The sign said “San Juulchin – Hotel, Tennis, Snooker, Good Food, Bar, Restaurant”. Today the only sign of activity was smoke coming from one of the gers, all the other buildings were locked up and quiet in the snow. To ensure we didn’t spend every day of the Tsaagan Sar period in our apartment a driver had been arranged to take us into the countryside for the day. We had to pay him extra because of the public holiday, so he was in a good mood most of the day! We left the city at about 10:30am. Terence, ADRA Mongolia Finance/Admin Director, came with us also, which was good to have someone else to talk with. It was so cold that despite the sun all windows in the vehicle (except the windscreen) iced over – so it was hard to get photos. It took us about an hour and a half to drive to the Terelj area.
“Terelj, about 55km northeast of Ulaanbaatar, is a deservedly popular destinatio n. At 1600m, the area is cool and the alpine scenery is magnificent, and there are great opportunities for hiking, rock climbing swimming (in icy cold water), rafting, horse riding, and for hard-core extreme-sports fanatics, skiing in the depths of winter.” (Lonely Planet). Well, our hard-core family was in Terelj in the depths of winter, on a day with predicted snow showers. And yes, it was cool and the alpine scenery was magnificent until the snow clouds swept in. We hired a ger for about $3 an hour. Once the stove was fired up inside the ger it was nice and cosy – like a grown up cubby. From our warm base we made short explorations of the snow, the nearby hills and rocks. It was great to ge t out of the city, but next time we should have a sled or something for Alesia. She did lie in the snow and make snow angels with Chris, but otherwise I think she is finding that the idea of snow (and pictures of it) it usually more fun than being stuck out in it for a long time (especially at minus minus temperatures).
We boiled water on the stove and had instant rice and noodle dishes for lunch. MSG never tasted so good. We also had big chocolate chip cookies that I made, knowing that eating sweet things is an important part of Tsaagan Sar. The driver approved of my cookies, and spent some time playing with Keira and generally enjoying himself.
We started the drive home at about 4:30pm. We had had blue skies in our little valley, but on the road out the snow blew in and the road was barely visible. The conditions here are so dry that the snow does not clump together, but blows about like dust. The snow blowing across the road in the wind was hypnotising, it almost seemed to dance or swirl around the wheels of the car.
On the way home everyone (except me and the driver) fell asleep. We passed an open truck loaded with people in the back, all cowering down to expose as little of themselves as possible. Nothing like travelling in luxury. I was sitting in the front to get some photos of the hills around the city, but the weather had set in and all I managed was various shots of how hard it was to see the road!
