Sunday 28th July 2013<\/p>\n
Girlie Shopping, but no furtling. <\/p>\n
Happy Anniversary Claire and Will<\/p>\n
Today Hilde and I have been mostly girlie shopping. Just round the corner. It didn’t look open, but was. Two female shop assistants, not as insistent as last time I was there, one security guard, and an armed soldier who followed us round every step of the way. Daunting. No way would we do these Mongolian people out of one single Tengen. Then we went across the road, to an organic cafe and shop. Drank coffee, nattered then bought lunch in shop. Kettles sea salt and black pepper crisps. I then show Hilde the Souvenir section of the Sky Shop. She is enthralled. <\/p>\n
At hotel we met in foyer. Spoke to Rob, the guy organising the Mongolian Rally. The first team in hadn’t driven the Southern route, as we first thought. It was three Italians, who had started in 2011. Got so far, one was thrown in jail. Left the car to be collected in 2012 and decided to drive this year, from CZ Republic, straight through Russia. All took turns at driving. Completed it in ten days. <\/p>\n
He gave us contact details of a colleague who had set up the company Black Shaman. That was the name we were trying to remember. If LR’s shipping agent can’t help us, he can. We talked about his work, all over the world – Russia, Peru, India. Told him the route we had travelled. Apparently, the are we camped the first night in Mongolia, is notorious. For banditry. Whenever he has to cross no man’s land on business for the Mongol Rally, because he is not leaving the country, he has to have a military escort. Thank you Russian friend with the big dog. <\/p>\n
We visit Tumen Ekh, the Mongolian National Song and Dance Ensemble. Fantastic experience. Small venue. A large group of Korean University students. One of them comes across and offers us some packs of biscuits. The show is a true spectacle of colour, dance, music and wonderful costumes. I suddenly realise I have been living with a Mongolian Throat Singer all my married life!!! How do they make those noises? The contortionist was a very “springy” girl, as the programme called her. Not natural at all. Remember what Eenee told us about the curled up toes on Mongolian shoes. It is to show respect to the ground, and not dig it up. <\/p>\n
Think we know a short cut to the main road. We don’t. End up on waste ground, avoiding holes, clamber over large pipes and have to turn back at a locked gate. All adds to the fun. We find an Irish pub, advertising Guinness and Murphy’s, neither of which was available. We drink Mongolian beer. Then a trip to another Gobi Cashmere outlet. Several more purchases, including a jumper for Atle. <\/p>\n
On to the Veranda, a restaurant recommended by someone at the hotel. Overlooking the Buddhist Temple. Excellent red wine and food. Some very spicy. Tim got hiccoughs. Back at hotel we spend a little time sorting out packing. What will we take home with us, and what will be left in the Landy. Strange feeling. Last drink in the bar and agree an early start tomorrow. <\/p>\n
Try to Face Time Claire and Will, but they are at Greame’s party. Happy Birthday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday 28th July 2013 Girlie Shopping, but no furtling. Happy Anniversary Claire and Will Today Hilde and I have been mostly girlie shopping. Just round the corner. It didn’t look open, but was. Two female shop assistants, not as insistent as last time I was there, one security guard, and an armed soldier who followed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mongolia"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3bX1q-hP","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1715,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/1715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapetim.co.uk\/mongolia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}