Mongolia, Day 8 - Tsagaan Hutul (possibly) - Bayan Khangai

The longest day today, 236km mostly offroad - but with a few short stretches of tarmac - usually a blend of dirt/gravel, sprinkled with sand and some renegade action on grass. Duff is riding with us, but his shoulder still aches. At some point Danny has his first off, but he's OK. It's our last full day of riding.  Gerard's bike still doesn't have a side stand and he has to carry a stick across his handlebars that he uses as as impromptu stand when wedged between the frame and fuel tank.  It works, but often the stick slips or is kicked accidentally and the bike ends up on the floor.

I often find myself the lead rider behind the jeep, although it's not the best place to be because the jeep's dust cloud obscures the track. So I either hang back, but then get repeatedly frustrated as I keep catching the cloud, or more usually Christian and I veer off to the side on the rough grass, out of cloud, but still behind the jeep. Today I notice Alan is lead rider for a bit, makes a change from Gerard, Christian, Hugo, Matt or myself. Although Chris is the most proficient of the group off road, he normally hangs back from the lead and plays around off-piste. 

Gerard follows the lead jeep's cloud, with his trusty stick

You really have to keep your wits about you off-piste as holes and ruts can appear suddenly; it really focuses your mind and the concentration is intense. The other things to watch for are discarded beer and vodka bottles, it's a real shame, these are everywhere beside the tracks.  But even on track you need to take care: after cresting a ridge today we were faced with a massive deep hole that a few of us only just managed to avoid. After I went by, I stopped and motioned to Charlie to keep to the side away from the chasm. It was shear luck none of us ended up in it.

Depending on the surface, you can ride on the seat or on the pegs. If it's really rough the pegs are best, but this is more tiring and I've found hard on my throttle thumb (blister to prove it). On the pegs is also a good way to ventilate your posterior occasionally in the heat, and you'll often see us go up on the pegs doing a wiggle to unstick our sweaty butts!  Lovely. 

Just before a drinks stop, we see a muddy patch on the road. I notice there's a clump of butterflies there, Steve, Danny and myself double back and we photograph the butterflies drinking. 

Butterflies at their local watering hole

We also pass a salt lake and there's a group of horses standing in the water. Makes a great picture with the mountains in the background. The landscape is changing as we head north. Although still,... well,... large, it's becoming more hilly and mountainous.  

Horses enjoying a midday paddle 

As we approach UB we find a rare taste of officialdom, there's a checkpoint we have to negotiate. On the other side we refuel in an area where there's a lot of earth moving going on. Not sure if it's mining, road building or some other activity. 

Diggers in action

In the petrol station there's a young lad who can't be more than 12, he's riding an off-road styled bike with knobbly tires and he seems to enjoy our interest in his machine. He follows us for a while as we leave the petrol station.  

Local biker boy on his 200cc Tiger - lucky fella

Our first attempt at a lunch stop turns out to be in mosquito alley. We move on and find something more bearable; hot, but with a cooling breeze.  Before lunch we sit and chat under a makeshift shade set up at the side of the truck - a welcome relief from the midday sun. Dare to doze off and despite hiding behind shades, you'll be snapped; many do and are recorded for posterity.  

Sleeping beauties at lunchtime

Some need more beauty sleep than others

Today we have a five course meal! Appetiser, starter, soup, main, desert. We ARE still on an adventure holiday.  Looking back to where we first stopped, I can see a ger that was near that spot. It gives a scale to the valley in which we stopped: it's massive.  

More riding, even more riding, nearly there, more riding, and then we pull off the main road and stop for the night; Bayankhangai is the nearest town, although it's not nearby. This is our last night of camping and we're all experts putting up our tents now.

Happy campers

After dinner I walk to the top of the hill over the campsite; it's a good walk. In the distance I see three of the support team racing to the next, higher, hill. The last rider gives up and abandons his bike at a difficult section; he walks up from there. I take the opportunity to dash from my vantage point (a km away) to where he left the bike. I liberate the bike and ride it to the top and, on the way, wave at the ex-rider who by now is on his way down. It turns out to be 'Mini-G', the son of Mr Gantulga; he gets picked up by one of the support team as I continue to the top, and head back down again as light fades. As I'm only in my trainers and baseball cap, I take care to keep the speed low. It's a difficult bumpy ride on the rock-strewn slopes but invigorating without all our usual safety gear.  

We find some wood and have a camp fire before bed. For some reason we have to wake super early tomorrow for our last half day of riding into UB. We'll have the afternoon to look around before a final night in the hotel and departure from Mongolia.