ALIVE IN ULAANBAATAR.

Happy (almost!) 4th of July! We will be celebrating on a train to China, woohoo!

Meri and I had a great few days outside of Ulaanbaatar in the country. Mongolia is fucking GORGEOUS. It basically looks like Lake Baikal minus the huge lake. We stayed with this great company (really just one big family that owns a bunch of yerts and horses) called STEPPERIDERS in their yert camp about 40 minutes outside of Ulaanbaatar. We didn't make it all the way out to the Gobi Dessert or the National Park, but there is no need. Mongolia becomes insanely and completely rural maybe 10 minutes outside of the city. It's nuts. Our guides told us that everyone in Mongolia is either a nomad or lives in Ulaanbaatar. Anyway, everyone who works for Stepperiders was wonderful, we had the best time. We spent one night in one of their yerts and two nights camping out in the steppe and in the forest. And they even taught me how to ride a horse! I was led 90% of the time on a rope by another guide, but they were great. I even got up to a fast-paced run for maybe 2 seconds! Be proud! (AND nothing fatal happened, so be unworried!) We had a great, great time and were very pleased that it turned out we couldn't get our tickets for the train to Beijing for the 3rd but the 4th instead so we got an extra night out in the steppe and country. It was great. Everything works out for a reason, that is for sure.

So, in summary: GO TO MONGOLIA! Most highly underrated country in the world! The people are friendly, wonderful, and it is the most amazing combination of China and Russia together in one!