12th Aug - Tes to Zuungovi

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Rubik's Cube completed in 2 minutes whilst Off-Road Driving and one of the most terrifying moments of my life spent on the back of a motorbike!

Up at 6.45 having had a really good sleep. I got all packed up an actually had some time before everyone else woke up to write a couple of entries on my blog/diary. It as been difficult while camping and biking for so many hours each day to keep this up.


I had breakfast with the family and also cooked up my cous cous on their stove so that I could eat it later. I am running short of gas that fits my stove and so I did not want to use it to cook cous cous - which takes ages.



I was off on my bike by 9ish. The road followed the river out of the town and over a mountain pass. It was a lovely sunny morning and the views from the climb up the mountains behind the town were really great. I stopped off to say hello to a couple of men with their sons looking after their horses. The skill of the children on horses is just amazing in Mongolia. They learn to ride from about the age of 3 by the look of it and by the time they are 6 or 7 they just seem to melt into the horse when they ride.


I biked for about 3-4 hours over some passes and into a desert area. It was hard going as I had to push my bike through some sand as some points - it was just too soft to ride though.


As I got to the top of a pass I found a 4x4 that had passed me about 10 mins before hand had stopped at the top and they gestured that they should give me a lift. They were going in the right direction and I was very happy to take them up on their offer so that I was more likely to get to the border before my visa expired.


I was extremely impressed with the Mongolian drivers skills at off road driving. He was rocketing along but had very good control of the car. The people were really friendly and gave me some drinks and chocolate along with the normal Mongolian dried cheese and hard bread.


I found a Rubik's cube on the back seat and as I had not had a go on one since I was about 7 I started fiddling. I was rubbish. There must be a knack to it and a pattern. I sat there trying to work it out. I had been faffing for about 10 minutes when the driver gave be a huge grin and snatched it off me. The then carried on driving at vast speeds, off road, really well, whilst also completing the Rubik's Cube in about 2 minutes! It made my day :-)

I was giggling so much and I am still smiling now as I write this. He just turned and handed me the completed cube with a big grin on his face.


We stopped off for about 5 minutes so that people could go and find a bush to have a pee and a van passed us just as we were getting back into the 4x4. It did not seem to make the driver very happy that this van had passed us and then would not let us pass and so the race was on! It took about 5 minutes to pass the other van but we then raced ahead of them. I found it very funny that there are hardly any vehicles on the roads so all the more reason to race the ones that are...

I was dropped off on the road North Zuungovi (with only 15km to cycle to get there) at about 3 whilst the others headed of South to the town of Hyargas. I was really happy that I had managed to make such good time today and I had very much enjoyed the company of the people that gave me a lift. I biked for about 5km when I realised that I had forgotten my jacket! It was in the car that had gone in the opposite direction... I turned round and biked for 1 hour uphill to the town. When I got there I showed people in the town photos of the people that had given me a lift and they took me to the right house within about 5 minutes. The only problem was that it was the house of only one of the passengers. All of the others, including the driver lived about 5km even further South of the town. This all took some time to work out when there was no common language.

The passenger of the car then gave me a lift on his motorbike to get my jacket from the other people. I was so glad that he did as there was no way I would have found the correct Ger camp , however, it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life! I actually prayed for my life...

We were driving over lose gravel and soft sand at what I thought were crazy speeds (but were probably not to a Mongolian that is used to driving in these conditions all the time) and we had no helmets or protective clothing. I was holding on so tightly that my hands were sore.


It seemed to take ages to get there and I was really relieved when we did. I found my jacket straight away. The driver and other passengers made me very welcome and I was even told by one of the driver's friends (in very good English) that before I arrived in the camp the driver had told him that he fancied me... hehe.... I was asked if I wanted a Mongolian husband. Always nice to be asked by someone that can do a Rubik's cube in under 1 minute (when not off-road driving at the same time - in which case 2 minutes)....



I got a ride back into town and bought the motorbike owner a bottle of the Mongolian Vodka (I think it is called Arkhi) to say thanks. He invited a couple of his buddies over and we all had a couple of shots. A shot is poured into the same glass for each person in turn who then downs it and hands back the glass to the pourer so that they can then give a shot to the next person. It is a very social event. You always have to offer some to the spirits when each bottle is first opened.


Having had a couple of shots, I then got back on my bike and headed back out of town the way I had come several hours before to go to Zuungovi. The first part was lovely as it was down hill and the road was good but the track then became very sandy as I got closer to Zuungovi. Zuungovi is right in the middle of the flat desert plains.



The track then diverged and I could not tell which way to go as I could see Zuungovi in the distance but neither track seemed to go that way. I stopped to ask directions of a Mongolian family. Most people get the idea very quickly what you are asking with gestures and words like "Zuungovi" and pointing. This family were very welcoming but extremely slow on the up take and did not help me at all to determine which path to take.

They invited me in to their Ger where I found the man of the house lying in the middle of the Ger asleep. He was absolutely hammered and could hardly walk when he woke up. His family seemed rather embarrassed by the situation and his wife just ignored him completely. He offered me some booze which I refused but I did take the lady up on the offer of some food and hot milk. They said that I could sleep in their Ger but I did not really like the very drunk man and so I headed off.


It took me about 2 hours to literally push my bike into the town of Zuungovi. I had to cross a couple of dried up river beds that were literally just soft sand.

I do not like turning up in a town at dusk as I do not feel as safe and I did not know the place at all but I knew that I would need loads of water for the next stretch of the journey to Uluuagom (150km across the desert with no settlements in between) and so I headed into the town. It worked out much better than I thought as there was a large pipe right in the center with a constant flow of water from the lake above the town. I had a wash and filled up a few bottles of water and then hurried out of town so that I could put my tent up before it was completely pitch black. I felt un-comforatable because many people saw me leaving the town and the direction I went in and there were not many places to choose from to put up my tent out of the way of the tracks and out of sight.


I felt a little worried camping so close to the town but I found a little drop off the road out of sight of the main town and put my tent up. It was obviously a place where many people had chosen to spend time as there were many drink bottles around the place but as it was already very late I did not think that anyone else would be along that night.

Even though I had a lift today for a reasonable distance, I still managed to bike 85km! I fell asleep very easily.