Altyn-Emel national park

Aanya was a bit unwell through the night so the day started a little late . 

Met our guide - Hakim and his huge car that is going to take us around the place .

We stopped in a poppy field along the way , so pretty ! Then a little later in a yellow flower field,  Savik instantly said it reminded him of DDLJ ( a popular Hindi movie ) , exactly what I had told Jeevan a moment earlier . He then proceeded to act like an actor in a Bollywood  movie . 

Aanya had a good nap and woke up feeling better and happier which boded well for my Mother’s Day gift of walking up a mountain .

We had lunch in a small village ( Basshi) where we are staying the night . Savik discovered the fried bread and fell in love .

Then to Altyn- Emel National Park , it is absolutely stunning . The different colours of the layers of the rocks representing the centuries of different minerals that have been laid down on these mountains - red , green , blue and mixtures of them.

We walked along the valley initially and then as we saw people on top of some of the mountains we decided to tackle one too. 

Hakim was a bit sceptical if the kids could handle the slippery slopes but they rose to the challenge ( Aanya getting assisted by Jeevan ) and we summited along with a dog . I loved my Mother’s Day gift of being on top of a mountain but not the slip and slide of going down ( as I chose the place , I could not complain ). 

On our way out of the National Park, we saw a fox carrying a rabbit as it scurried across the path . On getting to the entrance ( which was half an hour away ) we found the dog that had been with us through our walk was owned by the people who guarded the entrance and they were worried about it. It had followed a cyclist and not returned , wish we had known earlier we would have brought it back with us !

We then headed to a mutated 700 year old Willow tree. The water from the springs there is radioactive making this tree live way longer than it normally would . A plaque mentioned that Genghis Khan rested under the tree but as per our guide the time line does not match ! We washed our hands and faces in the water , hoping for some awesome radioactivity to enter us too . 

Luckily Hakim has turned out to be a great guide and is good with the kids .