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Sunday was the first of September so it was an office day, completing our routine month-end tasks. Breakfast was at the guesthouse – the usual eggs, toast, vegetables, and tea and we went over to Big Pizza and Burger for the pizza we wanted yesterday.  It was good, although a little spicy.  And even though we ordered vegetable pizza, it came with chicken on it. After pizza, we walked together to the Ulgii viewpoint that Sandy had walked to a couple of days ago.  Gorgeous views and today, it was very windy.

Monday was another one of our favorite days in Mongolia. After breakfast and chatting with our friends also staying at the guesthouse (Chris from Brooklyn, Sun from Malaysia, and Jessie from Hawaii), we left with Nazka at 11am to go to Tolbo Lake. Nazka invited her mom to come along so we picked her up on the way along with some watermelon and stopped for gas.

It was a short drive to the lake and we arrived around Noon. It was another extremely windy day and we were very happy that Nazka had brought a tent that worked out perfectly protecting us from the wind. It took us a while to get the gas tank to work so that Nazka could cook our picnic lunch. With the help of the tiniest pebble you can almost imagine, we got the gas to flow from the can and had heat. Our other option was to burn cow dung that Nazka’s mom collected while we were trying to figure out the gas.

Nazka cooked a delicious lunch – we had horse meat with potatoes, yams, and cabbage.  We also had tea, watermelon, and bread and butter.

We had great conversation with Nazka about the political situation in Mongolia, where their family lives and how often they visit, the various jobs she and her mom have had in their careers; just a wonderful way to spend the US Labor Day Holiday while here in Mongolia. After a short walk along the lakeshore, we drove back to the guesthouse.

For dinner, we went back to Pumakkale. Tonight, we both enjoyed the mushroom pasta. Tomorrow is moving day, so we packed our bags before getting to bed.

After a chilly night in the ger (temperature was 35 when we woke up), but cozy under the blankets, we were up for breakfast at 7:30. Plan came to get us and we dropped Jessie off at the place where he was renting a car and we headed southeast around 8:40am. The first hour-and-a-half was paved and then we went offroad into Tsambagarav Uul National Park to see the mountain scenery of this area between Ulgii and Khovd.

We sat for a little while and all shared pickles and crackers before carrying on to Khovd. We arrived at the Fairfield West guesthouse around 1:45pm and Marvin (one of the owners) was there to meet us and get us checked in. We were hungry and they have an outstanding coffee shop right at the property – we shared French toast, pancakes, a piece of chocolate cake, a brownie, and two smoothies. If they were also open for dinner, we could probably eat every meal here at the coffee shop. Lucas came in and we chatted with him for a few minutes. He is another one of the owners and it was Lucas and Juliana who we met during our first week or two in Mongolia where we learned about this guesthouse. I watched the Florida State game in the late afternoon and they proceeded to lose game number two of the season – it looks like it might be a long year. In the evening, we walked down to the river, to the old city walls from the Manchurian dynasty in the 1700s, and the main square. Back at the hotel we snacked on Mongolian beef jerky, pineapple, trail mix, and bread. A Brazilian couple knocked on our window because they were looking for a place to stay so we put them in touch with Marvin. We watched some Olympics and Cheers and went to bed.

For our first full day in Khovd, we started with the excellent English breakfast in the coffee shop. Marvin’s wife, Haley is from England and they know a proper English breakfast. The word I used to describe Khovd is that it is a pleasant town. Its streets are lined with trees and it is a quiet town compared to many of the other towns we have been to – population here is around 30,000. Marvin and Haley were kind enough to loan us their bicycles and so we headed a couple of miles to the monastery in town first and then another couple of miles to a small mountain by the airport that has several petroglyphs (rock paintings) from around 3,000 years ago and burial markers from the same time period. The ride from the monastery to the petroglyphs was off-road and ever so slightly uphill.  It was a workout. The ride back was much easier.

We each had chicken sandwiches for lunch back at the coffee shop and then we went to the gym to lift weights. It was a well-equipped gym and cost around $4 each. On our walk back to the guesthouse, we passed a bakery that smelled so good.  We found their entrance and learned that it is a bakery that makes goods that we have seen in grocery stores in other parts of Mongolia. They were baking a lot and the ladies were nice enough to give us samples as they giggled about who was going to have to deal with the English speakers. No pictures allowed though.

Back in our room, we had a few snacks as we worked on travel plans for later in the year before getting sleep.

Thursday morning, we got up and did a four-mile run on the paved bike/walking trail not far from the guesthouse. Today’s breakfast was a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich for me and Sandy had oatmeal along with scrambled eggs and toast. We started to do some research on the health insurance we want to get for next year while we waited for the two museums to open. The first museum we went to was the Khovd Museum – this one is typical of the other provincial museums we have visited with information and displays on the local wildlife, the history of the province, and they had a nice display of the traditional clothing of the various ethnicities that call the Khovd Aimag (province) home. Next we went to the ger museum, which was locked. Marvin said to check with the family who lives in a ger next to the museum and sure enough, she was able to get the museum opened and we had the chance to see 11 or 12 different gers that come from the ethnic groups who live in Khovd. It is interesting to see the subtle differences, whether it is a slightly different shape or the way the ger is decorated.

