I woke up very drowsy from the lack of sleep and the amount of spicy food I had the night before, Katharina was already waiting in the breakfast area ready and packed, I was excited that I put on my gear before brushing my teeth and fixing my contact lenses. I walked to check the bikes after a little coffee and a piece of bread, where Ogi, Mandala, Sana and Hacha were waiting, those were our team completed if we add Max & Monica (The Swiss couple) who are Ogi’s customers. We didn’t want to waste any time in the city because we were pushing to leave just before the traffic of Ulaanbaatar starts, and head towards the airport and after 80 km we start the gravel roads for the next 2-3 weeks!
Riding on the gravel was not as bad as I expected in the beginning, especially that it was dry and didn’t rain since a while as it seemed from the soil, but I had my first flat tire on the trip just an hour after the gravel! I was amazed of how Mandala managed to pull the old wheel and replace it in a second without a blink, that reminded me of how they do the same on F1 races! Then I managed to get some fuel from the reserve they had on the truck to carry on. Our first lunch stop was somewhere on a valley where we unpacked some of the kitchen items, chairs, shades and vegetables to start cooking. Oggi was the chef with the help of Mandala, it was a lot of effort unpacking all kitchen needs from the truck which was overloaded with stuff, spare parts and lots of tires. Katharina got busy with cleaning the salad and serving white rice to all, Oggi and Mandala were in front of the stove, cooking meat with lots of Soya and mushroom. The meat with its spicy sauce was served on a leaf of lettuce and a scoop of rice, which was delicious after the first bit of a ride!
hot milk which was served at the yurt
I was the least eating of all due to my stress from the night before, until Saana noticed and told Oggi to tell me that I need to eat well because it will get really exhausting later on, I preferred to save some space for dinner which would feel great too after a long riding day! We carried on riding on that beautiful flat green surface with as maximum speed as I could feeling that I really own the world, without looking behind or front, I was observing the area and wondering if I was actually in a painting or a post card! We then stopped at a nomadic family who are living in a small yurt surrounded by many wild horses, later on, I was told that the father of the family is a horse trainer and owner, they welcomed us inside the tent and they had some kind of a special form of getting the guests seated, somehow similar to our style in Arabian Majlis where they let the guest sit on the middle of the hall. I was told to sit on a spot, then we were served hot milk with shredded dry meat, we heard some stories by the mother who Ogi translated for us in both English and German languages.
the dried meat (jerky) that we were served by the Nomadic family.
After the great talk with the nomadic family, the father suggested we all ride to his horses which are around 1 km away from the tent, that moment meant a lot to me because I suggested riding between the horses with my bike and had a video of that moment which I would be having in my imagination for the rest of my life! Horses didn’t seem to be scared of me rather than just avoiding being with me, they didn’t mind me riding between them though, I felt like a musical Orchestra concert playing each on his instrument to make that wonderful moment! We continued riding then towards the spot where we would be camping and staying over, but because Sanaa was overexcited, we have lost the trucks and kept on riding in circles and back and forth until we found them. When I reached, everybody was unpacking and helping to make the big tent (our kitchen) while I was still breathing heavily from the 300 KM ride, we had on day 1!
riding with the horses (photo is a capture from a video)
It was incredible how Mandala manages to unpack and pack the stuff using the exact spacing into the truck, how he used to stuff the items inside without squeezing them, as Katharina said: like a Tetris game! We unpacked the stove again for another delicious meal, which was meat, Potato, rice and salad, with lots of Soya sauce! After that long ride it was always delicious to have a big meal before bed. Weather started cooling down and it started getting windy, we then spent the evening by the fire with Ogi, Katharina and the boys, where Max & Monica went to bed. My first night on that raised “above the truck” tent was an experience, but not as bad as expected, except the hard surface I was sleeping on, but I felt asleep!
I woke up next morning satisfied of my quality sleep, however I woke up a lot due to the cold but I could tell I had a wonderful sleep, I walked out of the tent and started my video to speak my diary, while I am looking for a dead spot to use the toilet! Coming back from the toilet, I found the table ready and my plate filled with 2 fried eggs, sunny side up and 2 toasts which was so needed before started a new day which could be longer than yesterday. We started the ride in full energy heading towards a spot we haven’t decided yet where to stop, until we stopped at a well which had pure clean cold water, which I so needed to drink, freshen up and wash my face!
We kept on riding and stopped at a valley that has a formation of the colors of sand and mud, from yellow to dark brown in a beautiful form, we stopped here to sleep and camp, unpack and pack again, but this time we had a shower installed for us, which was so needed, it was a bit windy and got me worried if next day would be rainy and that would be a big challenge for the bike ride. I smelled something cooking and walked towards the table with the wet towel on my head to find meat cooked in rich sauce with carrot and fried eggs rice, after that meal I went to bed and passed out. I was trying to find my earplugs to avoid the noise of the wind but failed to find them, but because I was tired, I managed to sleep. I woke up at 4 am hearing the rain and strong wind, it was still dark but I remembered I put all my devices on chargers next to the generator which we had with us. I ran in my boxers under the rain to bring them back.
Ogi cooking most of the meals
We had a big breakfast to prepare for a big ride towards the gate of Gobi Desert, again it was interesting to look at Mandala how he sorts all the bags and items back into the truck, how we all untie the tent and put everything back in order, chairs, stove, tents, bags and small bits! Riding towards Gobi would be a new experience different from the first 2 days. I will talk more about Gobi on Part 3, stay tuned!
