I got myself into my gear as soon as possible to be ready for the ride with full excitement, but before that, I have prepared my GoPro and phone to record a time-lapse video of Mandala and rest of the boys doing the packing magic which I didn’t want to miss! Normally Mandala would get into the back of the truck, tells us what to get first and what to get next, starting with filling the little dead parts then bigger items like stove, table and tent, then the last small soft bags to fill whatever gaps where there. I ran then to my bike to start and follow Anchar this time who replaced Sanaa. First thing we did was to ride between sharp hills to reach up the rock where we slept under the night before, which looked absolutely great from above. Getting into this fenced area required around 5 minutes’ walk, I was too heavy with my gear to do that, especially with the heat that started to arise and I didn’t want to exhaust myself from the beginning of the day.

We continued riding and the more mileage we made the more desert terrain we used to get into, but still we didn’t meet the sand dunes yet, as I could still see green spaces, trees and mountains, until we reached a bit civilized city to get supplies, fuel and water, I also wanted to get a special key to fix my GoPro mount which I have found in a tools shop nearby. We then continued riding with some challenges with Anchar riding up and down hills until we have reached a bit of tarmac that led to a huge gate which has a big city behind. I was told that this is the gateway of Gobi and right from there we would be considered as getting into Gobi, we have waited by that gate for around 10 minutes until someone came to us to lead us to his house, where we would spend the noon and early afternoon. We were following this car between houses until we reached a walled small land that has 2 big yurts and we parked just next to them. Ogi said we would stop there to visit the silver makers family in this house, while they go for shower in a public shower somewhere in the city. Monica needed to use the internet to finish some pending work in her country too.

After lunch, I got my laptop out of my bag to send some important emails and we all were waiting for the family to prepare the other yurt where the silver “factory” existed! I was a bit concerned of how they can make, melt and bang silver inside a tent! But I said I would wait and see how it works, we were also told that there is a private toilet on the other side on the land which was nicely built, but it lacked water and it was just built on a huge hole where all the waste goes! Moments later, a chubby man walked in, showing off his belly by lifting it until his chest, and this behavior I have seen a lot in Chine, when they feel hot, they just lift their T-shirts same way, he told us that his brother and sister are coming soon and they will start crafting some silver items which we can attend with them, record videos or ask questions.

We have got into the other yurt, which was very small to take us all in, we were me, Katharina, Max, Monica and Ogi, they were three, one who started the strong stove to heat the silver, another one who was crafting the silver by banging on the plates with a hammer and a big nail, and the other one was picking the useful leftover of silver parts to heat and melt again. The first guy got a bottle that was full of silver beads and poured some on the container to melt them down, first question I have asked: from where do you get those beads? From Korea, he said, and it wasn’t easy to get them from there, as it is very expensive and due to regulations, it became a bit complicated to import them. I was waiting for the moment when they melt down all the silver beads and pour them onto stronger metal rings which was so satisfying for me, they wait for these parts to dry on to use them later on. They make some kind of plates and jewelry that are sold in the capital and/or exported worldwide.

Before we left, the lady of the house, gave Katharina a warm light blue robe to wear during night time and it would keep her very warm, we have waited to move on, but the boys stayed longer than expected in the shower and the longer we stay the later we would reach to our next stop, but it doesn’t matter since we are not stuck to a schedule, we could stop anywhere, anytime. We entered an area which is considered as a national park with a gate, and riding into a valley to reach a mountain area at 2500 meters high, this is where we chose to camp. We had the regular procedures and I chose my spot for my raised tent, we spent a great evening in the dark and chatting until we all started yawning then walked to bed.

I woke up at 5 am looking for a toilet, I walked up the hill where I was surrounded by many horses and camels, it was such a wonderful view to use the toilet, I walked back to my tent, recorded a video of myself while shaving my head, brushing my teeth and putting on my contact lenses, then walked to the guys. Ogi was recommending I take a break that day because next day would be hard riding into the dunes, I preferred to ride on that day too because I heard of the beautiful mountains, valley and small river ride between what looked like a canyon. The ride started by Ogi and Katharina walking towards the valley before us, then we followed by the bike and the vehicle followed us and picked up Katharina and Ogi on the way. The deeper I got into that valley the colder it got, and the narrower the mountains got closer to each other in a way I felt I would be squashed between them!

I have ridden ahead of Anchar and was getting more excited the more I cross the freezing water that just melting down of the glacier and I could feel how ticklish I felt them inside my boots, until I reached that magical point where barley a truck can drive through, riding between them, where there was the running water, surrounded by melting ice on the sides. We stopped for videos and photos and waited for the vehicles to arrive which took them around 15 minutes after us. We have spent around half an hour riding our bikes and trucks back and forth to make photos and videos and kept repeating and none of us was complaining because it was feeling great crossing the little water and riding between the canyon rocks. We have recorded many videos of every bike, and every truck going back and forth on that narrow bit, until we decided to continue further heading towards the sand dunes part of Gobi.

Ancher Drinking water

We have stopped for lunch break on a spot where we could see the rocks, sand dunes from distance and black mountains from further distance, it was a proper desert climate where I could feel the heat and hot wind hitting my face, I took off my tshirt and walked around making more videos and photos. As I got back and grabbed a chair to start a conversation with Monica, I started hearing my stomach making that strange sound, the sound which I am not familiar with, but this sound indicates that’s something is not normal with me, that I am about to get sick! I was hoping it’s not what I thought it was, but it was getting stronger, and I felt I was getting inflated. I had to ignore this feeling, but it was stronger, and I had to make sure myself and walked to the toilet. The problem with this area that its flat that you can’t hide anywhere or behind anything, so I had to do a very long walk to make sure I am not seen.

