24th July - 115km on Dirt Roads to get to Bulgan for a Shower (but no showers available)

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We did not have a great nights sleep in the back garden of the house. The dogs were barking and people were revving their engines until late and then at 1am the owner of the house decided to come and invite us in to sleep in his house in the same room as him and his wife and also to have a drink with them. Jenna and I had tried to fake being asleep for the first 5 minutes of him trying to wake us up but when he started shouting and shining his touch into the tents we could not to anything but respond. We told him we were happy where we were and wanted to sleep in our tents. He went away but then came and asked us again 20 mins later. He was drunk and merry and we did not want to go anywhere. He was friendly but we did not really appreciate being woken up and him shining his bright touch in our eyes.

We were up at 7.30 and had breakfast and packed up and were already to go by 9. However, we did not end up leaving town until 10.30. By the time we had gone to the shops to get a few things and chatted to some guys on motorbikes by the shops it was already 9.30.


This guy wanted a go on Jenna's bike and was surprised by the weight.


We decided to head to the river to fill up our bottles with water and have a swim and a wash. Unfortunately the river water was very muddy and so the water purifier did not work very well and I ended up walking back to town to fill up on water from someone's well. We were bothered by the same drunken Mongolian men at the river as had come to say hello by the shops. It was only 10ish in the morning but they were hammered. It was all OK until we were leaving and one wanted a photo with me and groped me at the same time. At that point we felt very uncomfortable and we left asap. There were 5 of them and 2 of us. They were doing it in a playful way but never the less well over stepped the line! I will be much more on my guard next time. I was not expecting it having been treated so well by men in China and heard so many good reports about the honor and friendliness of the Mongolian people.

This is one of the drunken men having passed out by the river.


It was a beautiful sunny day all day. I had to wear a t-shirt over my cycling top for the first time ever having caught the sun yesterday as the suncream I had used did not work! My shoulders were sore today.

Once again the scenery was amazing. We had a tough biking day. We really wanted to get to the town of Bulgan today to get a shower and supplies and we knew it was 110km from were we camped and so pushed to get there.

We made good time by lunch time and stopped for peanut butter and jam sandwiches on moldy brown bread and then pushed on.


Jenna had fun again chasing animals.


Jenna won the bet on whether we would see tarmac or peanut butter in a store first when we passed over the bridge! Kinda cheating if the tarmac is on a bridge I think.....

The roads were easier today as the ground was drier and harder than yesterday and although the road was certainly not flat there were no significant passes.


At about 6.30 we biked into a small town 22km South of Bulgan. It was the first settlement since this morning and we had only seen a handful of cars and very few people. We stopped to get some water and Jenna popped into the shop to ask them to fill up the bottles. I waited outside. There were some other customers outside the store, 2 guys and one of their daughters in a truck with horses in the back. They had bought some vodka. One of the guys walked over to me (after they had just posed for photos and been laughing and joking) and shook my hand with one hand and grabbed my breast with the other. I was to shocked to respond and slap him before he had turned and walked off back to get into his van with his daughter watching. The lads standing round seemed to think this was very funny. I did not. I said "really not fucking funny" and they got the idea and stopped laughing. Jenna then returned and asked if I was OK. This photo was taken before the gropping when they were all friendly!


So much for the friendliness of the Mongolians! 2 groppings on one day. So far I have been far more enamored by the Chinese rather than the Mongolians. The Mongolians are far more like Russians than I thought they would be.

We arrived at Bulgen about 8.30 and followed the instructions in the Lonely Planet to find a hotel with a shower. Apparently there are at least 2 in town. Unfortunately, one of them had closed down and the other did not have toilets let alone a shower. We faffed around for ages then looking for a place with a shower and eventually gave up and checked in at a place were they said we could have a bucket and some hot water! Better than nothing but we were both really looking forward to a shower.


The toilet with a sink was really small and standing in a bucket pouring dirty water over myself was not quite the shower I had in mind but better than nothing! :-)

It was 10.30 by the time we had both got clean and changed and we managed to find somewhere that would serve us a meal. Bought and OK bottle of wine and enjoyed getting merry in the room and chatting with Jenna till 1.30ish. Long day. Disappointed to find the town really not great and the people not overly friendly but a great biking day through awesome countryside and 115km on dirt road tracks.

It is great that Jenna and I are about the same in terms of speed and fitness. We were told that biking in Mongolia would be really tough and that we would only manage 50-70km per day on the dirt road tracks but we have averaged over 100km a day over the last 3 days and we have not been really really pushing. We did feel nicely exercised by the end of the day today though.

I bought Jenna a beer and a packet of cigs as she won the tarmac or peanut butter first debate!

We found out that we could actually have traveled all the way to Bulgen on a tarmac road if we had taken the other route out of UB and traveled North and then West. The route would have been 100km longer though and we enjoyed the route we took. .

What we have learnt today:

• Even provincial capitals don't have hotels with showers
• Beware of drunken Mongolian men