During our out of town trip (see previous post), we saw some interesting things and visited some interesting places.
We were amazed to see miles and miles (oh, excuse me, kilometers and kilometers) of wheat fields, like the one pictured here. Mongolia does produce most of its' own flour needs, now, and is pushing to bring that to 100%.
Then we came across a herd of camels. As you will probably notice, they are rapidly loosing their winter coats, trading them in for summer attire. This big old guy seemed to be the 'King' of the group.
And finally, we drove the extra 15 or 20 kilometers from our northern most stop (Sukhbaarar City), to the Russian border. This is the guard station through which we had to pass, after already having obtained needed permits at a border patrol office in Sukhbaatar City. The road was gated at this point and the guard had to review our papers before he would let us through.
We were told that we were standing in Russia as we took this group picture. Elder and Sister Powell (a couple we have become quite close friends with and who traveled from Ulaanbaatar with us on this trip) are standing on our left (your right) and Elder and Sister Anderson (the senior couple assigned to Sukhbaatar City) are on our right (your left). That is more of Russia in the background.
On the map, you can see the red circle noting the area where we were (click on the picture to get a larger view). The river in the background of our group picture, is the Selenge River, which empties into Baikal Lake in Russia.
So now Sister Caldwell and I have been in Mongolia, Hong Kong China, Korea and Russia. Who'd a thunk!!
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