spain: canary islands: gran canaria: arucas and maspalomas and las palmas

While on my bus from Agaete to Las Palmas I realized this would be the last few days of my new years holidays. The bus didn't take long, around 40 minutes. I got off the bus before the final stop, as it went quite close to where I had booked a place to stay. This particular hostel was just a couple streets over from the place I stayed when I first arrived in Las Palmas, three weeks earlier.

I checked in and relaxed for a while, then went for a walk. By walk I mean I walked to the beach, all of a seven minute walk. 

The weather was good, it felt good to lay in the sun for a while. After a couple hours I put clothes back on over my bikini, and started walking again.

The only sight I hadn't seen during my first visit to Las Palmas was a former castle. It was over on the east side of the Las Palmas peninsula, near the marina/port. I walked by several beautiful rose bushes in the gardens in front of the castle, they smelled lovely even though the flowers looked as though they were near their end.

As I entered the castle I discovered there was an entrance fee, payable at a ticket desk in a different building. I didn't feel like paying (I have no idea why, I just didn't,) so I walked away instead. The reviews I read later made me think I hadn't really missed anything.

I stopped in a couple souvenir shops while walking back toward my hostel.

The next morning I took my time getting going, (when on holiday, I like having no responsibilities, or a hard core schedule to keep,) but eventually started walking toward a bus stop to catch a bus to my destination for the day. On the way I stopped at a cafe and had porras con chocolate for breakfast. These were even better than the churros I'd had in Puerto a few days earlier.

I got on the bus, which took me to Maspalomas, on the southern end of Gran Canaria.

Maspalomas is mostly known as a resort area, and as the bus drove through, I could see why. I saw hotel after hotel after hotel, as well as restaurants and cafes. I'm sure there are homes somewhere in the area, but I didn't see any of them.

I had briefly looked at booking accomodation in the area for a couple days, but after seeing that it was nothing but hotels and such, I was glad I hadn't done so. Especially because the prices were not cheap, and none of the reviews were outstanding.

By the time the bus came to its final stop I was rather carsick, and I was thrilled to start walking. It wasn't the fault of the driver, rather, the roads were very twisty which doesn't usually sit very well with me.

I entered the beach area near a lighthouse, turned right, and started walking. Then I realized that continuing in this direction was not going to take me to a beach, which is what I wanted. I turned around, walked past the lighthouse, and got to a beach. I found a spot and laid out my malong, then soaked up sun for a little while. It turned out to be just windy enough that I was covered in fine sand after just 30 minutes or so. Oooops.

Either way, it was worth it to be in the sun.

One of the sights of Maspalomas (other than the beach,) is a series of really big dunes. After throwing on clothes over my bikini, I started walking around the dunes. I was initially wearing jandals, which I ended up taking off rather quickly, as they made walking in sand rather difficult.

Some of the dunes are pretty big, and when I finally got to the top of a couple of them, I felt as though I had a pretty good view of the water and beach.

I got to see sunset, which was lovely. I wasn't the only one out there, but it was pretty quiet, with people just taking in the natural beauty.

After dark I walked back to the bus station, and caught the next bus back to Las Palmas. Thankfully, the way back didn't make me feel sick.

The next morning I went back to the same cafe for more porras con chocolate. I don't know how to describe it other than to say these are a bit of heaven, and its a good thing I don't have easy access to them back in Moscow.

I caught another bus, the ride to a small town called Arucas was less than an hour. I hopped off the bus in the middle of a very small town, slightly motion sick. Since none of the roads on the islands are straight, I was a little motion sick every time I rode a bus between towns.

The main sight of Arucas is a giant cathedral. I was amazed at the size of the church in relation to the size of the town itself. The carving of the exterior of the church was really intricate, I wish I'd been able to get closer, and higher up, so I could appreciate more of it. Unfortunately the church wasn't open when I arrived, but hours were listed, so I made a mental note of when to come back.

