It’s much hotter now that we’re further east and at lower altitude. Dry, sandy, dusty roads. The dust clouds we kick up are huge, they coat everything and make it difficult to see the bumps and pot holes in the track, which is now much more "main" than the tracks of the last few days. It’s relatively easy going, but still requires total concentration because of the frequent patches of thick sand, uneven gravel, pot holes, and ruts. Before long my thrice repaired rear inner tube fails and we spend an hour fixing it. And hour later it’s half flat again, we pump it up, with the usual audience appearing from nowhere, and carry on. 5 minutes later, flat again, so we spend another hour changing it, using Dave’s spare 18" tube in my 17" wheel. It seems to work. After a long day we camp in more remote peace and quiet with a great view but with more insects. It’s been a good though still hard day, and we’re now just 200 miles as the crow flies from UB. It hasn’t been nearly as interesting, exciting, varied or special as recent days, but it’s a welcome change of pace and a reassuring measure of progress towards our goal of reaching the capital.
Day 70 Mongolia day 9
3 Aug