Looking back I’m not even sure how this brief jaunt even came together, but one thing leads to another and we’re getting on a bus for a few hours headed to Terelj National Park.  My travel partner for this excursion is Camilla a very independent Swedish writer/photographer who was on a mission to write about horse culture in Mongolia.  I’m usually the one with the plan, and making the arrangements, so I suppose the novelty of following someone else’s lead was probably how I ended up on the bus.  Our “plan” was to take the bus to the end of the line. Then using a small piece of paper with the words “Golden Gobi” written on it, we would magically find a ger to stay in and some food. 

The 2.5 hour bus ride left plenty of time to consider that outside UB a Mongolian bus stop usually means some nondescript patch of dirt in the middle of the wide open steppe.  The vision of getting off the bus in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around but some goats, then holding up a tiny piece of paper with English words written on it and expecting something to result from it was comical.  Well this was Mongolia after all and things just had a way of happening, little rhyme or reason… but always working out in the end.

The end of the bus line to Terelj is a beautiful steppe valley a few stops beyond where most foreign tourists get off.  The next few days there was not another westerner in site so Camilla was stuck with me. Seeing as how I had joined her trip, and she was the one with the plan, I was mostly along for some comic relief. Fortunately my big bag of useless talents is always with me for just such occasions.  I on this trip I would discover some new talents as well, a few of these included:

- The ability to attract large swarms of flies into our ger by simply lighting a fire.

- Momentarily blinding myself while tracking a hawk through my camera lens as it flew directly into the sun

- My skillful negotiations tactics with Mongolian children, usually ending with me doing their daily chores.

- My impeccable sense of timing which kept us hiking during the hottest parts of the day

Not to be outdone Camilla showcased a few talents of her own

-         Her propensity to attract spilled aryg and goats blood onto her clothes

-         Her skill at picking up a car ride at night in the middle of a field

-         Her ability to survive off of Kit-Kat bars

-         The unusual knack for always having Mac Coffee

In the end I’m not sure who provided more entertainment but we managed get a few snapshots in, some interesting conversations, and found some 5 star service at the Terelj lodge bar.

Our ger may be full of flies but the bar has cold drinks and indoor plumbing.