Last night at 2am Alesia woke us with screams of terror. We struggled out of our tent (lots of zips) and into the girl's tent. She was screaming and screaming. I could hear her voice at the bottom of the tent (we are on a slight slope) but not see her. It turns out she had snuggled down into the sleeping bag and then Keira had rolled over the top of Alesia's bag - effectively entombing her. Alesia had woken hot and sweaty in complete darkness and couldn't get out. Keira, proving she can sleep through anything, had to be rolled away like a log and then Chris pulled Alesia out. She quickly went back to sleep, so hopefully we haven't started her down the road to any phobia!
We noticed that we were camped next to some piles of rocks. They looked deliberate. The girl's clambered all over them. Chris found a frog in them (this was odd, as we were a long way up from the river). Sallymae took a closer look and found that there was a ring of stones in the ground around the rock piles. I asked Toya if it was anything special and she said it was an ancient burial ground. We can see four separate piles. It is funny to learn what is sacred and what isn't. We can't be silly around Genghis' spring, but we can climb all over old tombs. We left the old graves to the sound of the wind and the birds.
We arrived in Onderhan at 11:30am. This is the capital city of Henti province. Compared to where we have been the main street is humming with activity. We have mobile phone access, so Toya is immediately talking to her family and someone calls Chris not long after he turns his phone on. I feel a touch of regret that we are leaving behind the space and the quiet. We have one night left camping. Showers and toilets tomorrow will be great, but we have come through a good experience and it feels a bit sad to be ending it.
Onderhan has a good collection of Socialist-style monuments. Chris and Sallymae took a wander with the camera.
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We are camping tonight at the same place where we had lunch on the first day. I guess Toya and Baabaa ran out of ideas. The river is nice and the place is bug free, so we are happy. All the non-Mongolians washed in the river. Again - freezing! The girl's loved it. I feel bad that we live in a place where they can't go to the beach often or use a swimming pool easily.
Baabaa washed his car. Toya wants to make Khusur (Mongolian fried dumplings) so it is 7:30 and we haven't eaten yet, but the girls are holding up ok. They are performing modern dance routines on the sand for Sallymae.
We have neighbours tonight. On the other side of the river two van loads of Mongolian have set up camp. They are not too noisy, just singing songs around the fire. I hear a buzzing sound and think it is mosquitoes, but is just the bleating of goats on the hillside.
Baabaa helps out with the Khusur pastry rolling to get dinner ready faster. The car has been emptied so Baabaa could clean it all out. Keira has found her booster seat, so is sitting on it in the grass playing some kind of game by herself. Chris is trying to put the table together. After five days we have all gotten used to each other and worked out a kind of routine in getting camp set up each night. Chris already has a pile of driftwood ready for the fire later tonight....
