Day 29: Bessie and Yosef That’s what we named our horses. When we were riding them. In Mongolia. !!! Let me back up … Phil woke up still feeling crappy, but was a trooper and did not want to miss out on this day trip to the Grasslands of Mongolia. Benny had helped him get some Chinese medicine at the pharmacy.
It was terrible.
Anyway, we had a tour bus for the day to take us there and back. It was about an hour ride there.
We knew we were getting close when we started to see, well, a lot of grass. And yurts.
As we were getting off the bus we were greeted with a traditional custom.
[youtube width=”400″ height=”300″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOaeUKc8fTE[/youtube]
And here we are on the grasslands of Mongolia. It was stunning. And very cold and windy!
Some people decided to go for a ride on an ATV.
And a bunch of others, including us, decided to see the grasslands by horse. Best. Decision. Ever. First we had to buy a scarf for Phil because it was so windy.
Then I hopped on my cow-horse.
I named her Bessie. I liked Bessie. She was feisty and liked to do her own thing. We became great friends.
Phil hopped on his horse.
Phil named him Yosef. Yosef was best buds with Abby’s horse, Emma.
Awwwww. We got to ride for at least two hours. It was so cool. And beautiful. There were no other tour groups around us, so it felt like we were the only ones out there. The scenery was amazing!
About halfway through the ride we stopped at a yurt for milk tea.
(He thought I was trying to take a picture of him lolz)
So Mongolian milk tea is well, milk (powder) and some type of tea, but it’s also salty/buttery. You add in various things like millet, cookies, crackers, milk tablets or even small pastries. Then you drink the tea and eat the goodies at the end, which have soaked up the tea. Yummmmm.
We finished our ride back where we started, and then went inside the restaurant yurt for some food. 
They also had insanely loud karaoke going on while we ate, so that was a bit much. However, one guy decided to dedicate a song to our group. He was singing with that technique called “overtone singing” or “throat singing”. Neat!
[youtube width=”400″ height=”300″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nDnx1LY_3c[/youtube]
After that it was time to head back. We still had a show to do that night!