Mongolia - off to Terelj National Park

Time to head in to the countryside. We had booked this trip with Eiggy and she had arranged for us to be collected and we headed off to our first stop - a big Buddha statue, but when you’ve seen one you've seen them all. Next to it was the war memorial on the top of a hill which we decided not to visit (too much hill to climb to see it!). Then the long drive out in an easterly direction to the Terelj National Park. On the road we were just mesmerised by the beautiful scenery. As we entered the National Park we spotted a young boy with a huge eagle by the side of the road. We asked the driver to stop (say “Zogs”) so we could take a look. The eagle was magnificent with an enormous wing span. The boy offered us his glove to hold the eagle we both declined as it looked a bit fierce. A few photos later we got back in to the car. Driving along the roads is like driving along an obstacle course. At one point the car skidded to slow down and then thump as we went down a huge pot hole across the whole road. We finally arrived at Chinggis Khaan's silver statue standing some 40 metres high on the back of a horse facing eastwards. For miles around nothing just this enormous statue it was finished in 2010 so still pretty new and very shiny a huge wow factor. Underneath the statue you can take a lift up the horses tail in to it's body and then out on to the neck and finally the head of the horse looking out with Chinggis Khaan behind you ready to go in to battle. It was just an amazing statue that the photos can't do it justice. It was sited in this spot as this was his main stomping ground back in the 13C when he put together his mighty Empire. For miles around nothing, just pure beauty. Next stop back along the road and we headed deeper into the countryside and we spotted some camels, again we stopped, then we spotted horses, then reindeer, then goats, and finally an eagle as big as the last one - all in one place together. Weird mixture!. The man offered his glove and this time Bryan took up the offer. This huge eagle was on Bryan's arm with a few shakes the Eagle stretched out his wings and the shear beauty of the bird came in to full view. And with all this the bird was on Bryan's arm. Jody got a photo of the eagle on Bryan's arm and the camels in the background. What a photo. Back in the car and we drove past some summer ger camps (gers are the round tents that the nomadic Mongolian families live in all year round). The gers were in lines and looked so for the tourist. We crossed our fingers hoping that our driver would pass them and he did, phew. A bit later we came off the main road and headed towards a smaller set of gers, these were not ours either. The suspense was driving us mad, then around a small hill we spotted a small group of gers, three in total. These were for us, we were greeted by a nice Mongolian grandmother and she showed us to our ger. Yes our very own ger. Three beds around the edge, small log stove in the centre, a table for eating at with a candle (no electricity out here!), a sink, a coat stand and a small dressing table. All very prettily painted - a bit like a Gypsies caravan really - and it had a nice warm feeling to it. It was like posh camping!! As soon as we had settled in the Mongolian lady brought us our lunch, potato & carrot soup. Bryan had his with goat in it! Very nice and very welcoming after travelling for so long. Later she brought us dinner too and it wasn't long before we had the fire going and we opened the bottle of Mongolian vodka, costing £1.50. The evening ended when the bottle was empty and the fire was glowing red in the evening night. Perfect!