Who would have ever thought that while living off the beaten track in Mongolia, I would have so many visitors.
Judy and her daughter Zoey are traveling in Korea and Mongolia this summer but also brought a ton of medical books that I had asked for that will be donated to the medical school.
Valarie is doing volunteer English teaching at an orphanage summer camp in the countryside but found my name on CouchSurfing.org and stopped by for a chat.
One day when I was working out at the Dolma Ling nunnery, a Swiss couple came by for a visit. Once they had been shown around, they had some more free time so offered to help me out. Séverine and Nicolas spent most of the day helping me weed the area around the stupas.
My friend Elke, whom I met while walking the St James Pilgrimage in Spain, is traveling in Mongolia this summer. Another pilgrim friend I met in Spain was in Mongolia but our schedules didn’t allow for us to meet up. Too bad but she said she had a wonderful time in Mongolia. I met Elke and her friend Francois her first night here and hopefully will see her again before she leaves. She’s spending the whole time on a tour and it would great to hear her impressions of Mongolia.
My cousin Steven and his wife Melissa are coming through Ulaanbaatar to catch the TransSiberian Railway train to Moscow (they hope to finish in Europe where they will do some bike touring). They are finishing four years of teaching English in Japan. I actually stopped by Matt’s house on two of my cross-country bike trips, so it’s time for to return the favor. Our first night we spent at a cafe across the street where we got a pizza so large, we couldn’t have anything else on the table. The next day, I took them to Gandan Monastery and then Choijin Lama Museum, followed by grub at Millie’s, an expat restaurant with food just like home. And tomorrow, Biggie will take them on a two-night trip to the countryside where they will stay with a family. Then it’s off to Moscow for them.
