Mongol Bao (Yurt)

After we'd had enough sightseeing, we headed for tonight's accommodation. We were booked to stay in a "Mongol Bao" - literally meaning Mongolian steamed bun, but known to most of us as a Yurt. We approached the spot where we were told to go, and just as we turned to go off road we were stopped by a police car.

After a bit of discussion, it turns out that none of the yurts in the area are legal due to fire safety and licensing issues. The police told us that they'd shut this particular site down recently, and that even though we could see the Mongol Bao's on the hillside, they were empty. They also warned us against staying in them as there had been cases of theft by local farmers, leaving tourists with no phones and no way of contacting anyone for help.

Following this discussion, Vela called the person we had booked with, and he said they had moved to another location. He said to come and have a look at the setup if we were concerned about safety. We had a look, and Nathan was very strongly against staying there, feeling that the police wouldn't warn us against it for no reason, however he was out voted 4-1 by the girls, so that was that.

The site was very pretty, overlooking the lake with the snowy mountains behind. It was pretty cold by this point in the evening, but the fire inside the tent kept everything nice and toasty. However just as we were settling in for the night, the police showed up again. Their intent was to close the site down and kick everyone out as it was not a legal accommodation. Vela did some quick negotiations, saying it was booked through a big travel agency website and how were we to know that it wasn't legal? She also said it was too hard to find other accommodation at this point, and they relented and fortunately allowed us to stay the night. It did put a bit of a negative spin on what otherwise could have been an amazing experience.

After a chilly nights sleep, we awoke again to an amazing blue sky. So we took advantage of the beautiful location before heading on our way again.En savoir plus