The beginning of the end

The first of our overseas wedding guests arrive tonight, how very exciting!!

Matt and I managed to squeeze in a short driving/ camping holiday to Bayanbilik, the Mongolian grasslands, which is officially closed to foreigners, but we were lucky and the only form of authority we faced was a friendly cop who asked to see our car insurance.

Flat land that seemed to stretch on forever and then melt into the sky that continued into the horizon, we saw interesting looking yurts (kinda teepee looking) and a different kind of sheep, all with black heads and white bodies and long, thin nimble legs.

The ones on the other side of the mountain range are stubby and stocky with wide hairy bottoms, the sheep that is.

One long stretch of 'road' was 'under construction' and we knew we were due for an undefined time of bumps, potholes and sore butts.

It's like driving over a 300-km magnified cheese grater, some parts of it were so bad that our front bumper had come off completely and was hanging on by the electrical wires.

Luckily we stopped in time to notice it before it came off which could have caused more damage.

With some wire, string and duct tape (possibly one of man's greatest invention), Matt managed to temporarily attach the bumper back onto the frame, it lasted all the way back to Urumqi where we got it welded back on properly... just in time to sell the jeep this week!

We drove 17 hours on the second day, stopping only for fuel.

It's absolutely incredible how the scenery changes so drastically in just a few hours.

From towering snowcapped mountains to deep gorges and valleys and little itty bitty weaving streams, from flat grasslands to swampy marshes, we saw camels, yaks, horses, cows, and of course thousands of sheep.

At around 1 in the morning, we passed the highest pass in the mountains: 4013 metres!

Too bad it was dark and snowing, although you could make out the immense sheet of ice that looked very daunting and intimidating on the mountain slopes - breathtaking.

All in all, a great last car trip in Urumqi - for this time at least.

We promised ourselves we'll be back. Perhaps with the wee ones.

Back to this week's events now. Guests arriving, day trips to Heavenly Lake and Turpan, and of course the wedding this weekend!

Can't wait to see friends and family again, HERE no less!!!

It's one thing to go home and visit and do familiar things and be in familiar environments.

But it's something else to have the people from 'back home' visit you in your current environment and showing them what has become familiar to you over the months.