Well, back in the land of the living and fighting fit after my brush with the local firewater we headed off at 8am with Ming zhi's cousin, wife and 20 year old son for a slap up breakfast. I had a serious appetite and cleared everything that was put in front of me eggs, beef, flat bread fried dumplings and other stuff that I have no idea about but it all tasted good to me. Then it was back to the hotel to round up more "friends" who were going to come out with us for a look at the famous Mongolia grasslands. In all there were the best part of 20 of us packed into a couple of landcruiser's an X5 and of course the Lexus.
We drove out of Xilinghot for an hour or so then headed off down a dirt track, by all accounts the grasslands turn into vast wild flower meadows for about a month every year and its a sight to see. Unfortunately we had just missed the height of this but there where still enough for it to be impressive. Yellow, blue, purple and red flowers could still be seen and I said to my wife that we must come back next year in early July to see it at it's best. We drove around from one beautiful spot to the next stopping to take pictures and generally marvel at the size of the landscape,big skies. I know you guys from the states are use to this, but for a lad from Liverpool well lets just say I felt real small.
The yurt encampments we came across manly housed sheep or cattle farmers. This time of year it looked idyllic but come the 9 months of winter they have here you would have to come from hardy stock to survive it. Last year I was told that the average depth of snow was 6ft and it was always windy!
After 3 hours or so of this we made our way to a small cluster of yurts where we were going to have lunch. The biggest of them had been turned into a dinning area and the extended family that lived there were cooking up a storm for us. I latter found out the the price of one sheep butchered and cooked is 1400rmd, not cheap but I guess they make a good living for the few months every year that tourist can make it out there. Along with the sheep there was a range of fresh water fish from the nearby lake add a good selection of veggies and dairy products and you have a fantastic meal.
Inside the yurt where three big tables one of which was going to be for those that fancied a drink or two. Having been bitten before I was not keen to be seated at that particular table and did my best to slope off to one of the less dangerous ones. Only to be dragged back, but with much protesting on my part a bottle of the local beer was opened and I was allowed to join in the toasting with that. Of course as the rest of the dinners got into there stride more and more pressure was put on me not to be such a wimp and start downing the white spirit.Not a Chance! Every thing was going well I resisted all attempts and really enjoyed the food and the company until the chief of police arrived. I had been trading jugs with him a couple of evenings ago and it was like old friends meeting, much laughter at the state we got into and genuine pleasure at seeing each other again. Once he worked out that I was drinking beer he told everyone at the table about our exploits and that was it, well I wasn't going to turn the chief of police down now was I! We knocked back half a dozen shots each and the when he was distracted I snuck out. To be met by howls of laughter by others that had done the same. I grabbed my wife and told everyone we where going to climb a nearby hill and we set off. There was no way I was going to have a repeat performance of the last time. We spent an hour exploring and then went back to the inevitable scene of devastation.
The one good thing about the Neimenggu people when they get drunk is they get stupidly happy drunk and not arsey smash your face in drunk and even better because of there inebriated state I was give the keys to the V8 Lexus!!!!! Yippieeeeeeeee. The chance to drive off road in Mongolia in a car that I could never afford to rent back home let alone buy! When I started drifting it round corners there were a few nervous faces but what the hell it's not like there ever going to let me do this again.
We made it back safe and sound and I managed to get out of another dinner this evening. I now know that dinner is really all about getting wasted and nothing to do with eating at all. So Ming Zhi and I are off out for a pleasant and peaceful dinner together...................................
