on the move again

greetings from back on the road.

reeve will be pleased to hear that we average 10mph.
70 miles a day is quite a feat.

this post is coming to you from synshands- half way between ulaanbaatar and the mongolia/china border. we are in the middle of the desert and so far wilma and larry remain alive and well. the wind and dust has only really started today but we expect it to get a lot worse before we cross the border to china on monday.

the road has been nonexistant and the 'improved road' has proved little more than a raised and hardened bit of land if there at all. we drive along old tracks and make new tracks across the grass when the ground gets too bumpy or sandy. as per instructions and advice we have been following the railway and our sadness has been proved every single time we still get excited about seeing a train. what is also embarassing is the fact that although we only see, on average, on car an hour, every time we do they overtake us in a cloud of sand and daddy gets really angry and starts mumbling about boy racers.

the desert has been hot and dry for all but tessie has really been feeling the strain to such an extent that she has been halucinating tarmaced roads galore.

we are off to the boarder town now.



this is daddy at the questionable ulaanbaatar circus. he is happy. this is before the event. you and see the big top behind him. there were lots of empty seats opposite us but all full behind.

LOONGS 19TH BIRTHDAY DINNER. we looked for a lonely planet recomended restaurant but when we found it, it was not at all as the description had told us so instead we had to go the silk road restaurant just down the road. it turned out that this restaurand twas actually rather pleasing and served the elusive dish of good meat. we had window seats and so where able to have a lovely backdrop of one of the monestries in ulaanbaatar. we had a lovely evening which ended in theobligatory caviar and champagne back at the guesthouse.

this is the last guesthouse we stayed in which was a little out of town but was right next door to the largest monestry in ulaanbaatar. daddy liked it because we were able to park in the compound itself and so for the first time in ulaanbaatar we genuinely felt safe. although the washing facilities were clean and there was plenty of hot water (another ulaanbaatar guesthouse first) they were outside, as were the toilets. this is a photograph of me outside washing; this si one of the many duties that i am forced to perform. this time is took me literaly ages and daddy and tessie had so many dirty clothes.

the family at our last guesthouse were all highly welcoming adn spoke very good english. the wife had even been a russian and english teacher in her heyday. we all had our photos taken at the insistance of tessie and the husband in the guesthouse (in blue); they were taken outisde the ger in their courtyard which they use in the summer but is also availabe for rent for those foreginers who are too lazy to get to a real one outside the city. please not that we are not those lasy foreginers. when at the guesthouse we met a highly interesting individual called jason. jason is a young version of tony newman. he is a one man comment machine and has great chat provided that you are complaining. jason is from hastings and our words cannot properly describe him. we apologise.

oh my god, she is so amazing!

windy hill with a tank memorial at the top which we are using as a shelter from the wind whilst daddy is braving it and taking the shot. this was taken mere hours ago in saynshand.

birthday tea the day after my bithday (which bythe way was so special it spanded 3 days). what the photograph doesn't tell you, and i'm sure you're interested to know, is that is took daddy about 1000 matches to light the candles and 1 hour. the peak of the amusement and excitement (other than the cutting of the cake) was daddy light all the candles just before the wind promptly blew them all out before i had a chance to. we can safely say the cake was not worth it.

helmet/ hat japes at our favourite camping spot just outside ulaanbaatar, on our last night there. the helmet belongs to hendrick and it was a very cold night. i would recomend the use of a helmet in this way to anyone.

the balck market in ulaanbaatar. anyone for brown jumpers?

a proper picture of black market life. this is in the indoor section which we spent lots of time in as the day we went was teeming with rain and i even had my, now much loved, selapets on. the market was just a potholey as the roads and we had soaking feet.

the true gobi.

lewis making the most fo driving when in the gobi as it will be another 13 year before he is allowed to drive again. this was possibly the scarriest moment of the trip so far.

this photograph was taken on our first night in the gobi. the trains quite frequently during the night and were not condusive to a good night sleep. we still take lots of photographs of trains.

lewis obsessive tendancies were aimed towards lizards when in the desert although it was not until the third day that he was able to spot one himself. as usual they were imprisonned in a plastic tub after being caught but were subsequently humanely released. here were many lizards, from brown to green but all appeared very calm.

in saynshand, on our second day in the town daddy, tessie and lewis went to the small but pretty park in the centre. the amn who was watching over the park kindly put the fountains on expecially for them. behind the fountain is the town museum. this museaum was one the most interesting we have ever been to and is well worth a visit if you are in the area. the museum displayed everything from dinosaur eggs to portraits and was compact with not too much information. it was highly informal, with the lady of the musuem running out to find us change.

extreme dinning. we were spured on to new heights in dinning extremeness by bryn. we were inspired by his activites and felt compeled to put our travelling through the gobi to good use. we had cavair, champagne and candles. we stocked up in ulaanbaatar even buying tie substitutes when we stumbled across a buddihst shop. we had a white table cloth and everything.

the first ger camp we saw in the gobi, which are all situated by water sources. we were most impressed that this one had sunflowers growing although we did see may wildflowers of all differnt shapes and size with were put in lewi's scrap book.

saynshands again on one of the windiest days of the gobi section of the trip. some of the night were so calm and warm that we were able to sleep without the fly sheet on and so had a window through which we could watch the sun set and the moon rise. on our last night camping in the desert we took 5 minutes to watch an spotlight bright orange moon rise over the hill. sorry, the photographs taken were aweful. however, in this photograph i am trying to stay upright at the top of a hill next to a war memorial.

one of the many tyre-men we have visited. this amusing one has a special place in our hearts as he put the tyre on his head and made fun of us for having such small wheels. he also did the whole job quickly and by hand.

one of the water pumps where the locals pay to get their water, only 20 togrogs for one of those barrels. this was jsut before the desert in preperation for water shortage further down the line. we english folk found that the queuing system left something to be desired.

crossing the railway in the gobi which is far quicker and more efficient than driving, especially in anything other than a 4x4. i had to open the gates, which were a couple of bit of red and white painted metal.

this is one atempted sunset photographs. we did our best.