Kharkhorin

So far 360km and no mechanical problems. Things are looking good. The first stretch of our westward roadtrip was on Sunday from Ulaanbataar to the small town of Lun was mostly off-road. The main road between these towns is being repaired so all the traffic (and there is quite a lot) basically makes it's own road, meaning that there is a maze of tracks, some good, some not so good for 60km. This was no problem for the AG100's and we had a successful days riding with a good lunch at a small restuarant in the middle of nowhere while a thunderstorm brewed around us. We refuelled at Lun and then rode another 30km west through sheets of rain and occassional thunder to an amazing camping spot. The camp was on the edge of all the wet weather blowing down from Siberia and we only had a few showers before the skies cleared. After a dinner of chinese noodles (carried all the way from Beijing), we had an early night. We awoke yesterday to sunshine and clear skies and thought we might take an alternative route on one of the backroads away from the major sealed road. This proved interesting with many tracks to choose from and all seeminly leading in the right direction, but we weren't so sure. There was also much sand and gravel which made the going slow. After an hour or two, and only travelling 5km closer to our destination, we decided to use the main road and following that all the way to Kharkhorin. We again lunched at a roadside stop. As all menus are in Mongolian, we play potluck with lunch and just point at something on the menu and hope it is edible. Our potluck method has worked well so far and you can't go too wrong as the menu mainly consists of variations of meat, onions and potato. We have also been drinking the local heavily salted milk tea with meals which we are starting to get used to. Matt wasn't quite sure after drinking the first cup, but it hasn't resulted in any belly troubles yet. Last night we had dinner with a Swiss cyclist here in Kharkhorin. He has ridden from Kurdistan, through Kazakhstan on his own and gave us a good idea of the road conditions ahead. He only has a beer and a bowl of chips for dinner after cycling most of the day! I think his appetite is completely opposite to mine after cycling for a day! We have a nice campsite beside a river and will stay in Kharkhorin today to relax and do some sightseeing. The river is warm so we will swim a bit today I think and get clean after two days of riding. Tomorrow we will depart for Tsetserleg and then continue on to the Great White Lake (Terghin Tsagan Nuur) to spend a day or two there. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful lakes in Mongolia with many good camps. Communications is proving easy with mobile phone reception at many locations and internet in most major town, so we will be posting often. Alan.