We arrived in Hong Kong on Friday and immediately went to the China Souring Fair in search for new product and manufactures. The vendors at this show are like vultures lined up and down the aisle saying "Hello friend, come inside and check out my product. You likey?" We give them credit for being go getters! This type of conversation occurred today from the hours of 10am until the time I started writing this blog.
Friday's travel WOD consisted of for time 100 jumping jacks, 75 air squats, 50 pushups, and 25 situps. The results were: Kacee 7 mins and Jay 0 mins. Jay did not complete this WOD and claimed he had work to do. I (Kacee) really believe he was being a slacker. Lol. Today's WOD was 3 RFT: 50 situps, 50 bicycles, 50 toes to the celing, and 50 sec plank. Therefore, all ab work. The results were kacee 10:15 mins and Jay 12 mins. Our abs were on fire after this WOD! But, not as much as our feet from two days of endless walking. Can you say foot massage? Burpees are up to date of course with a whomping 65. I actually hope this number is accurate, because I always seem to be off one or two. So, if my sister or anyone doing the burpee challenge is reading this, please let me know if I am on target. :)
Tonight, we plan on going into central Hong Kong and begin the BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! :) We will keep everyone posted on the birthday celebration festivities.
I'm writing this a week later due to China's censorship issues. We are unable to post on blogger, browse twitter, or stalk on face book. Just kidding...lol. But, we found away around this thanks to Jay's cleverness.
So, the birthday festivities consisted of massages, bubble, high tea at the Peninsula Hotel, and wine and lobster pizza over looking the Hong Kong City view. We had the opportunity to view the laser light show, which was unbelievable. A perfect 30th celebration, we would say! Asia is winning the war against PALEO.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Emersed into Tawian Culture.
On Tuesday, we took a break from the travel WODs. And for some reason we gave into danishes and pastries this day. Who would have known that lining the streets of Taipei were gorgeous European bread shops. Getting an early start, we headed to Beitou where you can luxuriate in sulphurous waters ranging from frigid to a bubbling 45 degrees C. Here it is important wear a bathing suit as bathing au naturel is not permitted. As the only Americans, we made ourselves comfortable amongst the Asians partaking in this scalding experience. Luckily we did not get in trouble by the "hot spring cop" as we were on our best behavior. By the way, it cost less than $2 to add this experience to our bucket list.
Maokong gondola was the perfect ending to our relaxing day. The gondola took us over amazing views of Taipei and the lush Zhinan River Valley into the picturesque rows of tea leaves. Here, we were able to sample tradition Taiwanese tea houses. This was a spectacular experience while taking in the mountains and Taipei 101 in the distance.
Starving we make our way back to the noisy streets of the city to #21 Seafood and Goose, for a real local dining experience. The specialities that we decided to try were the Kung Pao Chicken, baby clams with basil and ginger, grilled shrimp, and sauteed veggies. Jay claims for this to be the best Taiwanese food he has had this far.
Today, we awoke early hoping to experience Taiwanese culture at it's best at a local memorial hall. At 6:30 in the morning one can experience Tai Chi along with country line dancing. It's amazing at the number of Asians dressed in matching uniforms participating in their exercise routine this early in the morning. Amongst this, we completed our travel WOD. This WOD consisted of 10 RTF: 10 burpees and 10 situps. Burpee count in for the day! Yes! ;) For the remainder of the day, we were at the Taipei AMAP show looking for new product and meeting with manufactures. The end of the day consisted of a local Tawianese dinner with a manufactor. On the menu was pork meatballs to bean curd filled dumplings with lots and lots of wine! PALEO:1 vs RICE: 7. Rice won this dinner.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
PALEO = 1 VS. ASIA = 6
Okay, okay... I know it's been a few days since our last post, but we have been busy taking in the Taiwanese culture and exploring the streets of Taipei. When we last left you we were heading into Taipei via taxi to our hotel, The Tango Hotel. Once we arrived, we were unable to check in. So, they stowed our bags and we started our adventure to Taipei 101. Towering above the city much like bamboo stalks, Taipei 101 is hard to miss. At 508m, this structure held the world's tallest building for a number of years, but now it is in second-place status. It takes a mere 40 seconds (1010m per minute) to get from ground level to the 89th observation deck. On the observation deck of the 91st floor, you'll be able to see the massive gold-coloured iron ball that keeps the tower stable through the earthquakes. In the basement of this tower is one of the most impressive malls and food court. We decided to eat at the conveyor belt sushi restaurant called Hi-Sushi. This is one of the freshest sushi we have ever tasted. Don't worry we didn't eat the rice.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Off to a good start! Besides the Paleo!
