HOT AIR BALLOON APPROACHING ULAANBAATAR

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The pilot-aeronaut and polar traveler V.Efremov together with pilot V.Surodin and engineer Yu.Turin have passed on a hot air balloon “Sacred Russia” border checkpoints Khiagt (Russia) and Altanbulag (Mongolia) and landed on Mongolia's territory Wednesday. The Russians were welcomed by a head of Sport committee of Selenge province B.Battulga and a director of “Dashvaanjil gas” LLC N.Baatarjav, the general sponsor of the flight on the hot air balloon. After this the travelers flew to Darkhan-Uul aimag, on Thursday they will be here in Ulaanbaatar. For the first time ever in the development of the Arctic region it has appeared possible to reach the North Pole with the help of an air-balloon. The record flight was carried out by this crew of the thermal balloon "Svyataya Rus" (Sacred Russia) under the leadership of the well-known Russian traveler Valentin Efremov. It took 38 days for the expedition to overcome 980 kilometers between the Arctic cape (the archipelago Northern Earth) and the Pole. Ch.Enkhtuya