June 25

(a recount of June 25)

After worrying all night that my passport needed to be in two places at once (at the Russian Embassy and in Khovsgol with me) – it wasn’t necessary.

I woke up at 6:30am to do last minute packing. We walked to the bus stop in the semi-rain, past the square full of ceremonial military.

The bus of the airline picked us up and drove us to the airport. (Thanks, Eznis Airways)

They accepted my ‘Alien Card’ as ID, thank goodness. And we were on our way! (below: dad and I at the airport)

Small little plane that costs $270 return to Khovsgol. Probably 30 people on the plane. It was in pretty good nic. And we got a yummy sandwich. The pilot was American and the air host was an enthusiastic Mongolian (rare).

We were picked up from Muren Airport by our ger camp company. We shopped at the supermarket – for one whole week of water for four, vodka and two nights’ food for camping when we go horse riding. (Below: dad packing the shitty van with our supermarket shop)

On the road by 3:30pm (to the lake), our journey confirmed for Dad what I’ve been trying to communication for a while. Yes. The roads are shit. And incessant. 130km of shitty road in a shitty Delica van with a particularly shitty driver.

At one point I noticed him nodding off and began to pay particular attention because I wasn’t sure if it was just me being culturally insensitive and thinking his eyes were closed when they weren’t.

There was no doubt. He was microsleeping more than he was awake. I said something to the guys (he didn’t speak English) and they were slow to believe….. Until the vehicle almost rolled into a gully because his eyes were shut as we ascended the bank of the gully and he drove us over a boulder. Lots of swear words from us and he woke up for a while. From then on I was constantly watching him though.

After a particularly long and arduous journey (130km distance at 30km an hour in a vehicle with NO suspension), we spotted the lake and it was instantly worth it. It’s a large, blue, serene, beautiful lake. Ger camps dot the shore and ducks with ducklings swim (water too cold for us!). Yaks of various colours and horses graze on the taiga that meets the lake. (below: a sneak peak of the lake – our first glimpse of water. Woo!)

The sun sets and the air cools. The stove in our ger is lit and we have dinner (mine soy protein chicken as I told them I was vego so I didn’t have to eat mutton. To be honest, for the last week I’ve considered it – the thought of consuming meat makes me queasy).

Dad lit the candle in the ger (no electricity) and now we’re reading and writing and preparing for bed (after a nice warm shower). (below: dad by the lake on the left; me outside our ger on the right)

Quote of the day: (in the jeep) “if this were Australia, there’d be a slab of beer in here. You’d be scratching to swallow it though {too bumpy to drink anything}. I guess that’s why they drink vodka, because beer would get too shook up {from the shitty road}”.