Good Morning everyone! Well, night for our family and friends in the USA. It's safe to assume that we made the 25 hour flight safely. After eating non-paleo food and sleeping for about 6 hours on the plane, we arrived in Taouyan, Taiwan at 10pm. After clearing immigration and customs, we took a short shuttle ride to our hotel, Novotel and decided to complete our first travel WOD. It consisted of: 15 minute warm-up with attempting double unders or as Whitney would say it "skipping," 57 burpees, and 2 min max rep pushups with a 1 min rest, 2 min max sit ups with a 1 min rest, and 2 min max air squats. Here are the results: Jay completed 34 pushups, 42 situps, and 49 air squats. I completed 45 pushups, 57 situps, and 87 airsquats. Needless to say, after this WOD we were pooped.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
:singing: Leaving on a jet plane and we won't be back for 27 days!
Right now, we are awaiting for our flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Taipei, Tawian in the Delta Sky room drinking all the paleo water we can get our hands on. Did I mention this flight is 25 hours? Yes, 25 hours! Luckily, we have books, magazines, paleo food, and each other to get through this grueling flight. Not to mention the in flight movies. In 25 hours, we will be across the world emerged in Asian culture and jet lag. Keep posted for updates! We already miss our Aden, Toby, and PDI. Shout out to the 6am crew! And yes, I(Kacee)did 54 burpees this AM! :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Need New Headlights?
Everyone probably knows I sell headlights for a living. For the sake of link building this is the website were working on. It should be complete in a month or so.
http://www.headlightsdepot.com/
We need to start Blogging again!
Ok, its time to work on the blog again.
Give us some time and we'll get back into it.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
More Car Service Information
We have new car service information for everyone. For car service from any part of the Hudson Valley, which includes Woodstock and surrounding areas, contact Dawn at (845) 565-1616. Check out their website at http://www.allfamilytrans.com/airport.html. She states that she will beat any ones prices. Her price for up to six people starts at $80, but this doesn't mean she won't negotiate. Also, she can provide a six person van from all NYC airports for $250. This car service will dispatch directly from the airports and will accommodate any car pooling. So, everyone can post here and we can call to set up. Please, please post as you decide on accommodations!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Ground Transportation
At each airport website, there will be a link to ground transportation. There are a variety of options such as Hertz, Enterprise, and Budget. This is the best and easiest way to book a rental car. We definitely recommend this option as there is only one taxi service in Woodstock, NY. If you don't have a full car or a need a ride, please make a comment on this post. We know that some people would love to share the rental car cost.
If you would like to use the taxi service, please contact Mark at (845)679-7766. The only downside to this is that you must make reservation two weeks in advance to use this service. He only operates within the Hudson Valley area.
If you are planning on coming from the city without a rental car, there is a bus that drops you off right in town. You can view the bus schedule at: http://www.trailwaysny.com/html/english/fares_pdf/woodsnyc.pdf
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Accommodations
There is a nice selection of accommodations in Woodstock. We visited all of the ones mentioned in this post. Please book soon, as a few of the locations we wanted to add are already fully booked.
Twin Gables $89-165
www.twingableswoodstockny.com
This is the oldest guest house right in the center of town. There are 3 rooms with a private bath and 6 rooms European style with 2 full baths and 1 half bath in the hallway.
The Wild Rose Inn $175-275
www.thewildroseinn.com
Beautiful B&B just outside of town. Only 5 rooms available. The lady who runs the place seems very nice and the house is stunning.
Woodstock Lodge $99-239
www.woodstocklodge.com
With about a 10min walk to town this place is a solid choice. There is a restaurant and a bar thats open late. The rooms are cute little cottages and there are 27 available.
Getaway-on-the-Falls $140
www.getawayonthefalls.com
There is an apartment and 2 studios. It has a nice rustic feel and its right in the center of town. These should go quick!
Morning Glory $85-129
www.morninggloryinwoodstock.com
We didn't get to see the rooms but its a short walk from town and the family who runs the house seemed nice. 4 rooms with private baths.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Airport Options
There are two airports conveniently located less than one hour from Treasure Farm.
Stewart International Airport (SWF)
Albany International Airport (ALB)
Both airports have a good selection of airlines and rental car companies. During our last trip to the farm we flew into Stewart because we were able to find a good deal on a non-stop flight from Ft. Lauderdale. With the help of a trusty rented GPS system (highly recommended), we were at the farm in less than an hour without any problems. During our next trip we will try to fly into Albany, so we can give everyone a comparison of the two options.
For those of you who are planing to visit the city, there are three airport options.
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
Kennedy Airport (JFK)
Its a 2.5-3 hour drive from the city to the farm. We will update the website soon with information regarding ground transportation.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
A New Adventure
Our journey around the world is over for now. The adventure of planning a wedding has begun.
This post achieves important data removed from jayandkacee.com for our wedding website overhaul.
The Count
150 Days Traveled!
Photo Gallery
http://picasaweb.google.com/jaybarett
Cities Explored
JAPAN
Tokyo
THAILAND
Koh Chang
Bangkok
CHINA
Beijing
Xi'an
Chengdu
MONGOLIA
Ulaanbaatar
Tsagaan suvarga
Dalanzadgad
Bayanzag
Arvaikheer
Kharkhorin
Tsetserleg
RUSSIA
Olkhon Island
Irkutsk
Moscow
Saint Petersburg
ESTONIA
Tallinn
Saaremaa
LATIVA
Ventspills
Sigulda
Riga
LITHUANIA
Siauliai
Nida
Smiltyne
Klaipedia
Vilnius
POLAND
Warsaw
Wieliczka
Auschwitz
Krakow
CZECH REPUBLIC
Osdrava
Havirov
Lednice
Olomouc
Prague
GERMANY
Trier
Koblenz
Oberwesel
Rudesheim
Rothenburg
LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg City
BELGIUM
Brugge
Brussels
Rochefort
Hans-sur-lsse
HOLLAND
Amsterdam
Den Haag
Delft
Arnhem
Zevenaar
Maastricht
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Tying up loose ends!
The roots of a Sequoia at Yosemite National Park (us with Jessi and Tim)!
For those of you that don't know, we are back in the United States! Actually, Boca Raton, Florida. So, here is a short version of what we are doing now. Jay has the exciting position as a partner in the family business, Performance Depot. Kacee is the Family Services Specialist at the Covenant House of Florida, which is a homeless shelter for at risk youth. Our lives have been taken over by the real world! Help! Who wants responsibilities! We often dream about our next world adventure. Which in this case, will be our luscious, tropical, and romantic honeymoon. Well, Kacee hopes so! Yes, yes, we are planning a wedding! We have the exciting news of announcing that our big day will take place in Bearsville, New York at Treasure Farm on October 18, 2008. Soon we will be mailing out Save the Dates with all pertinent information. Constantly check out the blog as we will be creating a wedding website.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
We are falling in love!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Streets of Shinjuku!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Neon lights of Shibuya!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Praying to the Kami!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
24 hour Sushi!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Bangkok, Thailand!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Pad Thai in Thailand!
