Day 7 Mongolia
So I've been bathing with wet-wipes for the last 2 days since I didn't swim. The first day was fine but I was all dusty and sweaty after the walk up to the monastery.
Thankfully today is a ger camp again! Woo! Not as good as a hotel room but they will have showers.
Mostly a big driving day today. I don't think we did any major stops but a few fun things.
We stopped and helped a local change a flat tyre very soon after we left in the morning. By "we" of course I mean Adam and Jules (tour leaders). The guy was very appreciative. Seems to be part of the Dragoman credo. The crew are genuinely nice people and seem to genuinely want to help people and love their jobs. Waves and smiles and yelled greetings to everyone we go past.
We did our biggest river crossing so far. That's not to say it was a big river but it was fun to get out and wade across the river and watch the truck roar through.
We went through an area that had a shitload of flies for some reason. Lots of animals I guess. Half the bus was occupied swatting flies to Queen for a good 30 minutes.
When Footloose came on the sound system there was an impromptu dancing feet film clip.
And I think we made a shopowner's month when the truck pulled up and 25 white folks (well 22 white folks, 2 Asians and an Indian) came in to buy groceries for the next couple of days.
Eventually our many driving hours were over and we made it to the Tsenkher Hot Springs. There's a group of 5 ger tourist camps here and we're staying in the most modest one instead of the "fancier" ones. It's run by a cooperative of 6 local sisters who lived in this area before any of the ger camps appeared. It's nice to support local when you can (as long as the quality is good!).
It's a nice spot in a valley. There are small tree covered mountains surrounding us. I was kind of expecting the springs just be open-air sulphur springs. Small lakes or pools essentially that you just jump in. Just as well they are not ... the water comes out at about 80 degrees Celsius apparently. Instead the water is piped to each of the ger camps via a dodgy series of pipes. Each camp has then setup their own set of pools according to what they want.
Our camp has 2 pools at different temperatures. Cold water is mixed with the hot to get the temperature they want as it's pumped in.
So I showered and had a nice soak in the spring before dinner. I felt clean!
Change of plans! We were originally doing 2 nights in this spot then another night of wild camping. Apparently we've saved some money and there is budget in the kitty to do another night here in place of the wild camping evening. Score! Don't need to repack for 3 days and we're getting laundry done here.
It means we get a free day Friday before we head off on Saturday. I'm not sure what I'll do (I'm considering a pub crawl around the resorts here) but it'll be nice to chill out and maybe just do some reading and light walking around the place.
Dinner was fine at the ger camp. Had a couple of beers and a chat with some of the others til about 11.30 then headed off to bed.
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