June 28
My first wake up in Sonid. It is light about 4am - probably because all of the country runs on Beijing time - but it summer and stays light until well after 7pm or more.
My bed is very hard and the rice/grain filled pillows are really something new.
The hotel/motel complex is regailed with an array of coloured flags crowned by the red with yellow stars of China, horizontal in a steady breeze - wish some of it came in my window since it is very warm, overcast today.

There were only 2 rooster calls at dawn - not the caucophany of all night donkeys, dogs, roosters, and firecrackers of Zoquitlan. A nice respite. But I think I would actually prefer the tuis of Tuapiro.

Breakfast is at 7.30m - food as yet unknown.
The day beyond that uncertain but there is the smell of a trip to Erenhot on the Mongolian border - I am completely in the hands of a language that I cannot understand - but will relate the day and what the work will be later.

This is the first of my entries and it is a test - composed while listening to National Radio.

al

29 June
Hullo 9pm Thursday night.
And just back after the side trip that came about very quickly as an opportunity to visit the town of Erenhot on the border to Mongolia about 150km from here. Our chinese benefactor LaFu who met me at the airport and drove me here to Sonid, was going there on business - and a friend of his who is currently acting as our translator here - also has business interests there - so it was all prearranged despite the fact we have 2 drill rigs going and nearing times when decisions on finishing the holes had to be made. We had no option and so it was really a sightsee - flat barren drive on a wonderful road hardly any traffic and just the odd farm house along the way.

We arrived about 3pm and did the tourist shops - not that there were any white face tourists except us - and then checked into a big hotel for the night - and then drove off (is was raining all day) through the grasslands (except there is no grass because of the 4 year drought) to a Mongolian village for a dinner party where it turns out with a whole bunch of LaFu's friends and business associates that Chris & I are the guests of honour and that means a bit of "toasting" and receiving traditional Mongolian welcome of glass of wine and white scarf after listening to a folk song all in a big yurt. I survived.

Big traditional breakfast - big traditional lunch - More shopping this morning and then visit to the dinousaur museum and got back to the drill rig at 3pm today.

So I have a lot to catch up on since I have just got back from dinner in the restaurant attached to the motel. All the food is the real deal - local dishes and not a fork in sight - but it really is all very very good and also much more on the table than the collected recipients can handle.

catch you later

2 July
I really dont know how this blog thing is supposed to work since i cant open the post a new bit - so i am just adding on.

Recovered from a small dose of too much good food and just had day 1 of logging core - so is it surprising that I decided to have a beer with dinner. If you start at seven it seems there are still dishes coming at eight. Lets see : soft marinated peanuts with a little carrot and cucumber and a hint of cinnamon stick, shrimps with cahews and onions and maybe some cabbage, thin sliced potatoes with chinese forest fungus (delicous like a mushroom) and some carrot and other veges not to mention the thin sliced beef, a plate of curd and veges in nearly spicey sauce, then there was the plate of buck wheat pancakes, the mushroom aand potato and mutton soup with oatmeal pancakey things to dunk in it, the plate of fresh water melon and just in case a big plate of deep fried potato coated with sticky caramel with puffed rice stuck on it AS WELL at one stage I had a fruit juice, a cup of tea, and a beer to shout around the revolving table top since one of Mr Shi"s friend whom we met earlier is visiting for the weekend. That cost less than $20 !

I have sore back from leaning over the bloody stupid core boxes that are designed to require the entire chinese army to lift and hot feet. But the core was good.

Hope you having fun in front of the fire.

Love from Big Al