It’s been a rough few days. This is the part of the trip that didn’t quite work out, there’s always one section of every trip. I woke up with a pounding headache, muscle and joint pain, and the beginnings of a sore throat, but I managed to take down camp 13b, slowly, and headed towards my final destination, Murun. My symptoms got much worse over the next couple of days, but this first day I still had it in me, barely, to visit the Uushigiin Uver Deer Stones (N 49.656097, E 99.928703).

There are 14 stones total at this site. I don’t know why there are so many all together in one place like this, but here they are. They date back to the bronze age and range from 2500 – 4000 years old. Each one is unique and one of them even has a rare carving of a face on it. Very cool!

After enjoying The Deer Stones I went on and checked into my guesthouse. As it turned out the weather turned super cold and dropped a ton of rain, for three straight days. And to top it all off my symptoms exploded, including a fever, which made it feel even colder. Pretty sure I got the flu, kids. Anyway, I spent the three days in my room with no heat, buried under two large comforters shivering and sweating the days away and dreading every time I had to walk across the yard in the rain to use the pit toilet. Needless to say I didn’t do much in Murun.

My original plan was that after Murun I was going to go up to one of Mongolias most popular recreation destinations, Khuvsgul Lake, for a couple of days of hiking. With my state of health and the weather, that clearly was not going to happen. I already stayed one night longer in Murun than planned, but I couldn’t take freezing in that room anymore, so I figured I’d head out to my next destination and at least get a real hotel with heat and hot water. First, I did take a cruise up to Khuvsgul Lake. I came all this way I should at least see it, right? Apparently they got snow because a lot of the hilltops are covered with a blanket of it.

I didn’t linger because I had a long drive ahead of me. That and every time I stepped out of the car I froze instantly. So I made my way east, head pounding all the way, looking forward to a nice warm hotel room. I really don’t know how much I’m going to accomplish there either, but I have to keep moving in any case. I’ll have to cut this one short. Wish me luck!