Further west to Karakorum, June 3

 We woke up to bad news. Robert was not feeling well again. Since we were heading further and further away from the city, the wise thing was for him to return to Ulaanbaator to get checked out further and head back to the states. We all were very sorry to see him go. We exchanged contact information and kept in touch throughout the trip and after. He is doing very well now, thank goodness. I am very glad to have made a new friend!

Karakorum, where we were going, is the ruins of the capital of the Mongol empire. Founded by Chingiss Khan in 1220, it was the epicenter of trade on the Silk Road. Most of the inhabitants were craftsmen from all over the world. Sadly, the city was badly damaged during an attack by the army of the Min Dynasty. The Erdene Zuu monastery was built on the ruins in 1586. It was the first great Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Stones from the city ruins were used in construction. It is surrounded by a wall featuring 108 stupas, with 108 being the sacred number to Buddhists. 

 The drive west through the steppes was beautiful. There were herds of sheep and horses free ranging on the hills. We stopped at a small lake that had Whooper Swans and Bar-headed Geese, which thrilled me! We checked into our next ger camp, Munkh Tenger, where I tried to figure out how I could get the bed back to Texas! It was so beautiful, but I will admit it was more than a bit firmer than I prefer. This has been the case every where I have traveled in Asia. It was also great that this ger had an attached bathroom. We had a very nice lunch and headed to the ruins and monastery about two kilometers away.

We walked past the walls of the monastery  to see a huge turtle carved of stone. This was one of four that had marked the corners of Karakorum. We walked back and went into the monastery and toured the buildings. There was a large group of school children. We were fortunate enough to see another ceremony, with the monks chanting and the school children and adults lined up behind them holding a rope. There were women pouring out tiny cups of spring water as offerings. I had caught a cold (I tested, it was not covid!) Sergie brought me a little plastic bag of the spring water and another tiny plastic bag of juniper and suggested I burn the juniper that night and wash my face in the water to treat the cold. I will admit that I did start feeling better the next day.

After dinner Sergie suggested that they light a fire in the stove, just a little fire. I relented. It is surprising just how warm a ger can get! Dinner was great, our first time to have dumplings. I also had my first Mongolia beer. I went to bed early, as I did every night on this trip. You would think I was old or something!