From the plane

If we had meetings in UB,we would usually fly there as the journey overland in winter could be rather hazardous, and at any time of year was never less than 14 hours .... This is Dornod in January.

At the Market

These people on the bikes ride their bikes ALL through the winter .... They usually wear some sort of helmet because they need the visor to keep the sand or snow out of their eyes.

A man had come in to town, dressed in a really nice del with fancy belt, on his horse,with its foal following. The foal was very nervous of cars, people, plastic bags etc ... but it didn't want to leave its mum, and so stood with her outside the shop while the man was inside.

The billiard tables are a big draw at the market. They were covered over from November to February because it was too cold to stand outside, but they were uncovered again when I left.

Waste management ....

The "bin lorry", an open truck, comes round every 2 days, and everyone takes their rubbish out and hands it up to the people on the back. I've no doubt that it is gone through very carefully for anything that is reusable ... but a lot of it ends up lying around like this. Plastic bags especially are continually blowing about on the steppe south of the town.

Last pictures from Choibalsan

This was taken about 100 yards from my house, along the road from UB to China.

Camels

You do regularly see wild Bactrian camels as you drive about Mongolia. This was the first time I'd seen them tethered to a cart (although I've seen them a few times since). The mother is pulling; her calf is tied loosely to her. It must just be getting used to being in town.

Back to Choibalsan

This photo was taken from just about my front door step - I live close to the "main road" which runs east/west through Choibalsan. These lorries have come from the border with China, about 50 miles away, and will carry on in the morning for Ondorkhan and UB. In the olden days, this would have been a camel caravan.

Survival in winter 3

Deborah (strict vegetarian) helping the man put his catch into a sack. As he pulled the fish from the net, he threw them on the ice and they froze to death - it took about 3 seconds.