Before the lads left, we had a Korean meal. The menu was extensive... photos and all, but there was only one thing available. A big hotpot thing, very nice. next morning after some bike work and tyre repairs to Ben's bike, they headed off trying to stay ahead of the coming storm.
The bike had been loaded on to the truck. Man handled up onto the 1.5mt tray by myself and about 6 wiry Mongolians including the driver who looked like a Mongolian version of Charles Bronson, to be referred to as CB from here.
after the guys left I wandered over to the container market. They were selling ger (yurt) kits. all that you need to head out into the Gobi and become a nomad.
A couple of New Zealanders turned up on an old BMW. Penny and Igor were on their way to the Netherlands. We went out for a meal back to the Korean Pub and Karaoke place. Same one item on the menu.
The truck turned up to collect me and also had a beat up Nissan Bluebird on board.
While everything was being readied, I said farewell to Penny and Igor, who were about to head west. Just behind Penny, you can just see Swiss Roger's blue jacket. Yes, he had turned up again
We head off at about 9:30 and the weather was looking pretty ordinary. I wondered how the lads were coping. When we left the asphalt that lead out of town, the tracks became their sandy self and I was glad (for a while) that I was in the truck. The ride was shocking. My seat had no padding and the drops into huge potholes my body was taking a beating. Having no Mongolian and CB having no English, it wasn't long before the iPod was on. He spent some time doing the Mongolian throat singing, a sort of high pitched yodelling.
After a few hours of crashing over huge potholes and rough river crossings, I noticed that the truck was slowing and starting to veer off the track. "Oi, wake up!!" He looked at me startled, and nodded and continued. An hour or so later, the same....
This time he stopped and walked around the truck a few times. I knew that we were going to drive well into the nigh so was a little worried. Then the brakes started to play up.......... i.e., not working at all, and the handbrake was no help either. We stopped and he spent an hour fiddling under the truck. He seemed to put at least a litre of brake fluid in.
We stopped at a ger camp some time later and while I had some great mutton and noodle soup, he seemed to visit almost every ger. I was hoping that he wasn't having a vodie in every one. Before the start, he played around with some white powder, several pills and some green incense.
He was also on the mobile for about 50% of the time. One handed steering all over the dunes. At least I knew that he was awake. He was a good man, stopped and assisted anyone out in the desert who had a problem.
A while later the front end started to knock badly and once again we stopped for an hour or so. A goatherd turned up and checked us out. The horses are quite small and not all that friendly.
We drove along to about 10:00pm, pulled off into the desert and made camp. I curled up in the sleeper area and he unrolled his swag under the truck. We were up around 5:00 am and back on the road. Breakfast was tea and bickies.
We also stopped a few times during the day for 30 minute naps. I made sure that I rested so I would be awake when he was driving.
We arrived at this ger late on the second day. This is what the modern ger has. An outside pool table. This is the ger where we were to rest and eat. I was ushered inside and told to lay on one of the lounges/bed/seats and catch some sleep. This is in someone I don't knows home while CB tells me he's off for a while. I was hoping it wasn't vodie again.
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