19.07.2019: In Mongolia

The border crossing from China to Mongolia was unusual. Thanks to our two Polish bus drivers who flirted with the Mongolian border officers in Russian, it went exceptionally fast, taking about 3 hours.

Between China and Mongolia, we experienced a significant culture shock. In China, the roads are extremely well-built (one never knows if a megacity will be built there someday), while in Mongolia, the roads are at best full of potholes and often off-road. Eventually, we reached our yurt camp near Sainshand. There was a lot of desert and nothingness, but still a fascinating atmosphere. This time, we were able to stay in very simple yurts. They were crawling with beetles, but we were able to keep them to a tolerable level. Only one had made itself comfortable in my sleeping bag, but we agreed on peaceful coexistence...

The people are extremely friendly. For food, there is almost only lamb in all variations, although the meat doesn't taste as "lamb-y" as it does in our home country.

As a contrast, our bus drivers spontaneously threw a Schlager party, which was surreal in this environment, but then again, it was good fun.