After breakfast at the yurt camp we went for another walk along the shore of the lake. We all got into skipping rocks this time and did it until our arms got sore. Nick coached Millie on technique and then she very earnestly coached me.

I ruined the fun when it felt like we were getting too much sun on our not-yet-unscreened skin. We walked back to the yurt and got ready to head to the nearby hot springs.

These are just a 5 minute drive down the road and were kind of a bust. They had three outdoor pools: scolding hot, lukewarm, and ice. I am a person who likes a very hot bath, and I was unable to even put my foot in this one. We didn’t see anyone in it the whole time we were there. And we aren’t cold plunge people, so we just hung out in the lukewarm pool.

Hopefully it healed something deep within us. Once again they had an insane sign for what we could and could not do in the pool.

We all started getting hungry and went into “town” to find snacks and/or lunch. The small market didn’t have much but it did have various homemade (?) fermented drinks. My stomach quivers at the sight.

Millie got her Friday ice cream and ate it while horses galloped by in the street.

We went to the one cafe in town and ordered lunch through a game of charades and some Google translate back and forth.

From here we drove about 20 minutes to Shakza canyon, also known as fairytale canyon. This is where our day went downhill with whining and bad behavior. We’ve been trying to get Millie to talk about her feelings more and she just refuses. All the 2025 parenting advice of “validate their feelings” and “get to the root of the behavior” does not work on this kid. She screams “I! do! NOT! Want! to! TALK! ABOUT IT”

She kind of hiked to the top while asking (loudly) to leave the whole time. Finally we just cut our losses and left. What we saw was pretty.

She slept all the way back and then when she woke up continued to have a hard time. We think it’s homesickness and the confusion of this very long trip, but when we bring it up she gets angry. Tonight I tried to get into it and she said “mom I hate it when you do that serious talking voice”

We played some cards in the yurt, took showers, and listened to music.

We had another good dinner made by our camp hosts. All the vegetables are from their garden and they served Boso Lagman, a sort of stir fry noodle thing. Once again, it hit the spot.