At 3 am, we arrive to Bangkok an take a taxi to the oh-so-famous Kho San road. This road is a backpackers haven due to the massive amount of bars and party scene that take place on nightly basis. Not having a reservation, we book a room at an awful hostel that appeared to be run-down. At this point, all we wanted was sleep. The next morning we wake and book a room at D & D Inn, Nils highly recommended this place if we were ever to come to Bangkok. This place was an upscale hostel with reasonable prices and awesome rooms. After settling into our room, we roamed the streets in search for Pad Thai. We had to walk quite a ways from the center of Kho San Road to find the perfect place. It was awesome to see the process that goes into making such a wonderful dish. For the past two days, we have been in search for a suit and planning my birthday. We have had luck with both of these tasks. Today, Jay found the perfect place to tailor his suit and I found the perfect island for my birthday. We will be traveling to the island of Kho Chang on Friday where we will be staying at a bungalow right on the beach. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! On the 24th, we will return to Bangkok to finalize Jay's suit and fly to Tokyo, Japan on the 28th.
Chengdu-Beautiful Pandas!
Xi'an!
The Great Wall!
The following day we strolled through Tiananmen Square. This vast stone public square lies at the heart of Beijing. Kites fluttered through the sky, as people attempted to sell them to you. In the middle of this square lies the symbolic center of the Chinese universe. The rectangular arrangement echoes the layout of the Forbidden City. Once you pass this rectangular monument, you have to walk under the subway to actually get to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and Qing. This place was massively huge in every way from the door ways to the gardens. We were extremely impressed with the architecture. However, we did not find the museum and audio guide helpful in understanding the ruling of the dynasty.
Peking Duck!
Caroline and Nick were a couple of rooms down, so we talked to them frequently. We met for drinks and breakfast the following day.
The border crossing was a breeze, because we slept through the majority of it. I guess we were still tired from our excursion.
As you cross the border into China, you are taken away by the beautiful landscape of the rocky mountains and perfectly shaped tress. Everything here is a very luscious and bright green. As we approach closer to Beijing, you start to see small rivers engraved between mountains and rich forest land. Also, we had the luxury of witnessing small parts of the Great Wall. This was a spectacular sight as we knew we were going to step foot on this great wonder.
We arrived in Beijing around 2pm and said our good-byes to Caroline and Nick. We hoped to meet up with them later in the city.
We made our way to the hostel via metro and rickshaw. Jay was very good at negotiating the price. But, later we find out that taking a taxi is much cheaper. Actually, we mostly walked everywhere unless we were with friends.
We explored the streets in an attempt to find something for dinner. We stumbled upon Wangfujing Dajie, which is a posh area lined with huge shopping malls. On this street, we found a restaurant called Quanjude Roast Duck. Here they specialized in Peking duck, given the region. We ordered a half duck with pancakes, scallions, garlic, celery, and sauce. You use these ingredients to create somewhat of a wrap. This meal was definitely an interesting and wonderful experience. After dinner, we roamed the area of the Wangfujing Snack street. Walking upon this area you are presented with an ornate archway outlined with bright colors of red, blue, green, and yellow. The street is lined with restaurants and street vendors bursting with character and flavor. Here you will find an array of food, like fried scorpions on a stick, candied fruit on a stick, and many noodle dishes. The vendors constantly try to solicit tourists by using the only English they know, "Hello, do you like?". If you seemed interested, they they would attempt to negotiate with you. We strolled back to the hostel and went to sleep with a full belly of roasted duck.
Hanging out!
For two days, we had to hang out in Ulan-bator before we could travel to Beijing, China. We ate some phenomenal food and met two new amazing people, Breda and Ralph, a German-Swiss couple. Little did we know that we would run into them later in Beijing.
While in Ulan-bator, we visited the Natural History Museum. Here we learned about the nature and wildlife of Mongolia. But, I have to say our favorite exhibit throughout the entire museum was the dinosaur skeletons. It was WICKED! Oh yeah, Jay shaved his beard off. He was afraid it would cause some crazy tan lines!