I got back confirming to myself and Katharina that I had got diarrhea! But I would continue riding because I didn’t want to miss the sand dune’s part. Right after lunch, we continued riding between loose gravel and sandy bits, the closer we got to the spot where we would end the day, the deeper the sand started to get, I could spot all the yellow sand dunes around me, but they weren’t any close to where we would be riding, until we reached a gate where we were required to show some IDs! We continued riding on a deep sand part that we both got stuck several times but we managed to get through. Until we reached a spot which is so green and full with grass, horses and running water. there were also lots of flies and mosquitos, I tried to ride my bike on the green part but it was soaking wet with water, so I didn’t want to risk and get stuck by end of the day. I took off my shirt again and walked around topless enjoying the weather. Moments later, Katharina, Max, Monica and Ogi walked towards the top of the sand dunes in front of us, to me, I didn’t find it attractive to walk on the sand as it is something normal where I came from!

i was trying to get a clear photo of all on the top of the sand dune

I have noticed Sanaa fixing the shower again, so I took it a good opportunity not to miss it this time as I don’t know when it would be available next, as I walked out of the shower, I noticed Sanaa calling my name and checked my heart pulse, then he tried to tell me that I look exhausted and need to rest. We had a local dish for dinner then I walked to my tent which was fixed in the middle of the bushes where lots of mosquitos were flying around me that I could see through my headlight torch. It wasn’t an easy task falling asleep that night due to the noise caused by some campers who were playing loud music and dancing the whole night! I was even too exhausted to get out of my tent to get my earplugs from the bag, getting inside and outside of the tent that night would get more bugs with me in, and I didn’t want that.

 

I woke up in the morning at around 5, walked on the green part trying to chase one of the horses and made some videos. That morning I decided to take 2 days break from riding, so I gave my boots to Anchar and hid my helmet inside the truck. I had my both GoPro charged to make more videos of the boys playing on the dunes. I knew I didn’t want to miss that day, but I was too tired to continue riding for the 5th day and it was important to recover and recharge, moment after we took off, we were in a direct confrontation with the sand dunes and the boys were getting ready to ride and play on them! I was wearing my shorts so I thought it would be impossible to ride the bike that day, I felt really bad that this moment I was looking forward for, I ended up in the truck on my break day, however, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity so I got on the bike, very careful and had couple of rounds and I considered this as an unofficial riding moment that I didn’t post anything about it.

We continued the journey and the more west we got, the hotter it got and the deeper the sand got, until we reached a very hot spot in the middle of nowhere, and no shade to hide under, and the reason we stopped there because the front iron bumper was almost falling and we needed to fix it, we took the opportunity to cook lunch there too and then continued towards a spot where Oggi was looking for the whole day, which is a mini canyon area where the boys played with the bikes and we made lots of videos of them riding. Oggi was hesitating about sleeping over there or continue but then he decided to continue because we were running out of fuel and needed to reach a nearby village to refill, then we either continue further or get back to the same canyons area. We have driven for a while on a very disturbing bumpy path that killed my lower back, until we reached the fuel station, but unfortunately, there was no fuel in the station’s tank and all our vehicles and bikes had only few drops of petrol! We were told that there wont be fuel until next morning, therefore, the only option is we have to stay in the town, or camp in the nearby area!

First, Ogi suggested we all stay in a hotel, so we started driving around hotels in the village with no vacancy, then we drove in the open area near the village to camp as it was getting windy and rainy, we chose a spot where we could drive early at 5 next morning to get fuel. Once we arrived, we did the usual thing and called off the day early to wake up early. Luckily, there was a mobile coverage which helped me upload all delayed stories. Saana woke me up at 5 in the morning to pack the tent and get fuel as my tent was on top of the main truck, I stayed at the camping area until they got back and got ready after a delicious breakfast, that day I was in the truck again!

Couple of hours after taking off, we had a flat tire on one of the motorcycles, less than an hour later, we had another flat tire on Max’s car, and the same time we noticed the huge bulky bumper is dangling so Ogi decided to take it off and put it on top of the truck, positioning the bumper on top looked like a bull’s horn from distance, by doing so, this was the only way to survive the day and continue until we find a spot to camp and Mandala goes to a nearby village to fix the bumper. As we finished lunch, we were earlier told that there is a group of “old timers club” who are rich Europeans driving limited edition old Rolls-Royse vintage cars, escorted by Land rovers and drones, they were saying that they drove from London to all the way Mongolia and ending in China, while other said they just landed in the airport and their cars were shipped to Mongolia to start the adventure, they were Richie rich wearing top of the range designer clothes with a bit of dust to give them an adventure look. There were many different brands of vehicles we bumped on, and because Mongolia is almost an empty country, whenever we bumped into one of those cars, we stopped and had a chitchat with them.

Again, that day we decided to stop for camping before our final destination, because Mandala needed to drive to the nearest town to fix the horn of the truck, and we would stop at one of the valleys until next day. The best part of that evening was that Ogi was preparing sushi for dinner, and because we had a long very hot day, we called the day off earlier than every day. I took my charging station to the generator to charge my GoPro batteries and prepared for next day when I would get onto the bike again after 2 days break! Part 4 will explain more…