The streets of Arucas were super cute. It felt like a small town, and was relatively quiet whle I walked around. At one point while I was taking photos a guy came up to me and asked if I would be a model in a posed photo for him. He said he was working in an official capacity of the tourist office of the town. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but the photo he wanted was of me taking a photo, with the sign of the tourist office in the background, so hey, whateva. I never did figure out where I could find the finished product of whateva he was doing.

From there I wandered into a small platz, where I sat for a while, chatting with my sister through an app. I watched people as we talked, which was nice.

One of the other sights listed online was a park. I headed in that direction, and found it easily. The park seemed rather small to me, it didn't take me long to walk through the entire thing. Maybe I missed part of it?

Across the street from the park was an interesting looking building. I used my phone to find out that it was the building of the water usage organization on the island. It wasn't open for visiting, but the front of the building was photogenic. (To me at least.)

I looked at my watch and noted that I still had a couple hours to go before the church would open again, so I walked down the street in the opposite direction from town. The street took me sloooowly down a hill, and during the walk I got some nice views of the city back up on the hill.

Eventually I turned around, and walked all the way back through town, and out the other side. The way I've written this makes it sound as if the walk was longer than it was.

I stopped when I got to a traffic circle that had a big city name sign on one side. Next to the city name was a cactus garden of sorts, which I loved. I'd learned my lesson previously, and did not make any attempts to befriend any of the cacti. ;)

When I got back to the town center, it was finally time for the church to be open. I loved the feeling when I walked in. The interior architecture drew my eyes up, and I appreciated the grand feeling of the place. Some stained glass windows all around, and a grand altar up front. I walked all the way around, taking plenty of photos, then sat for a while and thought about life.

After the church I found a random cafe nearby and ordered a sandwich. It ended up being another case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach, I couldn't finish the food. Whoops.

Eating just before the bus ride was a good thing, it helped settle my stomach a bit; I felt fine when I got back to Las Palmas. It was either that, or we were on straighter roads. Either way, I called it a day and went back to my hostel for the evening.

The next morning was my last day on the islands. I started with another breakfast of porras con chocolate, and seriously considered figuring out a way to get them in Moscow. SO GOOD. 

I packed up my bags, and checked out of the hostel, leaving my bags at the front desk.

From there I started walking. I found a playground of sorts (basically an outdoor gym for adults, kindof,) on one end of the beach, and played around myself for a few minutes. Then I realized how out of shape I am, and moved on.

I kept walking along the road, which followed the coast. I got to see the water crash against the coast over and over again. A 30 minute walk down the road I came to a statue of sorts. 

A lot of rocks were piled up, in a shape that made me think of a woman. It was as if she was looking out over the water.

After taking photos of the woman, I walked back to the beach, and laid out for a little while, taking my last chance to soak up the sun. From there I went to a souvenir store, to make sure I had enough postcards.

From there I went back to the hostel where I changed and repacked, then took the bus to the airport. I slept at the airport, though the sleep wasn't good and I'm not sure how much time I actually spent unconscious.

The departures area of the Las Palmas airport is not a place you want to have to spend a lot of time, it's not terribly comfortable.

The plane took off right around sunrise, and I was treated to a beautiful view as the plane rose through the crowds.

I would happily return to the Canary Islands sometime in the future. I only got to see two islands, so there are plenty I haven't seen. I'd like to return when it is slightly warmer, so the beaches would be more fun. I'd like to do more hikes, and see more of the national parks.  

namibia: namib-naukluft national park

I walked from my accomodation to the Cardboard Box, where I'd booked my next tour. Even though my tour wasn't through the hostel, that's where the company did their pickups. The guy picking me up was 20 minutes late, which didn't surprise me, I'd gotten used to these sorts of delays during my trip.

The driver ended up being the guy in charge of everything, but he wasn't the guide/driver. He took me to a supermarket, where we met up with a couple ladies from Luxembourg, and our driver/guide. I took advantage of a few minutes free to go into the supermarket and pick up a few snacks. There are never enough snacks.

