South Gobi-Ice Valley & Dinosaur Eggs!

On this day, I slept much better than the three previous nights. I was awoken by the family bringing in breakfast and boiled water. Breakfast consisted of a sushi-like roll with rice, cucumbers, and cabbage salad. This did not appear to be traditional Mongolian food. Migaa later informed us that it was Korean. Jay informed me that last night he had a conversation with Caroline and Nick regarding suspenders. In England, pants mean underwear and suspenders mean garder belts. Not knowing the exact terminology, I said "my gran wears suspenders!" Caroline and Nick began busting out laughing and explained the two concepts to me. Now, I will never view suspenders the same way again. Sorry Gran!

The main focus of today's conversation was constipation. It appeared that everyone was having problems in this area. This could be due adaptation to the countryside. The journey for the day was traveling to the Ice Valley and a canyon where dinosaur bones and eggs have been found. The road to the Ice Valley was sandy and rocky with lots of bumps! However, the view was phenomenal. We walked down the grass valleys where we saw gerbel like creatures with mickey mouse ears everywhere. There were many holes that these creatures popped in and out of as they skirted across the grassy valley. Also, there were many cows and horses grazing the grassland. Jay and Nick found a cow carcass near a stream. This was extremely sad, we attempted to figure out how his death occurred. As we approached the ice valley, you could see layers of thin sheets of ice. This was extremely beautiful, but you couldn't concentrate too much on the view...you had to watch your step! At one point of this ice valley adventure, the ice had melted into two different sheets of ice. Nick decided to jump across one side to the next, while the rest of us rock climbed on the mountain to the other side. Today, was the first lunch made for the six of us. We had rice with tuna, green peas, and corn. Of course, additional Maggi and chili sauce were added. Jay and Nick decided that they would like to reverse the roles. Therefore, the law was made...boys cook and girls clean up. After lunch, we travelled for about two hours and winded up at a deep red Canyon where dinosaur eggs and bones were found. In the 1940s, Roy Andrews, an American archaeologist, found these remains. Migga also introduced us to the Sauxl shrub (much like coal), used for making a fire. These shrubs appeared to be extremely dry lying in the sand. Continued with the journey, and made our way to our ger. We made a sudden detour when Migaa informed us that there was a bar in the Gobi. As we approached the bar, we realized that it was in the shape of a turtle. We had to stop! Arriving to the ger, we were introduced to the family. The 5 of us, Caroline, Jay, Migaa, Nick, and me walked through the shrub forest. We stopped to admire the baby camel drinking milk from his mother. It was beautiful to see the communication between a baby camel and his mother. The family dog followed us through the forest and would randomly disappear. Jay called him over and he rubbed his camel pooped snout all over Jay's pants! Nick was obsessed with snakes as we ventured through the forest. Dinner consisted off pasta with tofu (very expensive for a family). That evening we watched the sunset and the sky fill with colors of pink, blue, and orange. Jay did not sleep well this night as he was in and out of the ger all night visiting the restroom.