White Lake to Tserleg and then Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia

Just a nice picture of Murray

All of us arriving at Ulaan Bataar. Troopie was right behind us all day

Riding camels alongside the road on our way to Ulaan Bataar

The reception desk at the Continental Hotel in Ulaan Bataar telling all the different times around the world

Carmen and the owner of Hovsgul Nur who came to take us shopping for trinkets in Ulaan Bataar

The view in front of our hotel in Ulaan Bataar

Me with two local Mongolian families who rode up to get gas

The roads we have been riding on the last five days

Ghenggis Khan's fortress ouside of Ulaan Bataar

Leaving the Fairfield Hotel in Tserleg, Mongolia

Pat, Isaac and Joe in the restaurant inside the Fairfield Hotel

Isaac in front of troopie outside the Fairfield Hotel in Tserleg

Joe in front of the Fairfield
Mick and a local are fixing the axle again the morning we are headed to Tserleg from White Lake

Mick MacDonald calling Leo by Sat phone to let him know that it is taking longer than anticipated but they will be on their way.

Troopie enroute to Tserleg and the Fairfield Hotel after leaving White Lake

The Gers at White Lake and we are leaving for Tserleg, Mongolia

My Ger with my clothes drying outside on top

The Ger's we stayed in at White Lake with an awesome view

Our ride to White Lake

The next day the guys returned around 2 pm with very little sleep but the parts welded that needed to get done for the trailer. There were no guarantees so they decided to ride only 35 kms to White Lake (which was where we were headed when the trailer broke down). Hopefully the trailer would make it there and the guys could get a decent meal and hot shower with warm beds as we were not going to camp as was scheduled but stay in a Ger instead. At this point, Ger's are considered 4 star hotels illustrating how standards have changed. If they had presented us with a Ger while we were in London, we would have told them to stuff it. Now, it is a pure luxury. It took us 2 hours to get to White Lake which is a camp set up at White Lake with many Gers. The trailer arrived a couple of hours later and we all ate a wonderful dinner in a very quaint restaurant on the property. After a good nights sleep we were headed to Tserleg (known for their cinnamon rolls as described in Lonely Planet). It took us all day to get there. Once again, several river crossings. We arrived around 4:30 pm and the trailer got there shortly after 8:00 pm to our relief that the welding job had lasted which we all hoped would continue until Ulaan Bataar (where a second axle would hopefully be installed). The carrot cake ended up being better than the cinnamon rolls however the "full breakfast" was for the hungryman as it had everything one could want. We rode over 600 kms to Ulaan Bataar after a wonderful night on a great bed with soft pillows (better than the Ger's lumpy bed and sand bag pillow). The Fairfield Hotel in Tserleg was like a backpackers stay with showers and toilette down the hall and no alcohol allowed. We left early the next morning (8 am) and rode all day having lunch at Ghenggis Khan fortress which was quite remarkable (formerly the capital of Mongolia). When we arrived in Ulaan Bataar (the present capital), we were met with an enormous amount of traffic with police directing cars at every major intersection. We would be staying two nights at the Continental Hotel which is what we now consider 6 star as it has showers, beds, restaurant and all the amenities such as Wifi. We leave tomorrow by noon as Mick MacDonald was not able to get all the work done on the trailer so they will have to work on it in the morning and once we head off, we will be doing our final leg of the trip leaving Mongolia and re-entering Russia travelling along the Siberian Highway to Chita and then Yakutsk and then finally Mongolia and the Road of Bones. I hope to be able to keep you posted but if Mongolia is any indication of how difficult it is to blog then I imagine as we are travelling even more further north into the extreme recesses of Russia (where it is extremely cold and they are calling for snow), it may be even more difficult so once again have patience as I will return as soon as I can. So far I have had one fall which left a couple of bruises, broken windshied and fender but nothing serious. We have had several nails in tires which have been changed. The Road of Bones will definitel be a part of the trip eveyone will want to know about as we have heard so many different stories of whether it is paved, not paved as well as what kind of weather conditions are happening at the moment. So, stay tuned and I hope you enjoy the pictures.