little than expected...: mongolia.

warning: long post ahead.

alright xiaoqi is finally back from her trip! she definitely had a great time over there~ here are some run downs of what she had done for the past few days!

day1

all excited and ready for the trip.

北京西站

a really crowded station

it's must have been due to the fact that xiaoqi and marietta conversed in english all the time that the other travel mates didnt initiated conversation with them. luckily, all of them managed to break the ice just before they reached their destination: 呼和浩特

day2

a long bus ride into the 希拉穆仁大草原.
feeling excited along the way, due to the welcoming sights of mountains and rivers, friendly travel mates and most importantly accompanied by many koreans.. she cant wait to strike a conversation with the koreans!

our 蒙古包 (yurt)

walking around the plains

after a hearty lunch (which consist of 内蒙第一绝：手扒肉 and 第二绝：土豆）is the 1st highlight of the day: Horse riding!

a choice of 200rmb, 300rmb and 400rmb. since they need to work on their finance and having feared that she might be thrown off from the back of the horse, xiaoqi and marietta took up the 200rmb route.

the horse took them on a slow pace which allowed them to appreciate the huge area of green plains, little hiils, bluey sky before they stopped a at residential area where they were treated to some tasty milk tea and milk snacks..

a walk around the house

riding back was the exciting one! when at the command of the horse owner “湫湫” the horses picked up their speed, galloping across the plains. the route that previously took almost 2hrs now only took 1hr for the return. just imagine the speed!

sadly, since they had to grip on to the horses at all time + camera flash might scared the horse.. no photos were taken throughout the journey on the horse..

next up: a rather 재미 업서요 horse riding competition and westling

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before dinner

next: a nice dinner that consist of the famous 内蒙第三绝：烤羊腿肉. which cost 380rmb. definitely worth the money! xiaoqi is still thinking about it... yum yum.....

last event: a campfire

xiaoqi cant believe that her first "clubbing" actually took place in 内蒙. although the music wasnt as good, the crowd wasnt as many.. but being spontaneous and fun loving.. she and marietta had their body shaking as well.. though they soon felt embarrassed with their unsynchronised dancing.. hahaha.. but efforts made!

2nd highlight of the day: a scene that no camera can captured, a memory that will stay with them forever.

the starry starry night.

both of them awe at how pretty the night sky can be.

laying down on their sleeping bag with cold air blowing into their face, looking up at the milky way like starry sky, with xiaoqi being the live jukebox and marietta humming with her, wishing upon the shooting stars.. just enjoying the moment and let the time slips away... … …

day3

waking up to the gorgeous sun rise.. it's time for them to leave the green plains.. xiaoqi was feeling kinda sad actually.. it was so relaxing out there in the plains~

it was a long journey out of the plain.. and this time the tour guide decided to fill in the time with some entertainment: SINGING

the mic was passed around where tour mates were to introduce themselves and sing a song… everyone was doing such a good job.. including the Koreans..! and xiaoqi’s greatest fear finally confronted her.. it’s the singaporeans’ turn to made the stage.. gladly Marietta was beside xiaoqi to ease her fear while she do her description about Singapore… but she was left alone when she sang “twinkle twinkle little star” to the 30+ crowd on the bus.. she did such a lousy job (both in introduction and singing!) and was very affected by that.. even right now as she recalled.. ):

it was only then that both of them realized that other than the 5 French on board, the rest of them are going to the desert instead and not the city. .a rush exit leave them no time to bid goodbye to their newly made friends, which really depressed xiaoqi and Marietta for the rest of the day..

joined in by new group of tour mates: 2 family of threes + 4 koreans

1^st visit: National Museum of Inner Mongolia

magnificent and modernized

2^nd visit: some factory

3^rd visit: 大昭寺

4^th visit: highlight of the day王昭君墓

a very nice dinner at 筱面大王

one of my fav: 血肠

sweet couple who looked out for xiaoqi and marietta all the time

a short walk to the train station after dinner.. and xiaoqi had the most unexpected meeting in her life.. her tour mates from the 1^st group!! What can she say?? It’s fate! Having to meet them on the street of Mongolia.. cell phone number was exchanged immediately and they were invited to visit them at 天津one day.. (:

at least one contact was obtained.. though xiaoqi still regretted greatly for not taking the contact of the Korean couple… and was wondering if she will meet them on the train later… hmmm….

And to her greatest pleasure!!

Tata~!

xiaoqi's newly made korean friends who constantly prasied her korean efficiency (:

All the tour mates from the 1^st group were in the same cabin! Happy moments where xiaoqi immediately bunked in with the Korean couples and chatted with them, the rest of the people etc etc… no more regrets!!

a kind gesture of marietta to exchange bed with the grandson.

ending up having a nice chat with the mother and both xiaoqi and marietta are invited to their friends' hotel in the green plains next year (jul/aug)