I ended up fixing punctures for 2 motorbikers!
Another great sunny morning waking up by a lake! 
I was still lying in my tent dozing when I heard the sound of an engine outside and looked out to see the same lorry that had dropped me off yesterday! They had come for breakfast....
One of the guys had lost his phone at some point yesterday and so they decided to see if it was where I was camping. The bought their breakfast with them - bread and a carcass of a small furry creature that runs around in Mongolia. They had bought it from the town where they had traveled through the night. The driver was obviously drunk and rather worse for wear.
Once I had a swim in the cold lake to get clean and wake myself up, I packed up and was ready to go when loads of birds of pray came flying around me. I spent about 1 hour faffing taking loads of photos. They came really close. I think it was because they could smell the carcuss that the men had left. 
A couple of dogs also popped to say hello. I often find that dogs come and check out my camp during the night or first thing in the morning. As long as they are not wolves I don't mind. :-)
I was not too sure of the track to take leaving the lake and I saw some people off in the distance that did not look like Mongolians and so I biked over to say hello. It turned out that they were a couple from the UK on a 2 week holiday with a company like Exodus or Explore. I did not know that these companies took people so far from UB and the lake in the North. I have to say that the idea of going on an organised tour did not excite me in the slightest. I love the spontaneity of traveling by bike and staying with Mongolians that are living in their normal way rather than in a "tourist camp" where everything is laid on for you. The couple I met seemed to have had a really great time through. It was nice to see some English people and have a natter for a bit before heading on to the pass.
They could not help me with directions but I managed to find the right track.
The climb today was really tough. The road was difficult at times with loads of large stones which meant I needed to push the bike sometimes as my tyres could not get a grip. 
I was still surprised to see camels even though I have seen loads of them over the last few days!
I had been climbing for ages when 2 guys on a motorbike came up to me from the direction I had been traveling and gestured for me to follow them. This took quite some persuading! Not only were they 2 guys, the driver was extremely drunk and I did not understand why they wanted me to follow them but it was downhill and I would have to climb back up the same section again!
It turned out that they wanted me to help them fix the passengers motorbike which was about 2km away. They did not have any tools or a pump. The drunken motorbiker had stopped to help the other guy but did not have any equipment and they had seen me in the distance and thought I could help. In fact I could. My pump works with motorbike tyres and I also had inner tube patches that were large enough to seal the puncture. We set to work.
Of course, out came the booze. A broken down vehicle is a social event in Mongolia. If someone is broken down passers by have to stop and wait with the people that have broken down and keep them company - regardless of whether they can be of any physical assistance or not! It is an opportunity to chatter, meet new people and generally provide moral support. It is not like there is much else going on. These events are of course best fueled with alcohol. It does make the process go rather slower as the people fixing the machine get more and more hammered but whats the hurry?
I was actually in a hurry though as I still had a long pass to climb and so I was very glad when a lorry came along and also had a pump and innertube patches. He relieved me of my obligation to help the stranded motorcyclist and I headed off on my merry way once again. 
It was a hard climb today. I had not got on the road until very late morning after having breakfast with the men in the lorry and then taking wildlife photos. I had then stopped to speak to the tourists, stopped to ask directions from the locals and then helped out with fixing a motorbike and so I did not make very good time. The road was steep but the views great. I was very tired and my blood sugar was running low by the time I got to the top of the pass. I had biked for 7 hours and done only 40km! I had climbed about 900m through (see the altitude graph). I was cold as well as a storm had come in for about 30mins and stoked me, fortunately it then cleared again very quickly. 
These 3 guys on horse back came to meet me when I got to the top. It was nice as I had not seen anyone in hours. 
I was running out of water and so I was really glad that just as I started down the other side from the top of the pass there were loads of Gers in a lush green valley (still at 2200m). I was given some water from their well and invited in. I was very glad that I did as they gave me 4 bowls of hot milk, bread and some other dairy products (not quite cheese) and I felt completely different after this. I had not realised how low my blood sugar had got and how cold I had been. 
They were lovely people. The grandmother was about 4.5 feet tall and incredibly cute with a fantastic smile and a very playful nature. The grandson bought in a dead creature that he had caught to impress me. I have to say I was very impressed as I had not seen one of these up close. It was the same creature that the lorry men had been eating for breakfast this morning - I think they called it a "Tuke".
I rested for about 1 hour and had a lovely time and left feeling all refreshed. I then had the most amazing downhill ride through the mountains!
I was loving racing downhill when I had to stop as a motorcyclist hailed me down on the side of a track. The second time today! Again this guy had a flat and no repair kit, a working pump or tools. Some other people stopped along side but only for the spectacle and to drink some booze!
This time I had to wait for the tyre to be fixed as I was the only one with a working pump. It felt good to give back to the Mongolian community! It is the culture that you must help out someone else in need - without this the Mongolians could not survive the long winters or travel such long distances without carrying huge amounts of food, water and shelter. I have seen several Mongolians on horse back traveling across the country and they literally carry the clothes on their back and a litre of water. They rely on the culture of turning up at anyone's Ger and being given water, food and accommodation for the night. Theoretically I could have done the same but I did not like to chance it (as there were sometimes when I did not see Gers for ages) and I liked to be independent. Although I loved spending some time with the Mongolian people, sometimes it is nice to camp on your own in the middle of no-where and not to have to make the effort with your hosts. Most Gers I visited offered me accommodation for the night but I did not take most of them up on the offer as often I wanted to push on a bit further on the bike while I still had daylight.
I was in a really good mood that I had helped fix the guy's wheel and if I had not been there then he might have waited a long time for someone else to come along. The ride down out of the mountains on to the plains was fantastic but it was getting really late and dark (it had taken about 1 hour to fix the tyre). I did not want to camp in the mountains as I had been warned about wolves. I could see a small set of rocks in the middle of the plains and I tried to bike towards them so that I would have some shelter for my tent but in the dark I could not quite make out how far they were away and so eventually just gave up and biked 1km from the track and put my tent up literally in the middle of the desert plains in the dark. I could not see any lights anywhere or any evidence of human kind. It was quite an empowering place. I was alone but I did not feel lonely. The stars were fantastic.
This was the lovely sunset that I could see as I erected my tent.
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