August Events in Beijing & Mongolia

Rusty & I spent 4 nights in Beijing visiting the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, the Summer Palace & the Great Wall as well as some Olympic set up (but no games). Then we took a train to Mongolia. After we checked into a hostel & showered we walked out the door & met a couple from Poland recruiting 2 other people to join them (to split costs) on a trip through the countryside, so the next morning we took off with them for 16 days to the Gobi, the old capital monastery with monks chanting, and the mountains in the north with lakes & rivers. We spent our nights in Gers (semi-permanent tent dwellings), camping, and one night with a family (the Polish couple had met their daughter on the train from Moscow). That was one of the coolest experiences, of course, because they hosted us so sweetly. We slept at their family Ger about 7 hours away from the capital city. It was crazy crowded in the Ger. Rusty & I shared one bed smaller than the size of a single bed. But it was really cool. We didn't get a chance to shower for up to 7 days the last stint. One other night, Rusty caught 2 type of fish he was interested in, but not the huge Tiamen because we weren't on a fishing specific trip with guides to show where to find them. He may not choose to arrange a fishing specific tour because it will require another month in Mongolia & it's really expensive (4 times the price of the 16 day tour we just took). One night he caught 2 Lenok & we fried them for dinner with a package of seasoning we took out of a Chinese noodle soup package. It was quite delicious & fun. Depending how Rusty's business sale continues to wrap up (still hearing crazy news that may call us home), we're most likely to head back to Beijing this weekend then across to Tibet then Nepal & India.