ALTAY – BAYANHONGOR

The day is windy but quite warm. It’s the second time when we can afford to wear just T-shirts under our biking blazers which means it’s about 20C. In the evening we are supposed to be in Bayanhongor where we meet our team from Latvia tonight. Sandris, Uldis and Maxim are coming to Ulan-Bator on Thursday morning and get on Hyndai Galoper jeep rented to help us to cross the Gobi Desert. Allegedly, there are about 400 kilometers on our way where we won’t be able to retank or get drinking water. 

In the afternoon something we’ve been expecting all of the time: the rear tyre of my bike goes flat. This is the first time within 8,000 kilometers. We can say that so fat the equipment has been doing great and we really hope that it will last further, too. Czech tyres Mitas we changed the original Pirelli for in Gornoaltaysk have proven themselves in the dirt of Kola Peninsula; however, these are not the best for the hard offroad of Mongolia. 

Within not quite 2,000 kilometers the looks of the protector is simply tragic. We hope that it will last until Bejing where we’d get another tyre change. Touratech side-boxes, in their turn, are good enough. Few times we overbalanced and fell, but they just have lost their perfectly angular form and that’s it. Screws are doing well, and even bumpers which have to work hard here are at their best.

After having the tyre dismantled we find out that we had guest arrived: a three cm long johnny nail. Within an hour we are taking off again. The road is very tough, both physically and psychologically. We have to concentrate on the road all of the time not to lose control over its holes and gaps. Sometimes stones vary with the sand and it’s not better at all. Our bikes and clothing are covered with thick cement-like dust layer, our noses bleed and it’s even hard to swallow the water in the first moment because our throats are full of dust, too. We have to slow down on the last 100 kilometers left to the city because of being too tired to keep full attention on the road. Then all of a sudden we see a weird image: hundreds of yurts pitched in the desert, all the land around looks like hundreds of gigantic moles have been working on their hills. People are bustling here and there like ants. 

First, we thought we ran into an archeological excavation, but a local guy tells us that some time ago goldfields were discovered here, so now everyone has an opportunity to try his luck and become rich. The man speaks a bit of Russian, so he tells us it’s possible to get up to 50 grams of gold in a day if you’re a good worker. He even invites us to his yurt to show us his daily benefit. So, this is Mongolian Eldorado! However, no gold saves us from getting another flat tyre in five kilometers. This time there is no nail, just the road has been too rough. After repair works we take off again. The sun is already setting and we arrive to the city in the dark already. Now this is where it’s civilized: the hotel we stop at provides shower! And even hot water! We couldn’t wish for any better present after the long interesting day like today.