After a good nights sleep, I woke up an overcast sky with clouds on the horizon moving in. After Breakfast, I heard that the ‘kids’ were going horseback rding. I thought it was a great opportunity to ride a real Mongolian horse, so I asked to come along. Compared to my only other riding experience in Spain, I confidently rode the horse – was able to turn him when I wanted, to go faster or slower with very little effort. I thanked the horse often just for carrying me (since I’m a bit heavier than the average horseman). We rode for almost an hour.
It was shaping up to be a wonderful day when Bysa got a phone call. His father had passed away. In a split second, this fun happy family had their world turned upside down. While Bysa and his family would drive all night to get to Ulaanbaatar, the rest of us would cut our trip short and take two days to get back.
Believe it or not, it started to rain again as we returned to the ger camp before Moron. They were surprised to see us back but happy to see us again.
As I write this, the rain has settled in with no evidence of stopping any time soon. But in a country with so little rainfall, arriving at a destination in the rain is considered good luck. As the rain drips into our ger, kids are playing backetball and volleyball outside. Crazy. [smile]
We have a long drive tomorrow so we need to be on the road by 7 AM. But with all this rain, I wonder how much longer our drive will be.
As I got to bed, my thoughts go out for Bysa, his wife Altan, and their kids Anon and Tsolmon. I am truly grateful for this chance to share some of Mongolia with him and his family.
