Wanderings

September 20, 2012

Hello!

I have a few stories to share and want to get this out before I leave Mongolia (tonight IS the night). Our one and only trip this year was completely epic! I have many more pictures & videos to post, but for now I'll leave it at this.

Day 2:

We’ve had a hell of a trip so far. The 2^nd day we started about an hour SW of Arvayheer (decided to go the Bayanhongor way to avoid crossing the Bogd #2 River as Bogd people told us it was really high and they didn’t advise crossing)…first off we came across 2 Mongolians riding one motorcycle who had a horrific crash. Both of their faces were bloodied, one had a broken wrist that was visibly popping out and looked terrible…they were frantically asking for help. So we gave them some gauze/cleaning alcohol pads/bandaids/ibuprofen….and then they pulled out Vodka and began drinking it to ease the pain, and then drove off! I think the whole reason they crashed in the first place was drunken driving. After that (still 100km or so away from Bayanhongor), the Delica got a flat tire. We fixed it quickly, and then as soon as we were ready to go, the company Lexus would not start. So they fiddled with the fuse box for about an hour, and finally found a way (by applying a certain direction of pressure to a particular fuse) to get the car started again. As soon as it started, we raced to Bayanhongor. Once there, we spent the next couple hours looking for a replacement fuse (The ECD Main Relay if that means anything to you) and we did not find a replacement. The car was not running reliably, BIG PROBLEM. So I talked to the Ops manager and Justin and we were thinking about sending a Defender early Monday morning to arrive Tuesday sometime and replace the Lexus….which means we’d spend the next 2 days stuck in Bayanhongor. Well, during the conversation, the Mongolians managed to clean the ECD fuse somehow (apparently it was slightly corroded)…and replace one of the smaller fuses, and wallah, problem fixed. So we made it nearly to Jinst, and found a campspot overlooking the river but up on a ridge with a lot of sand dunes nearby. Good choice, right? NOPE. A storm was brewing, and soon we were being sandblasted, blinded, and my tent just about blew out of my hands….so right before it got dark we decided to move to along the river. Now here we are, just had dinner at about 930pm, and I think everyone is ready for bed. Huseyin certainly is getting a taste of what this land can offer J

Day 3:

The plot thickens! We were camped on the river near Jinst, and just like last time, it started raining in the middle of the night, so of course I am waking up in the middle of the night to see if its flash flooding to avoid being silently swept away, but we were okay J Then, in the morning, the rain became stronger, so we packed up and thought we had an easy 4 hour drive to Tsagaan Suvarga. It rained so hard that one valley we drove through had a huge lake where the road used to be, and where we drove last year! So we had to drive wayyyy around, and while crossing the swampy rivery part above the lake, we came very very close to getting stuck. I thought we were screwed. We made it through. THEN ….the road continued into a different valley up this very large drainage channel, but since it was raining so hard, it was flowing. Not too bad at first, but soon, it was a full out flash flood. There were boulders being washed down the river, and 0.5 – 1m waves sticking up. NOOOO fing way we will cross this river. The drivers were nervous and said “road closed” and I agreed with them. If we attempted to cross the river and failed, we would be in a very serious deadly helpless situation. So we waited for 4 hours, and finally the rain subsided some and the river came down, and we continued on. Now we’re only 28km from Tsagaan Suvarga. Except this time, we have to climb a lot of elevation, and its still raining some. As we climb, the rain turns to snow. Soon, its snowing heavily, blowing/drifting, its hard to see the road, and its getting dark. So somehow, we manage to turn S and make it to Bayantsagaan (town very close to Tsagaan Suvarga). One of the drivers knows someone there, and we manage to stay in their ger for this winter evening. So today, we fuel up, and drive to Tsagaan Suvarga, and it looks like a scene out of Alaska/the Himalayas. The peaks around are easily skiable, and I’m not sure how we’re going to collect some of our samples. There are 3-6 FOOT DRIFTS! In shady areas and in gulleys. But….today the weather was sunny and warmer, and the snow is melting some. So…..here we are. I hope we can get all of our work done, but we are 1.5 days behind. Even more so, I hope we can make it to Altay so I can catch my damn ride out of here! Huseyin is having a good time, but all the countryside Mongolian food / UB pollution is catching up with him. He thinks hes getting a cold, and didn’t eat anything at all today, stomach is upset, and generally feels terrible. Poor guy, I know how he feels. Anyway, looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Finally getting out of UB....

Apparently before the sandstorm started, this boy rode up on a horse and kept telling us (in Mongolian of course): DONT CAMP HERE. YOU WILL GO BLIND IF YOU CAMP HERE. YOU WILL GET SANDBLASTED.....it was all a bunch of jibberish to me. Stubbornly, I continued to try to set up my tent, and then eventually gave up.