From there we drove out of Windhoek. The landscape and road turned very rural very quickly after we left the city. Namibia is mostly desert, though with a wide variety of desert landscapes. While we drove, I got to see mountains in the distance, which were gorgeous. I'd love to go back and hike there. The road was unsealed, which meant our driver had to watch carefully nearly the entire time, so we didn't puncture tires.

We pulled over at a sortof rest stop along the way for lunch. I say sortof rest stop because it was just a couple tables on an overlook. There was nothing else there, but with the views we had, I didn't need anything else.

Our lunch was cold cut sandwiches, yogurt, and orange juice. While trying to capture the views I realized I need a wide angle camera. From this viewpoint we could see the house where the Farmers Union meets every so often. We could see down into a valley, surrounded by mountains. This sortof rest stop was basically at the top of a pass.

From the top of the pass we drove down into the wide valley floor. The road was full of switchbacks, and was 'paved' with stone bricks. It was actually in better shape than the road we'd already driven.

Eventually we got to a small town called Solitaire. It wasn't even really a town. More of a rest stop with a campground and small motel, bakery, and petrol station. There were old, abandoned cars and trucks everywhere, fun to take photos of them. The desert is not kind to old cars and trucks.

After our guide/driver had a tire fixed (it turns out the road is bad enough that punctured tires and tubes happen pretty much everytime you drive,) and got more petrol, we started driving again.

We entered Namib Naukluft National Park, (the first national park established in the country,) and found the campsite. A few minutes later, we piled back into the car, and our driver/guide took us to the foot of several sand dunes. We climbed these dunes in an effort to chase the sunset. It was definitely a workout, which was nice to have after a day of riding in a car. Everytime I got to what I thought was the top, I could see another crest a bit in front of me. I never really caught the sunset, but I tried. As the sun fell lower and lower I really enjoyed the colour of the light, and the peaceful feeling in the area.

While we were doing this climb we were there at the same time as another tour group, which was a bit bigger. It was a mixed group, with Japanese, Koreans, a chick from Ohio State, and a guy who attended the University of Michigan. All of that group was on a longer tour through more than just the national park.

On my way back down the dune I realized my Luxembourger mates hadn't made it as far up the dune as I had. They had gotten confused about the time at which we would meet our driver at the bottom, so they didn't climb as far up.

Back at the campsite our driver/guide cooked dinner for us. We had (marinated) pork steak, and canned veggies. Unfortunately, we didn't have any light, so we weren't able to see our food very well. It was good, but I wish we'd been able to see. What I could see were the stars in the sky, which were pretty incredible.

There was a lodge, where I went to hang out for a little bit after dinner. I used the plugs to charge my phone, and used the light to read on my kindle. There were people there who seemed intent on getting drunk, I wasn't one of them. When I got back to the campsite I found the Luxembourgers had already gone to bed, even though it was only 2100. I tried to take a few photos of the sky (SO MANY STARS) but I don't know how to use my camera well enough for those to turn out well.

I had my own tent in which to sleep, which was awesome.

The next morning my alarm went off waaaaay too early. It was just at the time when I had set it, but it was only 0430, so it was still dark, and cold. Not so fun. Nevertheless, I got ready to go, because I was excited about what was on the itinerary for the day.

We all hopped into the van, and got to an interior entry gate, and waited in queue with other vehicles. The interior gate opened at 0530, and our guide drove with a lead foot. We got to where we were going first.

Dune 45 has the name because it is 45 kilometers from the entry of the park. (I think.) This is a dune where nearly every tour group comes to climb the dune and watch the sun rise. We were the first to start climbing, but we were definitely not the first to reach the top. How do people go so fast up a hill of sand?!? Climbing dunes is a good workout, especially in the dark. In a way I didn't mind being behind a few people, as it was actually easier to follow in their footsteps.

