrible the taste...so, if you ever find yourself in milk tea pickle, just remember...big gulps...

overall, it was a wonderful trip...i had a lot of great alone time, surprisingly...i'm sorry this wasn't a very interesting post...Roger was there, so i promise you there were too many laughs to remember...i would have included some, but honestly i am completely worn out...so, i'm about to get so much needed rest...sorry again for the blah post...thanks for caring enough to read...peace