Where Water Flows

Today was always intended to be a watery day, the original plan to go and see Mongolia's highest waterfall, Orkhon. However, a chat to our guide last night gave way to the fact that the road to get there would be very rocky and moreover, she had an alternative in the form of a hot spring which would be very 'comfortable'. Lets just say she sold the hot springs and so, after a slightly later start, we headed off glad to be on a paved road for the majority of the journey.

Or so we thought. After an hour and a half of only having to slalom round potholes and missing road 30% of the time, we turned off onto a relatively well driven dirt track in the direction of a town signposted as 10km away. Okay we thought to ourselves, this road is still pretty good and 10km is far less than we've experienced the last few days, still seems like a good choice. Only you guessed it, we got to the town (of about 40 houses) and drove straight through it. From here on, the 'road' was more of a set of tracks, when any existed at all and after five minutes or so, once the town was long out of sight, we were told the hot spring was about 30km away still, though it would all be on tracks which were in fairness a lot less bumpy than some of the roads we've travelled.

Fortunately if the last few days have taught us anything, it's our driver is incredibly good at off roading, so we settled in for the drive. They failed to mention the rivers we would have to drive through though, points at which our driver got out, waded into the water to check the depth, lifted the bonnet and removed something which looked suspiciously like a gear belt and drove through seeming pretty uncertain we'd make it the whole way over. 

And so with a lot of nervous laughs and thoughts about which shoes would be best for pushing a jeep out of a river, we made it to the hot spring with a new respect for our russian vehicle.

And now, sat in our ger looking out over the rolling countryside, I can say our guide was right, it is very comfortable here. The hot spring is nice if you can stand the sulphurous smell, the view from the nearby hills is good (though the skulls at the top were slightly creepy), but what's better is the pool at the back of the camp where we sat in the warm water watching 20 or so eagles swoop and dive in their natural habitat. Surreal? Yes. Unexpected? Definitely. Appreciated? So much.

The experience of staying with nomadic families, is definitely one not to be missed, however there are some things offered by tourist camps (like your first shower in four days) which are also incredibly highly valued, and sometimes, it's nice to get the contrast. 

Driving through Mongolia

Spot the 'Road' we just drove down

Going wading...

Adjusting the car....

Finally made it to the hot springs, this is what we found at the top of the hill...

But this is what we came back to at the bottom...