We continued our trip stopping at Erdene Zuu Khiid (Monastery) in Kharkhorin, Tsetserleg and Tsenkher Hot Springs. At our ger camp at the hot springs there was a large group of Mongolians on holiday with lots of children. A little boy burst into our ger one evening by accident, thinking it was his and he ran out giggling. Then for the next half a hour or so we had little children one at a time opening the door to look in at us thinking it was a great game!

We then headed to Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park. We were in our 4WD vehicle with our guide and driver, crossing a rickety old bridge into the park when a plank (a bit like a railway sleeper in size) snapped and one end wedged up under the chassis. I think our driver thought the bridge was collapsing and we were going to go through so he accelerated, unfortunately this sent us riding up over the plank and it threw us sideways partly over the side of the bridge. We were at an angle greater than 45 degrees diagonaly hanging in midair, rocking away with a 10 meter drop below us! If it wasn't for the fact that the front axle wedged on another bit of wood and the back drivers wheel didn't quite get over the lip on the edge of the bridge we would have gone down. There were also two full cans of fuel on the roof. Martin managed to climb up out of the open passenger window back onto the bridge but was a bit scared that this would unbalance the vehicle and send the rest of us crashing down to the river, fortunately it didn't and he managed to hold onto ledge under the doors to balance it better while the driver, the guide and me climbed out. We all got out without a scratch but were a bit shaky for a while.

Loads of the local people came to see what was going on over the next couple of hours and a lorry and another 4WD eventually pulled it back over the side with some ropes. It didn't look like it would be drivable to finish our tour, it had fluid leaking out from underneath, a bent shock absorber, twisted front door post, buckled drivers door and broken drivers window. The driver stayed behind to help do some repairs and we had a van sent for us by the man who owned the guest ger where we were staying that night on the edge of the Terkh (or Great White) Lake.

One thing we had noticed over the previous days of our trip was that each time we passed an ovoo (a large pile of rocks usually at a high point on a road) our driver would stop to walk around the ovoo and make an offering to the local spirits for good luck for our journey. An offering can be just another rock to add to the pile but some will go as far as sprinkling a little of their beloved vodka. We had stopped at an ovoo about half an hour before before we had nearly gone over the side of the bridge and our driver had gone through the usual ritual. After the accident though, perhaps realising it hadn't brought him the good luck he'd hoped for, decided not to bother stopping at them anymore!

The following day we went on horseback to the Khorgo volcano, climbing up the last little bit to the rim of the crater. A day later the vehicle was on the road again minus the driver door with a bit of board and sellotape in its place and off we went, it was probably only roadworthy by Mongolian standards! We had some rain and snow again on the last couple of days which were all day drives, and the mud roads were terrible, we were slipping and sliding about even in 4WD. We set off at 8am the first day and arrived at our place to stay in Bulgan at 11pm, the last 50kms took 2 and a half hours! There were a lot of 2WD cars and vans just abandoned on the side of the roads as they couldn't seem to go any way but sideways and then get stuck! After Bulgan the roads were finally surfaced again so were a little easier going, and we passed through Erdenet ending the trip in Darkhan. There is little to do in Darkhan as a tourist but we were there to visit Kate and Jeanette and we had a lovely time with them.

So after another 3000 kilometers, we got a car back to Ulaanbaatar and flight to Beijing for a short stopover before our flight to Finland.