12th of June 2011
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Hovd to Zereg - 200km: hardcore in the sand and heat
The next day we were according to the GPS about 30km beside the track and instead of following the most used tracks in the steppe we decided to cross over a huge vast area and finding our “right” way which would fit then the GPS data. After 5km in the open we found a track and followed it while the sand got deeper and deeper. We doubted that this could be right even though the GPS showed us that this is the right way.
We decided to cross over some sand dunes covered with steppe grass to reach a ger of which we could see the roof in a far distance.
Pretty demanding and Florian had to get up his bike a couple of times. Without the heavy luggage and a bike with more space under the motorblock it wouldn't have been such a problem...
Exhausted we reached the ger, Florian exhausted from his pushing & pulling and I from dehydration…32°C and the steady wind dried me out even though I drank already 2l of water.
For some money the shepherd brought us - following his horse which took easily the sand dunes - to the next cart track and showed us with a general move the way we should take. He returned while we ended up with a question mark on our forehead 400m later at the first separation of the track. Ene mene muh… and we decided for the right one. We reached “the road” after another half an hour meeting 2 friendly construction workers…”yes, this is the way to UB” :-)
Late in the afternoon we arrived in Zereg (actually we thought it was Darvi) and asked for a room at a mini market. After a while one woman sitting around there brought us to a friend of hers who had a small hut in which were 3 rusty beds behind a billiard room. But at least our new hostel warden (a big mama:-) put the bedclothes whereas in the most Russian hotels I had to this on my own..
She and her family lived in an even smaller room behind the kitchen.
We cooked our food in front of the door on our gas cookers and enjoyed the sunset while the neighborhood gathered in front of us; of course we were THE event there.
While sitting there an old man came back from the village well with 2 big metal buckets of water. Another man asked for one of the buckets and drank out of it, then he held it for his young daughter…wow, they have robust stomachs!
The next morning we got up at 6:00am, cooked some coffee and ate our bread and cheese (HAA, I bought it in Hovd after I ran 1 hour around to find it:-) and when we passed Darvi about 50km later, we knew where we had been the night before. But does it matter on such a trip?
The next day we were according to the GPS about 30km beside the track and instead of following the most used tracks in the steppe we decided to cross over a huge vast area and finding our “right” way which would fit then the GPS data. After 5km in the open we found a track and followed it while the sand got deeper and deeper. We doubted that this could be right even though the GPS showed us that this is the right way.
We decided to cross over some sand dunes covered with steppe grass to reach a ger of which we could see the roof in a far distance.
Pretty demanding and Florian had to get up his bike a couple of times. Without the heavy luggage and a bike with more space under the motorblock it wouldn't have been such a problem...
Exhausted we reached the ger, Florian exhausted from his pushing & pulling and I from dehydration…32°C and the steady wind dried me out even though I drank already 2l of water.
For some money the shepherd brought us - following his horse which took easily the sand dunes - to the next cart track and showed us with a general move the way we should take. He returned while we ended up with a question mark on our forehead 400m later at the first separation of the track. Ene mene muh… and we decided for the right one. We reached “the road” after another half an hour meeting 2 friendly construction workers…”yes, this is the way to UB” :-)
Late in the afternoon we arrived in Zereg (actually we thought it was Darvi) and asked for a room at a mini market. After a while one woman sitting around there brought us to a friend of hers who had a small hut in which were 3 rusty beds behind a billiard room. But at least our new hostel warden (a big mama:-) put the bedclothes whereas in the most Russian hotels I had to this on my own..
She and her family lived in an even smaller room behind the kitchen.
We cooked our food in front of the door on our gas cookers and enjoyed the sunset while the neighborhood gathered in front of us; of course we were THE event there.
While sitting there an old man came back from the village well with 2 big metal buckets of water. Another man asked for one of the buckets and drank out of it, then he held it for his young daughter…wow, they have robust stomachs!
The next morning we got up at 6:00am, cooked some coffee and ate our bread and cheese (HAA, I bought it in Hovd after I ran 1 hour around to find it:-) and when we passed Darvi about 50km later, we knew where we had been the night before. But does it matter on such a trip?