At the top of the dune we all took photos, and people were generally polite in helping others take photos. It is a beautiful, but unreal landscape. I can see why movie studios use this sort of a landscape to make an audience think we're on a different planet. At one point nearly everyone climbing sat on the ridge of the dune and watched the sun rise. Beautiful. The colours of everything seem to change constantly, depending on where the sun is in the sky, but generally you can say that the sand is red on this dune.

Dune 45 is 170 meters high, and the sand is 5 million years old. More than a little of it ended up in my hair. The wind constantly recreates the shape of the dune.

I 'walked' down the dune (definitely easier than coming up, and far more fun) back to the parkplatz. Breakfast was yogurt, juice, cereal and milk, etc...

After packing up the food, we drove a bit further down the road, Eventually we pulled over into another parkplatz, and our guide/driver went to buy us tickets. We didn't know what these tickets were for, but soon found out. We needed these tickets to get on the 4x4 vehicle that drove us to the next spot.

The road to the next stop is a road requiring 4 wheel drive. Even with the proper vehicle, you need to know what you're doing, as the sand is easy to get stuck in. After getting on our vehicle, we saw several stuck vehicles as we drove along.

The dropoff point for our next stop didn't seem special in any way. I wouldn't have known anything special was there. We followed our guide, who took us over another small dune, into another gorgeous area.

This new area was called Sossusvlei, or Dead Vlei. A looooooong time ago there was a river here, so there was more than just sand. At one point in history, the route of the river changed (or it dried up completely,) so all life was lost.

All you see now are the fossilized remains of the trees. They are mostly still standing, in what little clay remains.

It's really quite strange to see the trees, with the blue sky, red sand, and white clay. I was one of quite a few people taking photos, some of whom had giant, professional looking lenses. I don't know if you need that much of a lense to take a photo of something only a couple meters away, but if that was my job, I could probably justify it. I'm pretty sure I took a photo of nearly every tree in the area, trying to keep other people out of the photos.

As we were walking back toward the area to catch the 4x4 again, the wind picked up, a LOT. It wasn't easy to walk with wind/sand blowing directly at me. It's the kind of walk you make somewhat blind because your eyes are almost closed.

It was sortof a relief to get to the parking area, except that there was no shelter for anyone except a couple trees. At that point it was hot, very sunny, and very windy. That's when I learned that there is no orderly way for catching a 4x4 going back the other way. Groups of people wait around, and you hope that one of the 4x4s will come close to your group with room enough for all of you.

There is no designated pickup place, and there is no area for queueing. Well, that's not true, the entire area is for waiting and 'queueing,' much to the frustration of pretty much everyone. The guides form relationships with the drivers, and you hope that the friendship your guide has is stronger than someone else's. There is a lot of dashing across the area when one of the 4x4s stops for a pickup, hoping you can get on. I saw more than one person get really angry, pounding on the vehicle and yelling at the driver. I was getting dehydrated, sunburnt, windburned, and sandburned.

Finally, we got a ride back to our vehicle. Then we drove back to the campground, for what we thought would be a short stop. We packed up our camping stuff, and went inside the lodge to cool down and find ice cream. It was more than two hours before we saw our guide again. It turned out he had gone to get a tire fixed, and grocery shopping, but didn't tell us this, so we spent the time wondering what was going on. Argh.

Our next stop was a canyon. It's not wide, or even noticeable from far away, but when you get there, you can't help but be impressed. It's called the Sesriem Canyon, and is about 2 kilometers long. The bottom is mostly sand, and you can wander through a lot of it. There is some water in some areas, and when it rains they say you have to be very careful for flash flooding.

We didn't have much time in the canyon, I wish we'd had more. If anything, I kinda wish the guide had dropped us off at the canyon while he did his errands, which would've given us much more time to explore. Oh well. I know what to ask for when I come back. The Luxembourg ladies didn't seem to want much time at anything we were seeing, I don't know why.

After leaving the canyon, we drove back to Solitaire. This time we stayed there overnight. I was excited, as it meant I would get to have a treat at the bakery. Unfortunately, we arrived too late for that to happen that afternoon. Darnit. There wasn't much to do there, not even much in the way of places to walk, so I was rather bored.

