Day 75 Last day in Ulaanbaatar

I’m still in UB, partly because i’ve got the new laptop and can do a load of jobs i’ve been wanting to do for a while, but also because i’ve had a great time with the rally team and Dave A. It’s the people that make the difference on a trip like this, so while the going is good I’m going to enjoy it. Meeting up with these guys and having a really good laugh has given me the enthusiasm to go on, and rekindled the enjoyment of it. After a morning organising the bike and doing internet stuff we meet up for a walking tour of UB. Because of what happened when we first arrived I haven’t had chance to properly enjoy the city, been too busy deciding whether to carry on solo, so this was a good reason to stay another day. We visit the natural history museum and look at dinosaur bones, then the Buddhist temple, followed by a dodgy lunch in a ropey little cafe where we play russian roulette picking dishes at random from the unintelligible menu. Then we part company, and i feel a little sad and a little apprehensive, but slightly bouyed up by having copies of Dave A’s Russian road atlas pages showing the in progess Amur highway. It’s a shame Dave’s bike is broken and he’ll be stuck here waiting for parts, but there’s every chance we’ll meet on the road again sometime. I’m really grateful to new Dave for encouraging me to go on without original Dave. And tomorrow, I start phase 2 of my adventure.