the altai range

After a full day teaching, the next day was spent traveling further west to the Altai Mountain range, in a place where Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan come together.

The twins, again!

Pit stop, pee stop or a flat tire

Tea stop

Mid-desert meeting meet-up!

Stupa stop

Petroglyphs we stopped to see in Inner Mongolia span the time period from the early Neolithic (c. 8000 BC) to the later dynasties (nineteenth century).

Incredible.

Hello! A glacial cut valley

a week in the desert

Big skies. Vast plains. Epic mountains. There aren't enough adjectives to describe the milieu of Mongolia, a place where it feels like it is one of the last untouched frontiers, anywhere.

A look at some of the service work and cultural activities - from textile tutorials to camel milking.
Or here shoveling - another day on the job...

Hair washing, finally!

the village of sogoog

Nine year old Kazahk twins, always wearing their respective blue and greens

We stayed in the small village of Sogoog for the better part of a week, and it was there that work with a locally run NGO began. Teaching English, building a house and tending gardens in an effort to provide a more balanced diet to the typical meat-and-dairy heavy diet of the nomads were some of the service projects designed in consultation with herding families, village elders and small towns in the region. Beautiful and generous people.

The best little dancer around

Our ger homes

to ulgii and beyond

Headed west after flying into Ulgii from Ulaan Bataar, the country's only Muslim and Kazakh province (and sharing borders with Russia and China). 
Our amazing Soviet era vans:

The 'road'

Camel riding fun

The province is famous for the traditional hunting method using trained eagles (similar to how trained falcons hunt)

terelj national park

A short drive from UB, Terelj National Park is one of the most well-known parks in central Mongolia, famous for its unique rock formations and valley views. 

A visit to the largest horse statue in the world, of Chinngis (Genghis) Khan:

The first sighting of many gers

Vegetable tsuivan, a fried noodle and meat dish
Hanging out in the ger - so called a ger instead of a yurt because of the felt-lined walls. The original mobile home, gers have been part of the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle for thousands of years, and still seen throughout the country.

Cave exploration

In Mongolia, horses outnumber people 13 to 1... must go riding then!

Horses are also eaten, as I found out at one dinner 2.5 dumplings in...