It's coming to an end!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
For breakfast, we had another loaf of homemade bread. Just as delicious as the day before! Today's journey began with a lake view of "o-was." Here there were multiple "o-was" that in the future would become one large "o-wa." Next, we stopped at two grottos. These were called Prisoner of the Dogs and Ice Cave. Both grottos were developed due to an volcanic eruption number of years ago. Before actually beginning our long van ride, we made a stop at the massive Hide Away volcano. We climbed up through the rocks, rubble, and trees to get to the crater. The volcano is approximately 5,000 to 8,000 years old, 250 meters in diameter, and 150 meters deep with a 35 to 60 degree incline. People climbed below to continue with the building of an "o-wa." A Mongolian lady surrounded by local children recited a beautiful poem to us about the volcano. We sat on the side of the crater taking in the view as this was our first time seeing a volcano. Our journey took 10 hours including many potty breaks and stopping at a local market. At the local market, Mishka bought presents for tonight's accommodation. Migaa informed us that we were staying with another UB driver's grandmother. Mishka appeared to know the road travelled, because he was driving like a "bat out of hell." He was very happy upon arrival as he had a huge grin from ear to ear. We arrived to the ger and were instantly greeted by the family. They appeared to be humble, but shy. The ger was very beautiful with detailed lace and silk curtains and wooden beds painted with vivid colors and detailed designs. For dinner, the family served homemade noodles with carrots, potatoes, and pickles. Migaa rounded us up to participate in goat herding. All family members participated in this event. We were unable to figure out the method for herding the goats together. However, we came to the conclusion that the babies and mothers were separated from one other for the milking in the morning. This was a wonderful experience to be a part of. Later that evening we met a 15 year old named Chiabat. He was currently taking the summer break from school. He had one month left in the country side and will go to Singapore to study English and travel. He asked us many questions regarding our personal lives and travel. You could tell his motive was to practice his English speaking skills, which I have to say we were quite impressed. He was delightful and very well spoken.
The Tranquility of White Lake!
As began walking our horses, my body tingled with excitement and worry. The beauty of the lake and sand was very peaceful and tranquil. My horse was extremely stubborn and wanted to constantly eat grass. He did not want to listen to any of my commands. Migaa told my guide to escort my horse. The next thing you know, I'm riding next to the guide while he is singing a Mongolian Folk song. I wanted control of my own horse! Thanks Migaa! Eventually, the guide let me have control of my own horse. At this time, Caroline takes off galloping with her horse. The others attempt to follow (she looked like a pro). I didn't like this at all. Emotions of afraid and scared run through my body as my horse begins to trot. I haven't graduated to this stage of horse riding! All of the horses slow down to walk and I became extremely happy. As we approach the family's house, the horses began to sped up to a trot. Caroline and her horse speed up to a gallop, the guide does as well, and Nick follows. I had to control mine to stay walking and Jay stayed back to keep me company. He's such a sweetheart! Overall the experience was wonderful even though there were many times that I was extremely terrified. However, I feel that I would like to take riding horses, so that I am able to conquer my fear of riding horses. I believe that I could learn to enjoy riding and appreciate horses so much more, besides their beauty.
Migaa came along on the journey, but quickly resorted to walking her horse. She disclosed that she had a complete of bad experiences with horses in the past. However, we were very proud of her that she had the courage to get on a horse.
