Unscheduled Rest Stop

4:30 - hot afternoon - middle of nowhere...

Timor may not be able to fix this one; he is putting his tools away. Got help from a trucker that stopped, but they were not able to get it going again. Cellphones work here and the call has gone out to find another car. We get back aboard and try limping along. No, this is not going to get us anywhere - maybe it's the fuel pump and Timor has no replacement. We have water, tea and snacks to ease the five hour wait until a new car and driver arrives and we are forced to say our goodbyes to Timor who will stay with his car until his son beings parts tomorrow. Very sad to see him by his car as we wave goodbye - it is like family.

Then three more hour drive and we arrive at our ger camp at 11:30. We had asked to stay at this camp because there is something special to see here tomorrow morning.

In the Shade

Morning. I ask for hot water in Mongolian. I tell the cook, in French, that Lisa likes her bacon well done. Italian pop group sings Hotel California on the Japanese van's CD player. Landscape looks like Montana. I am so confused. We will break camp later today and ride a short 3 hours to the end of our horse trek at a ger camp with hot springs. I am under the shade of a tree beside a running stream and it looks like it will be a hot day. Not a cloud to be seen. Mixed feelings about the end of this trek. My body is finding its rhythm, but my knees ache at the end of the day. I could probably go on for days, but look forward to a hot shower. The food has been great, but this morning I crave orange juice.  

GPS - where do we have to go today?

Lisa introduces Kindle to central Mongolia and we get a visit from a tiny tot riding bareback.

Fly Day

When I remember this day a few years from now, I hope that I remember the mountain meadows, wildflowers, fast running streams, and geese on the wing - but not the flys. So I'll just say that there are a lot of them and then drop the subject. July here is like springtime in the Rockies with green hillsides all around and it is wonderful. We are on the trail from 9 until 4, with about an hour for lunch, tea, and a siesta. For most of the day, we see no one. This day I feel good about the ride and am more comfortable in the saddle, which is a Russian cavalry style model, with wood boards, nuts and bolts, and a blue cushion tied on. At one point I get a thumbs up from Oteu, our lead wrangler as I canter up to where he is waiting. I tell myself this is high praise and I am proud. 

For the last hour before reaching our campsite, we watch rain and lightning over the next ridge. Reaching the site and meeting our support van, there is just enough time to set up tents before the storm hits with wind, thunder, and pelting rain. Dinner is a comical affair with the cook huddled under a poncho strung from the van roof, everyone eating under the van lift gate, Timor pouring vodka to share from his hip flask, but excellent spaghetti with pan fried fish follows. 

End of a Nice Day

The cottonwood trees around our camp are sending out white tufts into a light breeze. Zol is on the river bank fly fishing - soup tomorrow? The 'kids' have staked out the horses to graze and are in their tent playing cards. I thought we would be in more mountainous area, but we spent the afternoon trotting down another beautiful flat valley. Today we visited Tsetserleg, the provence capital, and saw yet another Naadam - this time in a bigger town and with better wrestlers. In town we picked our cook for the next three days. She had lived in France for a year so I can communicate in my broken French. 

Riding out of town, we were stuck in a traffic jam as cars left the horse race finish line. There is still a network signal at tonight's remote camp, but weak, so I won't try photos today.