15 Aug Mongolia!
We spent four hours crossing from Russia to Mongolia this morning, most of it spent with the Russians, who were mad that their counterparts in the hinterlands didn’t give us the proper customs document when we came into the country. Sarita and Don waited patiently for the supervisor to find us on the computer system before we were released into no mans land.
Our spirits were greatly lifted when we arrived at immigration for Mongolia and the officials” hearty welcome was much appreciated! However, the customs guy was very thorough, asking Don to take everything out of our steel box to check it, plus he brought his drug dog, a pretty yellow lab, on an full inspection.
All went well in the end, with us leaving the border area at last,
then stopping at a local restaurant for a great Mongolian lunch of goulash, salads, and chopped steak served with an egg on top.
On a serious note: I brought back some small bills with me that we’d taken home from our last Mongolia trip, five years ago, with the plan that we’d leave them at the first ovoo we saw in the country as an offering for luck. I gave each team member a 100 MNT note and one by one, we all gave our notes and walked three times clockwise around the ovoo reciting our personal wishes silently. Though it seemed hokey, we all share the same superstitions when it comes to appreciating how far we’ve come to make it to Mongolia.
We stopped in a small village not far from the border, where handcrafted bow and arrow sets are made by village artisans. I stayed behind on the bus and soon had nearby kids and their moms tentatively approaching the bus. I gave away an inflatable globe to big smiles from a little girl then gave a big bag of stuff to one of the moms for them all to share. Polite, grateful moms who were working hard at the playground next door, cleaning the yard and watering the plants. Happy village kids liked the globes and Caroline got some good pictures of them playing together.
Looking for beers, we stopped in a rutted pull-off from the main road, but the store was closed. A couple of ladies nearby waved us over to their restaurant, where we were able to buy three bazookas (the Russian name for these giant 1.5 liter beer bottles) and played a few minutes with their adorable little girl.
The rolling hills and farmland left few options for camping, so we eventually just pulled off a bit from the road and hoped for the best. A nice relaxing time around the bus, relishing our accomplishments over the past five weeks, and then off to bed. During the night, a steady rain began to fall, making our morning pack up a bit harder. But with the finish line in sight today, we were still in good spirits.