Monday, July 27, 2009

July 25th-27th (Day 13-15): Off the main road

Day 13 was our second rest day at the Kongor camp. In the morning we walked over to check out Tsagaan Nuur (lake). In the evening we chatted a bit with the guide and driver of a German group that was staying at the camp about the possibility of staying on the north side of the lake and going through Jagarlant rather than going back to the main road on the south side of the lake. They agreed this was possible and that the pass we would have to go over might even be a bit lower than the one on the main road. The other advantage is that we would have one more tourist ger camp at Jargalant.

From Tsetserleg to ...


On day 14, Chris wasn't feeling too good so we only made it 24km along the lake and made an early camp in a beautiful and quiet spot on the lake shore.

From Tsetserleg to ...


On day 15, we went over a 2350m pass on the route to Jagarlant (the lake was at 2070m). This was much lower than the 2600m pass we would have to go over on the main road. From there it was a speedy descent down to Jagarlant (at about 1650m). The scenery was beautiful (reminded us of Switzerland) and there was even less traffic than on the "main" road. After a great 67km ride that day, we were really glad we made this route choice. Along the way we stopped to chat with a well off Mongolian family (they were driving an Xterra). They offered us some meat from a bucket (marmot and sheep), airag (fermented mare's milk), and some solid version of the latter.

From Tsetserleg to ...


Photos from days 13-15 have been added to this album.

Map of route for day 14 and 15 (google earth version).


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4 comments:

  1. PaulJuly 28, 2009 at 1:19 AM

    Guys, keep it up! The photos are awesome, and I love reading all about it. Apologies for the slacking off in comment writing (I remember how much I appreciated them while travelling), but I really had nothing witty/intelligent/funny/interesting to add!

    What an awesome, awesome trip. I expect you to be fermented mare's milk connoisseurs when you get back... ;)

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  2. chrisJuly 29, 2009 at 7:56 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. chrisJuly 29, 2009 at 7:59 PM

    Thanks Paul! It was nice to get your comment in my email box a couple days ago. It's actually really impressive how good the cell phone coverage is in this country. I've basically been able to check email daily so it's nice when there's actually some waiting for me! ;-)

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2009 at 1:53 PM

    Hi Chris,

    Philippe and Karen here - just back from a year in France with our two daughters. Enjoy the cycling, sounds like a great trip. Karen's uncle worked in Mongolia fixing electricity in Boudhist temples - would be nice to have you one evening together when he is in town!

    Best wishes and do let us know when you are back.

    Philippe

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