Our drive today took us further through the mountains and over another summit, this time only 8700 ft. We passed through a lot of small villages and pasture land waving hello to the towns folk from the roof seats of the truck. All the while magnificent snowcapped mountains rimmed the valleys.
The cemeteries are of particular interest with many small mausoleums made of stone and mud bricks, many elaborately decorated, and in many cases, much nicer than the surrounding homes.
As we climbed higher this time it got dryer and there were stretches of high desert -sand and scrub. Along the way we spotted our first snow leopard. Yippee!
At 5,000 ft everything turned green again and we stopped for lunch in a really cool meadow with a fast running stream. Tuna cole slaw, fresh oranges, and fire roasted beets and carrots. How healthy is that!
At 8000 ft we stopped by a nomadic family's yurt and gave them the rest of our food from today. They accepted it without hesitation. At the summit were herds of horses and so many spring foals.
Our final stop was at a handmade felt workshop. This retail experience was worth every minute. We were shown the process for making the wool felt, made a small piece for the group to hang in the truck, and then were shown how a traditional felt yurt is taken down and set back up. Our two hour visit was both entertaining and truly unique, not to mention the extremely attractive hostess. The prices of the felt marquetry rugs were ridiculously inexpensive and a "few" of us bought some!
Our accommodations tonight were in three guest houses with hot showers. We're back to the bush tomorrow night!
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