We are picking up Baagii in just TWO hours!

He will be landing in Amsterdam at the Schiphol Airport, his first time ever in Holland! I cannot wait to be HIS tour guide and translator for a change. I love how things work out. I remember how he took such great care of us during our time in Ulaanbaatar and on tour in the countryside. I cannot wait to return the favour.

What adventures we had; Riding horses, bouncing through the countryside in jeeps, sleeping in gers, bowling in the capital and his daily visits after the tour to check up on us in our dirty hostel. And I quote a common accommodation scene, from Chapter 34 “I Grew My Boobs in China”. This was just after our two week trip in the countryside with Baagii.

“When I walked into the grungy hostel in Ulaanbaatar the second time, I welcomed the sight of the dark dorm room with its twenty unwashed beds. I was even excited by the tiny drizzle of a shower located down the unlit hallway in the back. It somehow didn’t seem so dreary anymore. I saw a half-naked brunette guy, probably in his early twenties, sweating in the bed that had once been mine. Ammon’s former bed was not occupied so he promptly reclaimed it. Nothing had changed; the place not only felt dirty, it was dirty. Even the air felt like the same stale air I’d breathed two weeks earlier. As I threw my daypack on a bed to claim it, I peeked at the guy sleeping in my old one and wondered who else had slept in this bed? Had he been fat? Hairy, perhaps? I wiped the sheets down, keeping an eye out for curly back hairs, in particular. But despite the filth and wondering why we couldn’t afford a more luxurious hotel for $5 a night, it had a cozy, home-like effect on me. It was a familiar place, something I recognized, and I found myself craving that feeling more often lately.”

I feel as though sleeping in those conditions was an entire lifetime ago. There’s such a huge contrast of a typical night’s stay in Mongolia versus my home now. (this photo does not illustrate the filth I talk about in my quote) I sure do miss that authentic, rural living and all the fabulous designs and colors!

I will be sure to keep you posted during his stay here.