The restaurant where we had planned to have dinner was closed for some kind of presentation so we went to a place across the street called Winners. I had sweet and spicy chicken and Sandy had tsuivan. Back in our room, tonight’s new visitors were from Russia – they didn’t have a reservation so we put them in touch with Marvin. It was interesting talking with them and getting their perspective on the current events in their country related to Ukraine. We walked down to the river to enjoy the sunset.

We learned tonight that Brian’s dad, Bill, died after several years of battling the after-effects of a stroke.

Friday was another travel day – today, headed back to Ulaanbaatar. Breakfast was the same as yesterday and then Marvin was kind enough to take us to the airport. We checked our bags in and then visited the first airplane that delivered mail in Mongolia as it is now parked in front of the airport. Our flight left on time at 12:45pm, we moved our clocks forward one hour and landed on time in Ulaanbaatar at 3:30pm. We had arranged to have our same taxi driver pick us up and get us back to our Ulaanbaatar home – yes, back in the same apartment where we have spent around 45 or 50 nights. We were back a little after 5pm, we unpacked, and then went to Brussels Belgian Beer Café for dinner. It was great – good beer options and good fish n chips to celebrate a great week or so out west. We stopped to grocery shop and then came home.

As I was unpacking last night, I wondered if I would need my pickleball paddle for these last few days in Ulaanbaatar. Just as I decided to keep it out, I received a message asking if I could play in Mongolia’s first outdoor pickleball tournament on Saturday. I was paired up with Logan, who is working in Mongolia but is originally from Colorado and we had a great time. We ended up coming in third out of six teams, but it was very competitive and we both know we could have pulled off the win. But again, it was a ton of fun.

While I was playing in the tournament, Sandy enjoyed music and exercising in the apartment, a three-mile walk around the square, “Starbucks time” at the Muse Café, and then lunch at Greeno. I got home around 5:15pm and we walked to DeQuattro by Rosewood for dinner. This is a pretty upscale restaurant and it was excellent. We shared a bottle of Malbec, Sandy had salmon, and I had lasagna. When we got home, we had the chance to catch up with Rusty and Brian and then watched some of our recorded Olympics before bed.

Since I didn’t get a chance to go to Muse with Sandy yesterday, we went back for hot chocolate and chai tea latte today (Sunday). We then wanted to try a new restaurant for lunch called Revolution Garden but their kitchen wasn’t open.  No problem – we weren’t far from Silk Road and since we had talked about going back there before we left Mongolia, we went there for their chicken tacos.

We had dinner plans tonight with Oogii and Odbayar.  This is the couple who gave us a ride back to Ulaanbaatar from Barrenburren when we missed our bus and then we had them over for dinner the next night. We went by bus to the square close to their apartment and Od came to meet us. We got to the apartment and had the warmest welcome from their whole family – Oogii, their two kids (five and six years old), and their 16-year-old nephew.

And then the food parade began. They promised us a traditional Mongolian dinner and there was so much food.  Here comes the list: milk tea, dried curds, pineapple juice, Altan Gobi beer, sheep bone soup with noodles, trail mix, huge fruit plate with nine fruits and crackers, chocolate cake, a beautiful leg of lamb, potatoes, pickles, cucumbers, two salads, candy, and Jaegermeister. It was incredible. So much fun and so welcoming into their home.

After dinner, we went to the square for some photos and then Oogii, Od, Sandy, and I went to a great karaoke bar. Od and Oogii sang Mongolian songs, Sandy and I sang English songs, and we all had a super time. After karaoke, Od and Oogii walked home and Sandy and I caught a taxi back to our apartment.

And that brings us to today – our last day in Mongolia. We fly out tomorrow headed to a new destination and that destination is Nepal. First up was to watch the Bucs game – nice for them to once again get out to a season-opening win. The game was on at 4:25am Mongolian time, so I watched it when I woke up. We stopped by the bank on our way to the gym because we needed to get US dollars to pay for our Nepal visa. After our workout, we stopped by the barber so I could get another $3 haircut and then we walked to a restaurant called California. Yudko (AirBnB host) had recommended this to us when we first arrived and we finally made it.  Big mistake to wait so long.  It was great. I had a chicken quesadilla and Sandy had salmon and we both had healthy smoothies. Back to the apartment after lunch and we showered and got ourselves packed for tomorrow’s travel day and then we went to MB Beer for a flight of beer and burger each. It was a great way to celebrate our stay in Mongolia, a place that we’ve absolutely loved and a place that has helped both of us grow as we overcame challenges that come along with a country of this size and a developing infrastructure. Such a cool place and maybe we’ll find our way back here one day.