We chatted a bit with some others camping there, there were a couple RVs with German couples traveling around the continent for 5 months. That sounds like an amazing trip to me! The Luxembourg ladies spoke German (and French, and Luxembourgish, and English,) so they were much better able to communicate, and did some translating for me.

This time we had some light by which to eat dinner. The food wasn't as good, but I loved that I could see what I was eating. We were eating while an amazing sunset was happening, so a couple times I got up and ran off with my phone to try to take a photo.

We were in separate tents again that night, only waking up when the vehicle of a different group was turned on at 0500 in the morning. I'm generally a heavy sleeper, but those overland trucks are loud. Argh. I couldn't get back to sleep, even though it was still dark, so I stared at the ceiling of my tent for a while. Eventually it was light again, and I started reading my kindle again.

Breakfast was the same we'd had the day before. Yogurt, cereal, and toast. This time the bakery was open, so I went with the Luxeumbourg ladies to try it out. I ended up with an apple something or other, and a cup of tea. Pretty tasty.

While we were eating, our guide was packing everything up. After a while, we hopped back in, and started the long drive back to Windhoek. Since we'd come back to Solitaire the night before, our drive wasn't going to be as long. At least, we didn't think it would be that long.

It ended up being that long, and more, because we had to stop several times because of the tires. Several times at least one of our tires went flat, and at least one of those involved a punctured tube. Argh. The road is mostly in the middle of nowhere, I'm just glad we were close to a car shop of sorts when we really needed help. That stop was at least 45 minutes.

Eventually we got back to Windhoek. The guide dropped me off at the front door of my next accomodation, and I said goodbye.

I'd LOVE to go back to this national park. I would skip the sunrise and sunset climbs, or at least do them on different dunes. I want to see Sossusvlet when there are far fewer people around, and see more of the area in general. Plus, I loved the stars at night, I want to see more of those!

america: indiana dunes state and national parks

In what became the way I 'planned' the entire summer in the states, I decided to go to northwest Indiana (an area people in Indiana call 'the region,) only two days before I got there.
I realized I had an opportunity to see a part of the state I've never seen previously, and the chance to catch up with someone I knew back in my youth group days.
I rented a car, and got lucky enough to get a Prius. Great gas mileage.
The drive from mundelein to the dunes took less than two hours, mainly because I avoided the morning rush hour.
I found the visitor information office of the entire dunes area, and stopped in. One of the rangers gave me a map of the area and explained all my options. There is a state park, surrounded by a national park, I don't know why there are two parks in the same area, but oh well. The ranger told me where to find hiking trails, where to park, etc.

I chose to start with the state park. I paid my entry fee (only $7!) and found a place to park. Or so I thought. I found the beach and walked for a bit, thinking I would find the trail head for the 'famous' 3 dune challenge. After walking for a bit, I realized I was in the wrong area of the park, so I walked back to my car, and drove to the right area.
The 3 dune challenge is a short, mile and a half trail, going to the top of the three tallest dunes in the area. It's a good way to get people who might not otherwise do much while camping in the park to move a bit. I followed the trail, accomplishing the challenge. Walking/running in sand is not easy, thank goodness this trail wasn't too long.
In August the park is full of cross country teams around the state doing pre season training. The average American isn't nearly that active, of course.
After finishing that trail, I found another, longer trail. This time the distance was quite a bit longer, but it was also very flat. I got to see some swampy areas, complete with mozzies. The last bit of this trail was along the beach, back to where I'd first parked in the morning. 

Of course my car wasn't there, so I had to walk the park roads to get back to where I'd parked. Not fun, but not difficult either.
Around the time I got back to the car, I texted my friend and found out she'd just gotten home. It was super easy to get to her flat from the dunes, the drive was only about 10 minutes.
It was great to see Katie again. It had been years and years since we had seen each other. I also got to meet her man Shawn.
After a while of catching up, we went to dinner in town. Chesterton isn't big, but that's fine. They took me to a local place with gourmet burgers. I had fried pickles as an appetizer, tater tots as my side. A nice experience, despite the lack of healthy options.
For dessert we walked down the street to an ice cream shop. Yum.