After lunch, we had a siesta. Then, around 3pm we went for a hike up the mountain. We saw an alpine rich forest with a loud cuckoo bird singing. At the mountain ridge line, there was a phenomenal view of the lake. You could see the lake stretch for miles and miles. We continued walking along the rocky mountains and saw rubar and Scottish twistel. Behind a mountain of rocks, there was a beautiful single tree with long branches filled with rich green leaves. As we walked down mountain ridge line to the Ger, Jay and Nick decide to go into the lake. We all change and head to the lake. Jay and Nick jump in the freezing water. Caroline and I did not partake in this, because of the massive amount of poop floating at the top of the lake. Once again we took bids on dinner. Nick guessed buoz, Jay thought it would be pasta, Caroline wanted it to be like the night before, and I hoped for noodles. And the winner was... ME! Dinner was noodles with carrots, potatoes, and beef. After dinner, we made the short journey to the Grandfather Rock. It was depicted as a Mongolian man smoking his pipe. Legend has it that he is waiting for his wife to return to the lake. Here it was harmonious and magical. The moon shimmered onto the pure blue water and above the mountain ridge the blue sky appeared to have pink hues where the sun had just begun to set. It sounded as if the quacking ducks, the soft breeze rustling against the water, the buzzing insects, and croaking frogs were composing a song just for us. In the distance you could hear random horses "naying." This was the most beautiful sounds one could hear. We fell asleep to the crackling fire! Today, we were extremely tired from the long hike. However, it was well worth the views.
100% BETTER!
On our way to our third stop, we saw a high speed pig chase. Cows and Yaks were teaming up on a poor little sow. Migaa later told us that cows and yaks do not like pigs. Jay and I explained that cows and pigs live together happily on farms in the U.S. The third stop was Tseterleg(Garden) town. Here we ate lunch at a Westernized cafe. Western food, you say? The cafe was owned by an British couple from England. They had been there for over 10 years. The carrot cake was absolutely delicious! Oh yeah, they had a proper toilet!
The forth stop was the Chuluut Canyon. Massive rocks surrounded the bottom of this canyon with a river flowing north to south. The top of the canyon was surrounded by beautiful and rich pine trees. The view was absolutely amazing! Don't fall in! The final stop was the Khorgo Terk National Park. To get there we drove through winding rock valleys surrounded by mountainous pine forest. You could imagine the difficulty! We approached a volcano that was enclosed with beautiful green forests. The magnificent crater could be seen from the van. Next, we approached a beautiful fresh water lake surrounded by huge rocky mountains with rich pine forests. It felt as if you stepped into a different world. We followed the rocky road to our Ger and were greeted with pesky insects. The family had began a fire in the stove for us. It was nice and cozy until Migaa insisted on adding more wood to the fire. It instantly became blazing hot! For dinner, we had the luxury of having tofu with rice, carrots, and potatoes. After dinner, we had nice conversation over a bottle of red wine. Oh yeah, and desert. Jay and I had Carrot Cake, which I traded with Nick, and Caroline and Nick had an Apple Strudel. We discussed the differences between the American and English language. Caroline claims that American English is much older. As we are having the conversation, Migaa walks in. She began asking us questions regarding grammar and pronunciation. We discussed word like, happy, cool, snack, snake, beer, and bear. She tries immensely hard to use our language. We ended the English lesson and went to bed shorty after.
Kharkhorin Village!
Caroline and Jay did not partake in this learning adventure. Jay spent the majority of his time in the bathroom. Caroline stayed in the van, because she felt nauseated. She compared herself as a camel in terms of being thirsty.
We arrive to the Ger, which had to feel like an eternity for Jay and Caroline. Everyone took turns taking showers. A barrel at the top of the building acted as the main water source for the shower. It was nice to feel clean from all of the dust flying in the van and the various sand storms that we had to fight through. Dinner consisted of fried noodle with potato, red bell pepper, carrots, and beef. However, we actually think it was mutton, because the family's entire house smelt of it. Caroline refused to eat and Jay ate a small amount of fried noodles. We went to bed early, so that Caroline and Jay could recuperate.
Magnificent Waterfalls!
We hop in the van and begin driving to the Waterfalls.
First, we approached beautiful rock formations that appeared to be place sporadically around bright green grassland. We asked Mishka to stop, so that we could take a photo off horses standing upon the rocks. We continue with the journey and drive into an area with small rivers flowing through grassland with yak, goat, and sheep roaming, playing, and sitting upon the river beds. We decided to have lunch in this beautiful area. The boys cooked pasta with red sauce for the six of us and of course the girls cleaned up. Remember, it's the law. While the boys were cooking, I sat and took in the view of this beautiful place. It's hard to believe that I would be able to experience such a wonderful journey.
