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Never try running up a sand dune!

I awoke early in the morning to someone knocking on the door of our ger, so i got up, threw on some clothes and answered it, only to find out that it was a bloody goat head-butting the door.  Probably the same one that was farting rediculously loud the night before!

After a quick breakfast, we decided to have a walk up some of the highest sand dunes before it got too hot in the middle of the day.  Well.....I havent been that fucked in a while!!  Basically, the dunes were really high and pretty steep, so if you took small steps or slow steps, then you wouldnt actually go anywhere.  Being the wise guy, I decided the best way to counter this was to try running up!  This was one of the worst ideas i think i have ever had in my life.  I was as tired as the time i played 2 back to back games of rugby while at uni.  I got to the top fairly quickly but had to sit down for a good 30 minutes to get anywhere close to getting my breath back.  Breathing aside, the views from the top of the dunes were amazing, i just hope my pictures do them justice (but i doubt it very much).  The walk down was far easier (I slid half of it on my arse), but when i got to the bottom there was sand litterally everwhere.  In my eyes, my pants, my mouth.

I was so tired when i got back to the camp that i couldnt eat anything for lunch, which is pretty rare for me.  After lunch, Alta and myself decided that we should go for a camel (2 humps) ride.  Having never liked horse riding, I only opted to go for an hour as opposed to the full days that some people do.  Aside from that, i was actually quite looking forward to riding one.......that was until I actually got on one and it stood up!  The things are absolutely massive and i just wanted to get down straight away (yes, i am a woos), but having paid already I stayed on for the duration. 

As we started moving, my camel refused to respond to any of my directions even though I thought my Mongolian was very good, and it seemed to be getting pretty agitated, flinging its head back and forth and what not.  After about ten minutes of this furore, the guide took the reins and guided my camel along for me, which was much easier!  Perhaps the camel knew he was on the menu tonight, or maybe he knew i had a kife carved out of his dead mother hiding away in my rucksack?!?!?!

Next up, the guides camel did one of the longest farts i think i have ever heard (not including Oli), which with me being so close, it wofted straight in my face!  It was pretty rankus marvinus and it smelt a little bit like them rat burgers we used to eat from the 6th form canteen.  After about 10 minutes of the ride, i actually had more flies hovering around me than the camel did due to my profuse sweating (I wasnt enjoying it too much).

Twenty minuted in and my arse started hurting so much from the rock hard saddle.  God only knows how some people spend a whole day riding these beasts, i felt like i had been penetrated by a horse!  Later on, i was to find out that it was actually more comfortable to lean forward and put my body weight on my nuts rather than my arse for a few seconds.  I am pretty sure this is the last time i will ride a camel, however, I wouldnt write off eating one in the near future as some kind of payback for the pain in my arse right now!

When we got back we moved on to a ger camp where we had dinner and relaxed the whole evening while playing a few games with sheeps ankle bones.  We even had a little hedgehog pop in for a dafty at one stage.  It wasnt like the kind we get in the UK though, it had a really long nose and when i shepherded it out of our ger it was rapid.

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