Trip to Inner Mongolia - Day 5

After yet another day of rising before the sun (or so it seemed), we headed out for our last day of adventures in Inner Mongolia. Our first point of interest was the palace… which one exactly we are not too sure. But a palace none the less! We toured around inside, checking out each room, and what it was used for. Possibly this tour would have been better suited for someone with a greater knowledge of Chinese history. We enjoyed our visit and the wonderful architecture of ancient Chinese buildings.

We ate lunch at a restaurant nearby. Following our meal we were serenaded by a lovely young girl and her accompanist on a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. Following lunch and our private concert, we returned to the front gates of the palace for many photo opportunities.

The second attraction that day was an ancient temple. Immediately upon entrance we were advised of the “hush” requirement for inside the gates. We later found out that the reason for silence was not because it was a spiritual resting place, but because they were shooting a movie. There were young men everywhere dressed up in old combat gear. We took this opportunity to pose… surprise, surprise!

On our way back into Chifeng, we stopped for many attractions on the side of the highway. Our first reason for stopping was the busy farmers in their corn fields on the shoulder of the road. They had a cart full of fresh corn pulled by two of the most beautiful cows. On the other side of the highway was a field of tobacco plants. We ran down and frolicked through the rows.

Entirely exhausted from our busy day, we went back to the hotel, and sadly crashed in bed before 8 o’clock!