Katie is a wholesale coffee roaster, the proud owner/CEO of Needmore Coffee Roasters. During this visit I got to learn a lot about coffee, and roasting. I don't love coffee, I never have. I love the smell and the atmosphere, but i have never been a big fan of the taste. It was really cool to learn from someone who is so passionate about what she is doing.
The next morning I went out the door at the same time Katie went to work. I got to have a 'tour' of Katie's work. She showed me the different beans she roasts, and showed me how different roasts look. (Since I've never been a coffee drinker there is a LOT I don't know.) She told me where she gets her beans (Central America, and they're all organic and ethically sourced,) and told me how she chooses her suppliers. Katie showed me her roaster and explained how it works. Contrary to popular belief, the smell during the roasting process isn't so good. 

I loved learning everything. I see good things in the future for Needmore Coffee Roasters.
Note to coffee drinkers: a stronger/darker roast doesn't have more caffeine, it has less. It seems stronger because the taste of the 'fire' is stronger. More caffeine is found in lighter roasts.
After my 'class' in coffee, I drove to an area in the national park. I hiked Cowles Bog. There is a little elevation change, you definitely feel when you're going up. One end of the trail took me out onto the beach, which was totally empty at that time. Beautiful. Indiana definitely has moments of beauty.
After this trail, I went back to Katie's house and cleaned up in time to say hello to Katie's sister and mom, both of whom I also knew way back in the day. Great to see them again.

For dinner I met up with one of my PYOCA friends, Steve. Also at dinner was Steve's wife and son. We ate at a diner type place and caught up on each other's lives. It's been 3 years since I've seen Steve, it was a nice catch up. His wife is awesome too. I love keeping lifetime friends.
The next morning I drive back to mundelein.

the Netherlands: haarlem and national park zuid kennemerland

katie and i both wanted to ride bikes in the netherlands, but both of us were a bit worried about riding in a crazy city like amsterdam...every dutch person rides a bike regularly, kids learn how to ride at a young age...even before they learn how to do it on their own, they are in bucket seats on the bikes of their parents...one day while katie and i were walking around amsterdam we saw two moms riding along with their kids in front seats...one of the kids was asleep, the mom was holding up his head with her hand while riding along...i wish i'd been able to capture the image with my camera but they went by too quickly...

we took a train to haarlem, the ride was cheap and only 15 minutes...in one area of the train station we were able to find a bike rental place...the prices were definitely lower than the prices we'd seen in amsterdam...we both rented cruiser bikes, with foot brakes and not a lot of gears...
almost immediately i regretted not renting fancier bikes...it was windy and rainy, YUCK...we both had rainjackets on, but lets face it, with that kind of wind we knew we were both going to be soaked...for both of us, the only concern was for our cameras and phones...

we were able to follow a main road out of the city, all the way through zuid kennemerland national park, to the windswept beach...sooooo windy, but still fun...we parked our bikes near a police shack, then ran around a bit...we didn't stay around as long as either of us would've liked, as the wind was strong, and the sand being blown into our legs was almost painful!
we spent at least an hour inside a cafe, warming up and drying off with hot chocolate...
we rode back into haarlem and explored the city...in terms of aesthetics, it reminded me of amsterdam...canals, bridges, churches, etc...there was one big difference though: far fewer people...

when we parked our bikes near one of the churches we finally found the locks on the bike, so we weren't stressed anymore about someone taking our bikes while we were inside...(that was why we parked near the police shack in the national park, wouldn't people be less likely to steal from right next to a police shack?)
there is a center platz in the city, with the city hall on one side, a church in the middle, and other cute buildings...there must've been a festival/concert the night before, as it was still being cleaned up when we arrived...

