22nd July - Remember to put tent up and get in before the hail storm hits....

View 22nd July - Remember To Put Tent Up Before Thunderstorm Arrives.kml in a larger map

Up at 7.30 having not slept very well through the night. I kept on waking up a bit cold and needing to pee but could not quite manage to wake up enough to put on extra clothes or nip outside to relieve myself so just had a rubbish night instead.

We took out time to get ready and had coffee and porridge in the cafe where we had stopped outside. I spent some time online on my phone looking at which borders I can cross as a UK citizen and planning routes with the map and advice from the guy at the cafe. It was a gray morning and we were in no major hurry.


This lovely lad of probably about 10 popped into the shop this morning while we were eating breakfast and bought cigarettes and Vodka and then road off bareback into the hills. Awesome!



We got on the road about 11. When we had been cycling for less than 1 hour we were stopped by a guy in a cowboy hat on the side of the road. He was a Korean guy that runs bike tours and has crossed Mongolia 10 times. He gave us water and Kimchi (Korean picked and spiced cabbage). We asked his advice on the route etc. With his information and investigation on border crossings this morning on the internet we have now formed a plan. I know I can only get out of Mongolia just North of UB or far to the West. This leaves only 2 options, either straight West or Northwest up to the huge lake and then West across the top of the country. We decided on the latter.

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=284460
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=284461

There was a really really strong headwind and so it was slow going on the main road. There was a reasonable amount of traffic but the views were great.


It was 53km to a little town where we stopped for a break and to buy a couple of supplies. It was a dirty little place with a couple of restaurants and shops. It was good to get an idea of what we will be able to buy in the rest of the country. We then headed off into the real wilderness. We could have spent longer on the tarmac going West and then headed North on the dirt tracks later but the guy in the cafe advised against it and said the road on our map did not exist! We wanted to get off the main road anyway.


This is a photo of the road turning from Tarmac to dirt road track.... It might be the last tarmac we see for a while. We have a bet as to whether we will see Tarmac or Peanut Butter in a store first. If it is Peanut Butter I will a bottle of wine otherwise Jenna gets a beer and packet of cigs.


It was great to turn off the main road and into the wilderness. We saw about 5 cars in several hours. There really was nothing. We were both in a great mood to get on our way and out of the wind of the main road and properly start our journey across Mongolia. The road was certainly more difficult than tarmac but not really that bad. It was hard packed in most places and we made a good speed of about 17km per hour.


It was a beautiful sunny evening but we could see a serious storm off in the distance and we were cycling towards it. There was lightening and thunder. We were both really enjoying the ride and were not ready to stop biking just yet and it seemed as though the storm was a long way off. It was 8 when we realised that we should really put up our tents quickly before the storm hit. Oops - too late. It came in really quickly and the wind increased considerably and bought with it hail stones. After about 30mins of fighting with the rain and wind and tents blowing away we eventually managed to get my tent up and sit out the storm (see video). Fortunately we both have the same sense of humor to see the funny side of it all. The hail hurt and we both got totally soaked. All of our things were drenched. There were puddles of water in my tent.


It took about 1 hour for the storm to pass and the rain to stop. It was then the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen! We were both really cold and it took a while to put on about 9 layers of clothing on the top and 3 pairs of trousers and then hats and gloves and then get warm. If the rain had not stopped it would have been a very uncomfortable night. But it did and we were fine and hopefully next time we will stop earlier before the storm hits (maybe). We cooked dinner in the dark but it was tasty - pasta, tuna and veg with spices.

A fun first day. 93km.