27th July - Gray day and only 63km

Up at 7.30 but it was peeing down outside and my tent was very comfy and warmer than outside. After some general mermerings and grunting between Jenna and I across tents we both went back to sleep and only woke up at 10. It was raining less at this point and stopped for long enough at 10.30 for us to get breakfast and coffee and then hide again for a while as it rained again. We decided not to wait it out as it could go on all day and packed up in the rain. It is never great packing a wet tent, until you are sure that it you will be able to dry it again before you need to use it again!

We did not manage to get on the road until 12.30. The first hour of the day was hard work. It took a while to warm up and the road was really muddy and it was slow going. We got so much mud in our gears that they were slipping really badly and it was not great fun. We got to the top of a little hill and stopped to chat to some people in a tourist bus. Eric (a German) invited us over to join the others for a cuppa and some chocolate and bread and a natter. As we had only just really got going we were hesitant but then they offered chocolate and I could not say no.


They were a nice bunch on a 20 tour of Mongolia and are heading up to the lake (like all tourists to Mongolia it appears). Apparently they were planning on stopping at a tourist camp only 35km from where we were and that the camp had hot showers! We thought we might catch them up and camp with them....

The road is much more of a highway than the other roads we had been traveling on. There are restaurants every 10km or so and tiny settlements and Gers that are not on our maps. We do not need to be carrying and much food as we are (we did on the other areas). I am now not very worried about getting water or food on the rest of the way to the lake as I once was (heading west from the lake is another matter).

Jenna is a great traveling companion. Good sense of humor. She does not talk much (unless she has had a few beers) and is quite happy to push it and rough it. As long as I don't try to talk to her in the mornings things are fine.


Jenna once again won the price for the best route finding on the tracks. There were several times when I was in the lead and then she would take a different track and come out in front. Little races add a bit of fun and variety to the day.

It was gray all day and the sun did not quite make it out but it did not rain heavily so it was OK.

Not long after leaving the tourists the river came really close to the road and so we decided to filter some water and also have a wash. It took a while but we were in no hurry.

We looked out for the tourist van for most of the afternoon but did not find them. Once we had stopped at the river for water and a wash the roads improved and we actually managed a good speed. We reached the town of ???

There was as new hotel in town which had really lovely rooms and we contemplated staying and getting our first hot shower in 1 week but it was too expensive (55000 - £27) and so we decided to camp instead. We did stop in town for a lovely meal of mutton, eggs, veg and potatoes though. We hung our tents out on the fence in front to try and dry them out for 30mins or so. I am glad we did as my tent was absolutely soaking.


As we biked out of town we tried to find the tourist Ger camp but still could not see it. The route out of town was very flat and there was no were obvious to camp that was safe. Mongolians have a habit of driving late at night of the tracks and so we did not particular feel like camping close to the side of the road as it would be rather exposed and a car at night might not see us and hit us by accident.


In the middle of the plains there was a strange structure in the distance and so we headed towards that. As we biked along a man with his wife on the back and his child in front accompanied us on his motorbike. We were not sure if he was just fascinated by us or wanted to check we were OK and found a place to camp.

They followed us all they way to the structure. It turned out to be 2 old mud walls, probably an old fort or monastery. They provide excellent protection from the wind of the plains and any vehicles and so we decided to camp there. Our new Mongolian friends seemed to agree and once they had checked that we were sorted they headed off into distance on their bike.


It was a lovely evening, even though gray. We put on some music and set up camp and had a chilled night. The views of the surrounding mountains and the open space is fantastic. I love the fact that in Mongolia you can just set up camp without any problems.

It was a chilled biking day today - only 60km. We wanted to stay with the others in the tourist camp and so we did not push to get very far (as they were only supposed to be 35km from were we met them) but we did not see them.