Great White Lake (Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur)

Having reached White Lake, we saw swans, ducks, cormorants and terns, while driving along the shore to our ger camp. This was situated on the southeast side of the lake, on a small peninsula with a little hill at the end of it, offering a nice view over the camp. Unfortunately the flies - some kind of long-legged critter - were particularly bad on the hill, though at least they didn't bite. You can even see one in the photo!

Apart from the flies, it was peaceful sitting by the lake writing postcards. It was cool under clouds, with rainclouds looming, but very warm in the ger with the fire.

After dinner I talked to Patti about her Silk Road and China trips and got advice on what to see and where to eat in Beijing. We chatted to two backpackers (British and Dutch) who were doing "ger-to-ger" hiking — they had camped along the shore and had just come to our ger camp for dinner.

Wednesday 29th June

With my sleeping bag on top of the provided quilt, it was warm overnight. And I was woken at 7.30am by the person lighting the fire. After breakfast I washed all my dirty clothes.

Karen stayed behind with a bad back, but the rest of us drove to the Khorgo Uul volcano, where it's an easy walk up to and around the crater rim. It's obviously a popular destination with some kind of religious significance, as the crater floor is full of rock cairns or pagodas. We spotted one hare, the usual ground rodents, and a pair of ruddy shelducks that were nesting somewhere on the crater.

On the way back we looked at the lava tubes and caves that were the result of a recent lava flow.

We then walked back to the ger camp along the lake shore, passing a peninsula with hundreds of rock cairns/pagodas, new ger camps under construction, and an interesting "grandfather" rock (which Mike climbed).

At lunch I tried the coffee everyone else had been drinking, consisting of instant with milk powder. Ugh. We sat around talking about WWII and the stories of our parents and grandparents.

Having a lazy afternoon, I walked up the little hill again — the flies weren't too bad with a bit of a breeze. I sat watching the cormorants and gulls above a fish school in the lake, trying to photograph terns and choughs, and reading.

In the evening light, the clouds provided a dramatic backdrop for the lake.

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