Hell is a very descriptive word and we all have a personal idea of how it would be like. Dante depicted hell as nine circles of suffering. He was wrong. It is three straight lines on a bicycle through the Gobi Desert.
Since the last rest day we have been traveling 158km, 144km and 153km against the wind. That was a charming movie with Scarlett O'Hara which ended up in tears and so did I.
The first day was an extremely long and some riders got in at 20.00. At the camp site tents were blown away and torn. Some tents took three persons to hold down and erect. Sand came in everywhere. Thank god for my Hilleberg. The only sand that came in travelled in by my bodily orifices and my hair. I used up one pack of baby wipes to de-sand my body. Our chef made a nice meal with nothing resembling Mongolian food which was lovely. But he did warn us that our staple diet for a while would be horse and lamb.
The next morning we started off at the crack of dawn and it was bitterly cold. The head blew from the start and caused many hours of fighting on the bicycle and some more tears.
First there was nothing, then more nothing and then a camel.
After about ten hours the van came by with extra water and we were told the ride was shortened by seven km. This was the best news since word got through that Columbus discovered America.
We camped at a Karaoke Bar where we could buy beers and vodka and put up our tents in the backyard. But there is always a snake in paradise. Here it was two big dogs who barked the entire night. They almost ended up as bacon on the breakfast table. Some people could sleep inside the bar in the attic. I was lucky to find a pitch black and quiet storeroom where I could spend a so unless night. Alas there was no oxygen in the room so I woke up with a blinding headache.
When everything else fails there is Mongolian Vodka
The next day started off very well with us meandering through majestic meadows with cattle grazing in the distance. Remember it rained the other day so they had their four yearly meal of green grass. Up until lunch it was wind still and gave one of the best rides of this trip. But at kilometer 88 it was like hitting the proverbial wall. The wind came from nowhere and that was the end of looking at cattle. Now we had to concentrate not to be blown off the road.
About 30km from Ulan Bator the city skyline beckoned in the distance. The road got very busy and we were threatened by trucks and busses on a very narrow road with some near death experiences. It took us another three hours to fight our way in to the city.
The hotel is wonderful and could be the Waldorf Astoria of Mongolia. Big rooms and a hairdryer.
Genghis Khan rides again but not on a bicycle
One of the reasons why we adore pets is because we think of them as companions. For others, they make very good friends. To a lot of working people they make good stress relievers.
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