Sweet, Sweet Tarmac...

We took off Tuesday morning under dark skies and a light drizzle. The further west we went the darker it became. We decided to pull off at a Ger and small building when it really looked like it was about to come down - hoping the occupants might offer us some shelter from the storm. We did get inside after a bit showing them our route on maps and communicating through the usual sign language. After about 30 minutes the dark storm it the distance had appeared to move north so we decided to press on. Soon the skies became dark and the rain became steady. It had also appeared to have already rained hard for some time all through our path west. The mud became thicker and the puddles deeper. It was actually easier riding than the previous two days as the sand became firm from the rain. The biggest hazard this day was the sections of extreme washboards. The front end would start to vibrate violently making control difficult and fatigue the hands and arms.

Around 4:30pm we hit the Tarmac we had heard we would find before reaching the lake. We had to stop and give our thanks - Ken actually kissed the road. His rear shock had given out before we even hit the dirt so he had been been riding a pogo stick for the past three days. The road was the sweetest stretch of Tarmac any if us had ever seen. Smooth as a billiard table, no seams no curves. It was the strangest thing because there was nothing where the road started. The nearest town was 150 km back where we had started earlier that day - and a tiny town at that. Oh well, we will take it - it was nice to be able to relax a bit as the previous three days had required laser focus.

We arrived at the lake around 7pm and of course had to camp on the beach. We met a couple of travelers that had started in Scotland and were going to Australia - Malcolm from Scotland and Sara from Australia. They ended up camping with us and we shared stories, talked bikes and enjoyed the spectacular sunset. They had come the way we were headed and vise versa so it was good to share info on the roads (or lack there of) ahead.

Tonight we will camp again - hopefully on top of a mountain pass - but Thursday we plan to be in Ulgii and will look for a hotel or guesthouse as we haven't had showers since Saturday or done laundry in over a week.

We also haven't had internet in three days until our lunch stop today.  I put some iPhone photos up for the last two pasts and will put the better ones on when I get to better internet tomorrow.

Muddy riding today.

Lots of camels in a Mongolia.

Malcolm and Sara.

Beach camp at the lake.

The sweet Tarmac - like billiard table!  To bad it only lasts 200 km.

The sun setting on the lake.