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Published: October 24th 2006
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Me and my MiG
The last thing we expected to find in the Gobi other that camel-carcasses and thorns in our tyres! A completely abandoned Soviet Air-Base! Day 145, 23rd October
20 miles north of Choyr - Otsol Uul (nearest peak)
It wasn’t as cold as I expected it to be last night, a frost was on my tent though. The sun rose swiftly and melted the ice immediately causing my sleeping bag to get wet. I also didn’t sleep well last night because trucks were circling the tents, in curiosity I suppose. Being out here in the flat desert at night, the thought has occurred to me that a speeding truck will inadvertently run into one of the tents. What are the possibilities of that then?
After a bizarre breakfast of garlic and rice, we set off on the dirt roads again with the railway taunting us to our right. Some of the train drivers have begun to ‘toot’ at us as they pass. They are a welcome sight and I’m sure they would stop if we really needed some help. That’s kind of reassuring.
In the distance we thought that we were seeing a mirage - a town appeared out of the desert complete with apartment blocks, it was weird! As we got closer and closer we discovered that it was some
Soviet Air-Base
A mirage in the distance? No, a disused Soviet air-base complete with Socialist artwork and empty buildings. kind of abandoned facility - an old Soviet Air-Base no less! The place must have been designed for thousands of service personnel. There were apartment blocks, hangars, shops, childrens playgrounds, a runway, and MiG fighter jets on plinths - all abandoned. There were, however, a few people there who had reclaimed the place as their home - and camels wandering about. It was surreal.
Ten miles on and we arrived in our first town since leaving UB, Choyr. It was a poor and desperate place, but we managed to get food and water there for the trip ahead. The other guys managed to get fuel also for their MSR stoves. This town must have supplied the air-base as it had some strange kind of “Spacey-looking” monument in the main square.
We had lunch before setting off south along deeply corrugated roads, which became more and more sandier. Scott had an amazing wipe-out at one point followed by Tobes amazing arse-over-tit somersault! We ended up pushing our bikes along short sections because of the sand - this is a taste of what is lying ahead… Just after passing, literally, through a coal mine we were chased by a pack
Out here no-one can hear you Scream!
Searching for a spot of land to camp on was a real problem.........NOT! of maingy guard-dogs, then totally exhausted after 40 miles, we set up camp as the sun set and picked the thorns out of our tyres before it went dark and our fingers froze.
Total Miles: 7461.11 Todays Miles: 42.65 Average speed: 8.5 Time on bike: 4:59
Day 146, 24th October
Otsol Uul - Tsomog
I’m going to get a bit philosophical here… it’s 6am and I’m bloody freezing. I’ve got every item of clothing on and my empty bike pannier over my feet to stop them from freezing. My Trangia cooker can give me a bit of heat, but that melts the layer of ice on the inside of my tent and soaks my sleeping bag. My bag was completely zipped around my head last night and there was a frosty patch on the outside of the bag where my breath had came out. Man! What the hell am I doing cycling across Mongolia - that IS the question? Every day seems the same; pack, unpack, eat, shit and sleep, sunrise and sunset, no shower…. There goes the trans-mongolian train again rumbling along its tracks. Do the passengers waking up, look out and see our
Mongolian Dudes
Colourful collection of buildings, and equally as colourful people. I reckon the geezahs are dressed to impress? tents and think, “Look at those poor bastards out there, they must be freezing, the silly f***ers”! Beep, Beeeep!!! From the train-driver, he’s seen us. Horrendous sand and gravel roads every day, repairing a puncture with frozen fingers, aarrrrghh… I can’t even feel my fingers anymore. Corrugations, sore arse. Eat, drink…. Then pitch the tents, small conversation, sunset, zip-up the bags, sleep. At least I’m not sitting at a desk in a bloody office every day!
So now we are 5 days cycling south of UB, barely half way to the Chinese border. The landscape is getting more sparse. No marmots here, just herds of camels and wild horses. The roads are taking their toll on our bikes and our bodies - and our minds. Rory had two sheared bolts on his front pannier rack, and me one. Scott wiped-out again today and came off in the sand. Everyone has aches and pains somewhere. My bum is chaffed to hell! The road was just horrendous in parts today. Rory tried to avoid a loop around a marshy looking area and tried to ride over it instead, resulting in him sinking in the bog nearly a foot. That took ages
Three Dereradoes
Keeping the Trans-Mongolian railway to our side, we weren't going to get lost - or were we? to clean the shit off his bike. The little settlements we pass through are complete with curious drunks who like to play with our bikes. I managed to bargain for a bag of ‘cakey-things’ for $1 which went down nice. Then found someone had nicked my pepper-spray from my handlebars - that spray had saved my life in Siberia when I was attacked so it had some sentimental value. Hopefully, whoever nicked it thinks it’s breath-freshener! Money is short now - as if we have much to spend it on out here - and we are looking forward to getting to Sainshand in two days for a wash and a scrape.
Total Miles: 7501.50 Todays Miles: 40.38 Average speed: 6.8 Time on bike: 5:55
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Jackie B.
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Thanks :)
enjoying reading this so much! thanks, j.