13th Aug - Zuungovi to Uluuangom

View 13th Aug - Zuungovi to Uluuangom in a larger map

I woke up to see an amazing sunrise. The whole of the valley was lit up and it was beautiful with the light shining on the Gers in the distance. The moon was still out as the sun was coming up. It was still really early though and I was tired from riding hard and camping late last night and so I went back to sleep and eventually got up about 9. I packed up and cycled back into town to get some more water - knowing that it was about 140km to the next town (Uluuangom) and I was unlikely to make it in one day. I had no idea whether there were any Gers in this desert area as I was not sure if it would sustain cattle.


I was on the road again by about 10.30. It was a really really tough couple of hours out of the town. The tracks where soft sand and I could not cycle on them. I had to push my bike up hill. I was really concerned that if it was like this all the way to Uluuangom then it would take me several days and I was unlikely to make my visa deadline. Fortunately, once I got past a particular point the tracks became solid again and I was then flying along. It was flat and I could see for miles and miles along the plains with the mountains in the distance.

I had made up some good time when unfortunately I got a puncture. I was in the process of fixing it when a guy in a truck came along and offered me a lift to Uluuangom. As I had been making good time at this point and enjoying the ride I was hesitant but I knew that I only had 4 days to get to the border and so I did not want to turn down the offer of a lift. I had already done a good 70km by this point. He seemed OK so I got into the truck with him.


He did not drive very fast at all and was not as good a driver as "Rubik's cube" man from yesterday. We stopped after about 1 hour at a Ger. I was not sure whether he knew the people or not. It turned out that this Ger on the side of the road acted like a service station for passing vehicles. They provided food and supplies for money. There was no way that I could have worked this out from the outside of the Ger. It did not look any different to other Gers to me.


Of course there was a calf in the Ger.... (actually I have never seen this in and other Ger - I think the calf was ill and they were nursing it back to health).


After we had eaten some food cooked for us the guy that gave me a lift started playing cards with the owner of the Ger. I can't imagine ever doing this with someone at a service station in the UK ;-)

The guy bought a bottle of Mongolian Vodka (Arkhi). It concerned me a little as I was not sure why needed some before we got to Uluuangom which I thought was only about 1-2 hours drive away.



There were many camels in this area of Mongolia. I went to say hello to them when he for a pee break.


I wanted to see the large lake to the North of the track and I was straining my next to see it out of the window and so the guy very kindly drove off the main track and took me to the shore of the lake. We stopped off at another old ladies Ger as well on the way cross country to the lake shore. Again I had no idea whether he knew her or not. It turned out not and he was just asking directions. She offered us milk and bread and he sat in her Ger and watched Mongolian horse racing on her tiny black and white tv for a while. It was rather surreal. It is just a different culture to the UK. We would not just turn up at a strangers house to ask directions, be given food and then sit down and watch their TV for a bit before just getting up and leaving.


Like many Mongolians she was drying meat inside her Ger on the walls.



The lake was really lovely and absolutely huge. I could not see the other side - it just looked like the sea to me. It is salt water and so it felt like that too. The guy said we should go for a swim and as it was a lovely sunny day I jumped in but kept all of my biking clothes on rather than putting on my costume as I did not feel completely comfortable with the guy.

After a short swim I got changed behind the car into some dry clothes. I was then expecting us to get going again. I then felt even more uncomfortable when he then put down a picnic blanket and opened the bottle of Vodka and started downing shots. He had told me that he had a wife and kids but he then came on to me and suggested that I stayed the night with him by the lake shore and had sex with him. He had not spoken any English to me up to this point but managed to find the words "I love you". I very strongly said no but I did feel very uncomfortable and just wanted to be on my way to Uluuangom rather than sitting there watching him getting more and more drunk and me feeling more and more nervous.

I decided to fix my bike puncture while I was waiting. Eventually he got the idea and we got going again.


The drive across the plains and to Uluuangom was really beautiful with the mountains in the distance.


When we were maybe 20km from Uluuangom the driver stopped off next to another car with its bonnet open. It turned out that the other guy and his son were fine - they were just waiting for the car to cool down before continuing their journey.

If anyone in Mongolia breaks down then it is a social event. It is the custom that if you see anyone broken down that you stop and wait with them to keep them company regardless of whether or not you can help. There is not much to do out in the wilderness. Stopping with someone broken down is a way of meeting new people and an excuse to open a bottle of booze. These guys went through a whole bottle between them (other than a small offering to the Gods) before getting back in their cars and driving off in different directions.


It was strange as what actually happened during the day was very pleasant. I got a lift through a very sandy area of the country which would have been hard to cycle and made up some time. I got a lift to the lake shore which I would have not been able to get to on my bike as the terrain was to difficult to cycle on with no track. I was very happy that I could see the lake as it was very beautiful and I could have a swim and get clean. There was no problem and the guy accepted "No" but I did not feel happy that as he became more drunk that this would remain the case. There is just a feeling you get about people and I was worried all day. It meant I could not relax for the whole afternoon. It was not a problem though and he did not do anything physically inappropriate.


We arrive in Uluuangom at about 8. It was only 2 hours drive from where he had picked me up but we had taken the whole afternoon. It was strange when we arrived in Uluuangom the guy invited me in to meet his children (his wife was in UB) and said that I could stay in their flat if I wanted. I went in only so that I could give him a copy of the photos that he asked for. I did not feel comfortable staying over night even with other people in the flat and actually just wanted some alone time where I did not feel uncomfortable.

His children were very friendly and walked me to the nearest hotel that was reasonable and helped to get me checked in and made sure that the place had a shower etc. They had no idea that their father had come on to me.

The hotel owner said I could wash my clothes in the washing machine and showed me how to do it. She had a washing machine in the shower room but it was not plumbed in and so what she did was put all of my clothes in, added some water with a bucket and set it going. The water turned black straight away from all of the dirt and the clothes were "washed" in this water for 30mins. She then took them out and put them in a spinner and handed me the "washed" clothes to hang out to dry. So I got clothes that were covered in an even layer of dirt and stains rather than in particular spots. :-)

It was late by the time I had got showered and my clothes washed and I did not get to sleep until about 1. It had taken me about 1 hour of scrubbing in the shower to get really clean myself. My last shower had been about 1 week ago.