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We left Ulaan Baatar and headed into the Mongolian countryside. The landscape is green grass and rolling hills. The few trees in the area are extremely nervous - at any moment they could be used as firewood or in a housing project. Ulaan Baatar's streets are paved, unlike any of the roads "in-country." We left the city in a rugged Russian vehicle that was a combination of jeep and minibus. The Russian vehicle is only a little less bumpy than a horse, and like a horse it doesn't provide any seatbelts. During stops from the body-jolting drive, we hiked in the immense grasslands and each footstep scattered grasshoppers. Grasshoppers abound. And since this is horse country, flies abound as well.
In Mongolia make your own road rules, make your own road!
Outside the walls of Karak Khorum (the capital of Ghengis Khan's Mongols).
This kid may be only 3 or 4 years old, in Mongolia old enough to take care of his family's goat herd.