Day 8 to: Sajnsand, 62km, 812km to date, 332m up, end elev 1022m

Day 6 of 6 in a row.  Alarm went off at 5:15, pack up tent and prep everything in just breaking light.  Temperature about 1C, brisk wind and raining - a perfect day for riding in the Gobi!

Another extremely hard day, straight into the hard wind with light rain, commonly making only 8 or 9 km/h.  Nobody was going to make the 140k to the hotel, so the ride was called at 60k and we were transported to Sajnsand.

Although the desert is continuous flat sand and rock, it is still fascinating.  Saw several herds of Gazelle, many flocks of sheep, cattle and wild horses.

I went past this rock monument, it is called an Ovoo, a sacred cairn, often located at the tops of mountains or marking passes, also used as demarkation points between tribes.  They must contain at least some holy wood.  It is custom for travellers to stop and circle an ovoo three times clockwise and add a rock to a pile with each lap.  I got the stopping, adding a rock and three times part right, but missed the clockwise bit, I went counter-clockwise - I’m sure the gods will not look down on me for this small transgression. 

I liked this “sand fence”:

I’m starting to almost expect the juxtaposition of old and new - in this case a yurt in the middle of the Gobi, with the man standing talking on a cell phone:

These are three of our drivers,  I would love to have one of their great coats - I think it would be excellent to ski in:

These vehicles will be with us all the way across Mongolia:

A fine Italian red with chocolate as part of dinner:

I’m slowly finding out more about my fellow riders:

One of the ladies (grandmother) has now been to 85 countries,

Ruth and Michael (not related) have both cross-country skied unassisted to both the north and south poles.  I believe both have done lots more but are somewhat quiet,

One of the lead A-team riders is a South African TV actor and has a pacemaker,

A very skinny lady (I have nicknamed bones) has done 12 ironman’s,

One of the guys has extensively hiked in Africa and SE Asea,

Many of the riders have done the Africa Tda tour, also the South American tour.

I am now in a very nice hotel on the top of a hill in the middle of the Gobi desert.  The town below not surprisingly is a combination of old and new, half the town lives in yurts, right beside modern concrete buildings:

The walk/ride up to our hotel:

The town from the hotel:

We head off tomorrow for three days riding to YuBee the local nickname for Ulam Bataar.  It will be 3 long hard days, camping the two nights - hopefully at least one of the nights will be clear - the night sky in the desert is always extraordinary. 

So next post will hopefully be from YuBee.