A bittersweet result of hearing the melancholy news about Aralbai below was a note from my old friend Canat with great photos. We did mourn a bit of lost youth (he was moved by my white hair and grandchild, which he knew of only abstractly)– was it really fifteen ears since I first set foot in Bayaan Olgii? Do contact him at Blue Wolf Travel for the trip of a lifetime, as more than one blog reader and contributor can attest, and tell him we sent you.
Then:
And now, first with the still- lovely Aika:
And me, to complete the contrast: