Lake Khovsgol to camp near Ikh--Uul

We ride back to Moron the same way we came. We are lucky with the weather as you cross dry river beds several times on the way back. On this northern route it is possible to get stuck if it rains too much, and a Scottish women we met had done so last year when the dry river beds ceased to be dry. We lunch again in Moron and i have peppers in my meal of meat...ahh sweet vegetable! We havn't really had any bad food in Mongolia (apart from bad food we have cooked or lunched on) but its just very simple food. We make good progress from Moron west, but i manage to pick up a nail in my rear tyre going over a pass, and it is a good 10cm long. It kindly puts multiple holes in my tyre and tube and goes flat instantly. We remove the tyre and repair the tube but just like last time it goes down about 100m down the road. Repairing flats can be frustrating because there is a lack of shade in this country and the sun is very hot! We remove the tube again, repatch and replace. It goes down again. Arghhh! There is a leak we just cant find in the tube. I bought spare tubes at the black market but they are Russian and not the right size (best we could do). We have to file the valve and cut the edges with a knife to make it fit the rim. over 2hours later and we are back on the road, but not after a couple of Mongolians stopped to play mumble point with us before leaving. We find a camp 27km before Ikh-Uul on a large river. And this brings me to a perculiar Mongolian habit that we have encountered before. The plains are vast, space along the river aplenty and we feel remote. However a car appears in the distance and heads right for us. They pull up right next to us and set camp. Mongolian families like to do this which can be both good (as in our experience at the Great White Lake) or a curse (as in this case when we are tired, irritated and feel like being left alone). It humours me now though, because they got drunk and a women was wailing and singing through the night preventing sleep. Alan has however revealed a most remarkable capacity to render himself comatose through these occassions and i stay awake all night. Remarkable. We are however, treated to an amazing full moon and clear sky which leaves an impression on you like no where else i have been.