HOVD – ONE OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES ON OUR WAY TO MANHAN (2,000 METERS ASL)

It’s quite warm here by now. Our only guide is coordinates downloaded in our navigation systems. After first fifty kilometers we stop at the village Duud for the bad gas, the only available here. Any better one is only available at the big cities and it’s not cheap either: a dollar a liter. The pump is manual, pretty archaic, too. No locals have ever heard about the caves which allegedly are 25 kilometers away from here. We are driving by a beautiful road through an awesome valley. The further the day goes, the more difficult the montane roads and paths get. Now we are only eight kilometers away from the caves, and all of a sudden the road ends. Our anger alternates with a little panic. We are trying to get up on the hill without any road, yet it’s too sheer and too many hard sharp rocks. As the sun sets we finally get on top and are very disappointed since there is another upslope and who knows what’s on the other side. So, we slide few hundred meters down and try to pitch our tent in the dark, fighting with the strong wind. From the dry dung lying around we succeed to even make fire.