We get back on the road and after about 10 minutes, the landscape completely changed to rich pine forest with bright green grass that had pure white, yellow, and orange flowers growing. It was like we stepped into Narnia. The boys decided to stop in the forest for a restroom break. Little did we know that this area was infested by bees! The boys came running back to the van immediately as they were being chased by the swarm of bees.
We continued with the journey and suddenly approached an area withmassive rocks that looked like they were from a volcanic eruption. Migaa claimed that 20,000 years ago a volcano use to be around this area. The grassland appeared to be full of nutrients from the eruption. In the distance, you could see rocky mountains with luscious pine forest. Many herds of sheep, yaks, and goats surrounded the valley-like area. There were many massive rocks, hills, and rivers that the van had to climb through. There was an indescribable feeling of falling in. However, we knew this would never happen, because we had a very experienced driver.
Finally, we arrive to the Ger. But, we were unable to stay with the family due to lack of space. Therefore, we had to stay in a nearby tourist camp. The family still provided food and boiling water. After settling in, we walk to the large waterfall. There was not any water flowing from this waterfall due to the lack of rain. But, one could imagine the sound and the smelling of the bustling water. Around the waterfall, there were trees that had blue scarves strung about it. Migaa said that this was to represent danger to others who come here. It looked much like and "o-wa." As you look at the bottom were the river would be, you see beautiful massive rocks with rich grassland and forest. This was such a tranquil place and we were completely absorbed in the nature. Next, we walked around to the smaller waterfall. On the way, we climbed over huge rocks and passed a enormous canyon filled with bright red clay. As we approach the smaller waterfall, we see two local children gathering water at the bank of the river. We watched and listened to the sounds of the water hitting the rocks and flowing into the river. A fish tried numerous times to jump up the rocks to swim up stream. What could possibly be better than were he was? A beautiful chestnut horse with a dark brown mane and tail approached the river bank to have drink of water. He was not alarmed by us and acted as if were not even there. He continued with his journey and crossed the river to the mountain top. Migaa began skipping rocks and Jay and Nick joined in. Caroline and I sat upon the rocks taking in this specular view of nature. After about 20 minutes, it was time to get back to the Ger for dinner. Dinner was buoz with cow meat and rice. We had light conversation and retired for bed early.
Central Mongolia!
For breakfast, we had dry pancake-like bread with peaches, which we kindly added. Leaving the Gobi desert is marked by a huge mountain heading to the west, Central Mongolia.
As soon as we began our journey to Central Mongolia, the van began to have mechanic problems. Of course, Jay instigated the problem and attempted to help Mishka. Migaa helped by translating theconversation between the two. Another van associated with UB stops to help with the situation. In the end, the fuel was bad.
Herds of cows, goats, sheep, camels, and horses sporadically pass in front of the view. The view is amazing looking through a narrow valley of rock mountains. Mishka navigated through this valley nearly all day. There were a coupe of times we thought we would crash into the side of the mountains!
We arrived to Arvaikheer town, which appeared to be more modernized than the last village, Bayanzag. Immediately we went to the market, Internet, and public shower. This was our second shower in three days! Once back to the Ger, the grandmother of the family greeted. We offered her coffee and biscuits. She gladly accepted and we communicated through charades with her; she asked about the bumpy ride. She appeared to be a friendly and humble person. The family dog hung outside of our Ger as Nick gave him food at coffee and dinner time. Nick is completely obsessed with dogs! For dinner, we had rice with cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and mutton. Indeed, this meal was very tasty! After dinner, the grandmother and grandfather came into the Ger and attempted to discuss the sleeping arrangements. They were concerned with the comfort of the beds. Out of this, we determined that I was the shortest between Caroline and Migaa. Therefore, I slept on the smaller of beds and Caroline slept on the floor. That evening I wasn't feeling well and laid around while Nick taught Jay how to play a new card game. Migaa appeared to become more comfortable in our presence as she talked about her experiences as a casino dealer in her college years. As we were heading to bed, she cracked jokes with us about waking up at 6am in the morning. We fell asleep to the sound of dogs barking in the distance.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Beautiful Sand dunes of the Gobi desert!