we saw a bridge that turned sideways to allow boats to go through instead of splitting in half and raising up...(we also saw one of the latter bridges as well)...
we saw a windmill that was more for show than anything else...due to the crappy weather, the photos didn't turn out so well...(i spent much of the day trying to keep the lens dry, or wiping water drops off the lens)...

haarlem felt like a small town, very attractive...if it hadn't been such crappy weather we would've walked around more, both in the city and in the
national park...

tour #3 part 2

After breakfast the next morning, I walked again to the waterfall…the sun was on the other side this time, so I was able to get photos with the blue sky in the background, which hadn’t been possible the day before…plus, it was nice to get out and walk…

We drove back to kharakhorum for lunch…after lunch we went to the local market to get dinner food…I went in the market as well, just to see what was there…not surprisingly, I found lollies, and proceeded to buy some…and apples too, so I wasn’t  completely awful…lol…after trying the lollies I was disappointed I hadn’t bought more…yummy!

Then we drove to sand dunes…since Mongolia is mostly desert, there are sand dunes all over the country…the most famous dunes are in the gobi desert, in the south of the country,  but I was pretty happy seeing these dunes…we got to stay in the family ger, which was set away from the tourist ger camp…awesome! It turns out that ger camp was owned by several Koreans who came to check on it a couple times a year, but otherwise left the mongol family in charge…

After settling in, renaud and I went for a walk to the dunes, while kim, koen and taro rode camels…walking up the dunes wasn’t easy, but still fun…they’re beautiful…there were plants growing, I have no idea how…after a little while, we got on the camels too…while running down the sand dunes, my camera fell out of my pocket…fortunately, I noticed it almost immediately, so I was able to follow my footsteps back immediately and find the camera…unfortunately, sand had gotten into it, so I could tell straightaway that I needed to get a new camera as soon as I got back to korea…argh…but the photos were still fine, and that’s all that ever matters to me…the others in the group had cameras, so I knew I’d be okay…it was a tame ride, and not as much fun as I’d had during my ger to ger tours, but it was still fun to ride a camelJ…apparently taro liked it as well, after being somewhat freaked out by the way a camel stands up…

Our guide told us dinner would be at 2100…which would’ve been fine…howeva, we had no lights in the ger…there was no solar panel outside, and we couldn’t see any candles inside…so as the sunlight got dimmer and dimmer, we decided to watch a movie on renaud’s computer…(he travels with a small laptop, they’re easy and cheap)…we chose the Charlie chaplin movie “the gold rush”…it’s a silent movie, the words (when they’re written at all) came up on the screen…there is a soundtrack the whole way through…I haven’t watched one of those movies in a long time, but we all enjoyed it, and kept laughing…when our guide came in with our dinner at 2130, the four of us were sitting on one bed with the computer on the table in front of us watching the movie in the dark…what a picture we must’ve made…hee hee…dinner was vegetable dumplings…pretty tasty, considering…

The next morning we were all ready to go fairly early, but our driver slept in…we never did find out why…we figured he had been drinking, and was somewhat hungover, but our guide denied that when we asked her…

Our first sight of the day was a temple…it turned out to be the same temple gramps had shown me during my first ger to ger tour!! I didn’t get to see anything additional this time, but I was able to hear a lot more information, which was great…the temple was originally built by zanabazaar for his mentor, and was one of the most important temples in Mongolia…it was quite large as well, we could see the remains of the foundation of many buildings…since my camera wasn’t working at this point (even when it did work it made funny noises) kim and koen let me take photos with their camera…

Lunch was at another random hotel/restaurant on the road…

That night was supposed to be the last night of the tour…we stayed in the ger of a nomadic family…our guide tried to tell us it was done up nicely because it was mostly an extra ger used for groups like us, but we could see that it was the family ger…she and the guide slept on the floor in the other ger, which was actually the the extra ger…(it wasn’t nearly as nice)…

