Day 9 On Tour.
When I first started to wake up, it was to the noises of the Yak, snorting to each other. The next thing I felt was my face! Despite applying moisturizer 4 times, it was an angry, dry mess. I have a section on my chin that is pretty severe & covered in tiny blisters. Thankfully I manage to procure some small sachets of emergency sunscreen for the next 2 days.
Outside more snow had melted, but we could still see it sitting heavy on the mountains, in river beds & gripping on to the trees.
Before long we had saddled up the horses & set off for another big day of riding. Thankfully the snow had started to melt, todays riding took us up & down the sides of mountains, weaving between trees, fallen logs & rocks. Despite a more challenging trail for the horses & for us, it was breath takingly beautiful & peaceful. The air was so fresh & cool, the smell of pine trees strong & the sound of our horse guide singing in Mongolian.
We reached our next guest house at 3pm & stopped for lunch. We covered about 10 km's going up & down the mountains to a section in the national park called Eight lakes, totally secluded & can only be reached by horse or foot.
The family we stayed with had a large herd of goats, a few horses, some sheep & an orphaned lamb that the 2 children were carrying around & playing with.
After lunch & a quick nap, we gingerly got back in the saddles & set off to explore the lakes. We rode through more breath taking landscape. Imagine pine trees with icicles, glistening frozen lakes, animals grazing constantly on green never ending fields, rolling hills, rock formations & gullies all under a vast blue sky full of birds of prey swooping around. Mongolia is truly one of the most breath taking & peaceful places we have ever been to. I keep writing it, I can't honestly write it enough! The videos & photos are beautiful, but tragically fail to capture what it feels like to experience Mongolia like this on a horse.
After about 9 km's of riding at a brisk trot we reach the last & biggest lake. We let our horses off to feed & climb the small mountain next to the lake, at the top a worthwhile view & a few great team photo opportunities. After 2 days of riding, climbing up the mountain was no easy challenge.
When we arrived back at the bottom, the sun had just set, making it around 8pm. The horses were in great spirits realising we were on our way home. The track home was slightly shorter and a lot flatter, we were able to move through some areas at a canter & the rest at a fast trot. On one particular flat section, my horse was feeling a bit too frisky & tried to kick the other horses multiple times. I was so grumpy with him after that & had to ride him away from the others. We arrived back at our ger around 9.30pm, it was freezing cold again & I could hear the horses hooves snapping the frost covered grass. Dinner felt like the most delicious meal I had ever had (Mongolian stew) and I realised I was ravenous from such a big day. My second bowl of soup was barely finished before my eyes were trying to shut by themselves.
Today has been a huge highlight for us, something we will always remember & cherish.
- Alli
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