We began our bumpy journey to the sand dunes. This day was going to be a short day in the van, hallelujah!
As we are riding along, Jay spots an advertisement for beer. Can you believe this was in the middle of the Gobi Desert? Maybe it was promoting the turtle bar. I was amazed at this marketing tactic! After about an hour on the bumpy dirt road, Caroline spots a herd of horses chasing one another in circles. She immediately asks Mishka to stop and he slams on his breaks! Migaa explains to us that the male horses are in competition for the mare. One horse frantically chased after the mare of the other group. However, the 4 other male horses surrounded her to protect her from the male horse. They appeared to be communicating with one another by rubbing their heads against one another, maybe a sign of affection. We watched this occur for over 10 minutes and continued with our journey. Nick spotted a sand storm winding up in the form of a tornado. This was a cool sight to see, because you hear about these phenomenas, but rarely a person gets to witness such a sight. The conversation then lead to the concept of mirages in the desert. There are so many times we were asking one another, "Is that a lake over there?" Migaa asked Mishka to stop at an "o-wa" that was convered with massive goat heads with horns. These were offerings that other people left to the Gods. The journey continues and we begin to see mountainous hills of sand. The ridge line in the distance looks as if the mountain began, but some one forgot to finish them. Some one must have lost the blue prints!. The mountains appeared to be colors of black and pink with little grassland. The road gets more bumpy and harsh as we approach the sand dunes. As we are riding, massive sand dunes appear to arrive from now where. The pure white sand appeared to be "glowing.". The dunes stretched across the desert in between the rocky mountain ridge line of the Ice Valley, over 200 km in distance! This massive dune is 180 km in length, 13-15 km in width, and 13-15 km in height, but can get up to 100 km when windy. We arrived to our ger and were immediately greeted by the lady of the household. We practiced our Mongolian that Migaa had taught us days before, "Sanbinno"-which means hi and how are you? Everyone appeared to be tired and a little cranky. Nick and I cooked rice for lunch, but the others did not eat. Jay was still deathly afraid of food and Caroline claimed that she was not hungry. Nick and I cleaned up in the sink outside and baked in the blazing hot sun. After clean up, everyone did their own separate thing. Nick took off to scope out the desert and the sand dunes while Caroline read about politics, Jay slept and recuperated, and I read my geisha book. I dozed off a couple of times while reading. Caroline appeared worried about Nick after 30 minutes of his departure. She was suppose to be able to see him across the desert at the bottom of the sand dune. Caroline peered out the ger in search of him. There was no sight of him! Caroline re-assured her self numerous times that he would be ok. He wanders often to places when traveling. Nick returned about two hours later and Caroline expressed her concern for not being able to see him. For dinner we had rice with cabbage, potatoes, and red sauce. This was very tasty and Jay was glad that there was not any mutton. After dinner, we went camel riding across the desert to the sand dune. My Camel looked as if was a rock star with long shaggy hair. Caroline's camel had a protruding lip, like that of Bubba from Forest Gump. Shrimp anyone! The camels appeared to have difficulties walking up part of the sand dune, but the view was amazing with the sunset of colors of pink and blue. We left the camels at the bottom of the dune and struggled to climbed up the sand dune. Once we made it to the top, the view was absolutely breath-taking. Jay and I sat at the top and admired the beautiful view of the desert. We raced down the sand dune as we had to get our camels back before dark. The camels followed each other in a nearly perfect straight line. However, it was like a traffic jam once they realized that they were going home. They appeared to he racing home, but in a leisurely way. This was an absolutely amazing experience. I love riding camels! Maybe Jay will buy me one for Christmas!