We have just arrived back to Ulaanbaatar after spending 2 nights in the countryside staying in a Yurt (or Ger) It was so beautiful, we had such a fabulous time. The camp was in the middle of nowhere, there are quite a few scattered across the Steppe, but they are all isolated.

We arrived by bus just an hour from the city to a cosy, warm inviting Ger and the scenery took your breath away. The hills were covered in snow even though it hasnt snowed for a couple of weeks and there were rock formations and then just nothingness. It was so quiet i could hear my ears ringing! We had 2 Gers between the 5 of us and then there was a little toilet block and a restaurant Ger. The toilets were truly horrendous! It was just a long drop as they cant have any running water in the winter as it just freezes - so that meant no showers too! It was just a little hut with a big (too big for my liking!) hole in the floor and a 5 metre drop into a pit... mmmmm nice! But we coped.

We had traditional Mongolian food, all quite high in fat but delicious. We had dumplings that were very much like cornish pasties, soups and then last night we had a Mongolian Hotpot that takes 5 hours to cook. They add most of a sheep to a pot with potatos and veg and stock, then heat river stones up until they cant get any hotter, add then to the pot and then it cooks ion the unique way. Im not entiresly sure what cuts of meat we had, but i think i had spine/tail and other bits, it was really tasty.

On the first day we went sledgingon the hill, forgot how much fun it is, and to the Aussies (who have never seen snow!!) it must have been weird. Had a walk to a big rock on my own and it was so quiet, just a bit of reflection. In the evening we played Knuckles with the ankle bones of sheep - good game im going to try and buy one!

We had a very busy day yesterday, up for a hearty breakfast and then a short drive to a big rock that looks like a turtle - we climbed to the top for a good view and in the process had to fit though a very small hole. We walked on to a temple, but i didnt go all the way up to it, just sat in the sun. We came back to the camp for lunch and then it was time to horse ride. They were cute little ponies and we donned our helmets and shin protectors and rode off into the snowy hills. It was a lovely hour just meandering around and it made it fun that the ponies just had a will of their own and we could do nothing about it!

We visited a nomad family, we bought her some gifts of vodka and some jellies for her grandchildren and Killian gave her an Irish calender, she gave us Yak's milk with salt - unique taste! Together with some little cookies and dried curds. We asked her questions and went to look at some of the families cows, it was lovely and i think she enjoyed herself too.

We relaxed in the Ger for a while and played a game called Mongolia Blue which turned out to be exactly like Monopoly! It was fun, but the second game just wouldnt end and it was midnight before it did, but didnt have to be up early this morning.

Drove back to Ulaanbaatar this morning and paid for just one room between us so we could store our stuff and have showers - its an enormous room, so thats good. Charging camera as it died yeaterday, but hopefully we can all share our photos anyway.

Just going to the deptment store now to buy souvineirs and do some shopping for the train and then meeting OJ at 6.30 to go to a Mongolian BBQ restaurant before the 9pm train.

I think the camp and the stunning scenery and the quiet and the relaxing atmosphere has been a highlight of my trip so far.