Friday (1/22) – Khongor Guesthouse (UB):

And just like that, after twenty hours of travel we are back to where we started a little over two weeks ago: our little double bed-sized room at Khongor Guesthouse in UB. Isn’t modern air travel great?

While our travel was long, nothing particularly noteworthy happened. I DID get another Subway sandwich in Korea though. From Seoul to UB we flew Miat, a Mongolian airline. It was a little funny finding ourselves in a large group of Mongolians after two weeks in Thailand. Boarding the plane in the Mongol melee, we quickly began to miss the orderly queues in Bangkok.


Anyways, we’re back in Mongolia now. We will be in UB a few days before returning to Olgii on the 25th. It’s nice to have this time to decompress. Since neither of us got much rest yesterday, we both got about 16 hours of sleep last night. We will pretty much be lying low here in UB. This is partly because after a few weeks bustling around Thailand, we are a little tired and the idea of sitting in one spot sounds nice. It’s also partly because UB is FREEZING! When we landed yesterday we found snowy weather and temperatures around -20F. It’s just not right. It’s also party because our favorite UB pastime – eating – doesn’t hold much appeal to us after the incomparable deliciousness we experienced in Thailand.


With that said, we are planning a small excursion tonight. Today is actually my 26th birthday. I know, I know – I’m an old man. Does 26 count as mid-20s or have I crossed into the late-20s? This afternoon Ashlee has promised to take me out for some authentically American Mongolian BBQ to celebrate.

Well, I guess that about wraps up this little travel journal. We had such an awesome time and we are looking forward to getting back to Olgii to unpack our bags, sort through our souvenirs (though we’re leaving most of them here in UB), and look at our pictures. This trip was a wonderful escape from our Mongolian lives, and while it wasn’t easy coming back I do feel that pushing through these next six months is doable.

Besides, if things start looking bleak and we need a distraction, we will just plan our eventual return to Thailand. After all, the bulk of the fellow travelers we interacted with were making their third, fourth, fifth, and even sixth trips to the Land of Smiles. Thailand is just one of those places that you can’t get enough of. As I said before: Thailand, this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.