This family had goats, sheep and horses…when we arrived it was the middle of the afternoon, so not many animals were around…the family had a brand new baby cow (born just that morning) and a number of nearly new baby goats and sheep…taro toddled around in the pen, trying to get close enough to look but not touch the animals…he seemed to understand that grabbing the animals wasn’t the way to go…at one point kim and koen caught a lamb for him to pet, and he loved it…all the babies had been kept in a little blocked off portion of the bigger pen, and when we arrived, they’d been let out so we could see them…it was funny watching koen and renaud run around and try to get them back into the smaller pen…renaud and koen are both tall, while the baby animals are so low to the ground…I think I have a video somewhere…taro tried to help, in his own way but more than anything he kept getting in the way… lol…

Before dinner koen read, renaud walked in one direction (taro walked after him for quite a bit, until deciding he’d rather come back to his mom, kim) while kim, taro and I walked in another direction…it’s so easy to walk for an hour, look back and see where you started and feel as though you haven’t walked anywhere…

Dinner that night was what our guide called Mongolian barbeque…not like what we eat in the states…they heat up stones in the fire, while preparing the food…then the food is put into the pot, along with the hot stones, covered by a lid and put on top of the stove with the fire still going underneath it…about an hour later, everything is yummy…kim and koen had plenty to eat, even though they didn’t eat the meat…renaud ate a lot of the meat, he loved it…I ate a bit, but I focused mainly on the potatoes…it was a lot of food and we were all stuffed afterward…

One of the amazing moments of the day happened after nightfall…as we each stepped out to brush our teeth before going to bed, we saw all the goats and sheep owned by the family…RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR GER!! Goats and sheep are a bit skittish, and will usually try to move away from anyone at all close…every time we opened the door to the ger they moved a little bit, that’s how close they were to the ger…earlier in the day koen, kim and renaud had asked me if we’d be able to hear the animals at night…I think they were more concerned that the animals would keep taro awake…I told them that the animals would be quite loud when they brought them home, but that during the night we’d know they were there but they wouldn’t be so loud…and I was right…it surprised everyone, including me, to see how close they were when we went to brush our teeth…amazing…I tried to take a picture, but there were clouds, and of course the animals weren’t nice enough to stay still…even with an extended open shutter, it was dark and somewhat blurry…lol…

The next morning was another lovely day…I really could get used to those kinds of days…for a while we watched as members of our host family gave vaccinations to the sheep in the herd…definitely an interesting process…

Then we got to go horseback riding…we only went fast a few times, but that was okay…our host laughed everytime we went fast because of the way kim bounced up and down…hee hee…we rode to the top of a small hill, and were able to see for miles around…AMAZING…renaud asked our driver to take a photo of all of us, I need to get the file…koen had stayed behind with taro (who went down for his daily nap around that time) so when we returned, renaud went out riding with koen, while kim and I read and enjoyed the weather…

We left after lunch, and drove to hustai national park…its an important park in the country…this is the national park where wild horses were essentially saved from extinction…none had been seen in the wild for a number of years, so in 1992, a few from various zoos around the world were brought to the park, and bred…the babies were carefully monitored, and released into the park, where they were protected…ever since the herd has grown, and careful watch is kept over them…the program is considered a success…as we drove through the park taro proved to have pretty good eyes, he spotted the wild horses as well as some reindeer…we were lucky enough to see fighting between some of the males, I wish I had it on video…one horse kicked another in the head!...we also saw a few marmots, which look like fat squirrels…only they don’t live in trees, they live in burrows in the ground…

We had a very quick look around the “museum” and watched a 15 minute video about the park before moving into another family ger…as we arrived, the mom was still packing up what she’d need to spend the night in another ger!! This ger was one of many, it was a community…and much more permanent, despite being a ger…I could see an electric meter, so I guess they got utility bills every month!! There was a refridgerator too!! Koen ended up leaving his cheese in the fridge when we drove away the next morning…boo…

That night it was super windy, and therefore super dusty…we couldn’t see far, long before sundown…a lot of the dust ended up on our minivan, so someone wrote on the minivan “eat my dust”…it wasn’t me, I promise, though I found it just as funny as anyone else…