It was a really beautiful morning and I woke up early, unfortunately again with a dead arm. It was really sore in the night. I tried to get back to sleep again and then when I woke up again and started moving around it was then much better.
We had found a great campsite on the edge of a lake about 2km from the town.
Alex very kindly helped me to work out why my phone had stopped working yesterday. I could not understand the Russian! It turns out that the SIM card that I had been given by the Mongolian Rally team was from Russia and Russia is separated into different regions by phone companies. I had put in £20 for unlimited internet access and some calls and it had worked from the evening of the 19th until about 5pm on the 20th. It turns out that I had been charged for roaming all of this time and so rather than having unlimited internet I had used up all of my £20 credit! Arrggg! I had no idea that different regions in Russia would be treated as a different country. £20 down the drain! Oh well. This has happened so many times in different countries. Communications have been a major out going during this trip.
I had told some friends and family yesterday that I would let them know my new Russian phone number and be available online and then all of a sudden I disappeared from contact. I had a feeling that they would be worried and so rather than heading off on my bike (as had been my original plan first thing this morning) I decided to go back to town and try and get online and let them know what had happened and to buy a new SIM card.
I left Alex and headed into town and straight on the internet. I was very glad that Alex was also on his way into town as it turned out I could not get a Sim card without being a Russian resident. I waited for him to get back to town so that I could put the card in his name. It was very good of him to help me so much. Alex took a while as he could not hitch a ride as planned and so I uploaded photos to my blog and FB and caught up with my friends online.
This is a photo of the very helpful guys at the shop above the supermarket that let me use their internet connection on their office network. 
By the time I had got a new SIM card with internet activated etc and finished online most of the day had already gone :-( I bought Alex lunch to say thanks for all his help with Russian translation and putting the Sim card in his name. The only cafe in town was closing and so we ended up eating on the steps outside! Classy as ever Em... 
After saying farewell to Alex (and planning to met again in Moscow, where he is based with his son and girlfriend, in a few weeks) I finally left the town and was off on my bike again.
It was very windy once again and I only managed about 40km that evening. I camped in a lovely little forest off the side of the road and close to a river. A bit of a faff day but the afternoon was gray and cloudy and I was happy not to be on the bike having spent so many days pushing in Mongolia.
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