11/6/2016

My next leg in the Gobi is from Airag to Sainshand, 128 kilometres.
Perhaps a little too far for two days. I am thinking of two and a half or three. Last night on the way into Airag I missed the small side road that led to this town. I kept walking towards a neon sign which is a restaurant. I stopped for dinner and realised I was 1.5km past the town. The nice but photo shy people at the restaurant put me up, thank you 😀 I was able to mend a puncture in comfort also, instead at the side of the road. I have some supplies left over for this stage but have stocked up on more for the road from the restaurant. It's a glorious sunny day and only -6! Most importantly no  cold wind. That was the problem two days ago and why it was so nice and comfortable yesterday.

Ps
Once I have enough water I won't starve as I am carrying a lot of food. The problem about cooking is that there is no shelter, only the culverts under the road. Even on a sunny day it gets very cold if I stop too long. I miss those Russian bus shelters!

11/9/2016
I made great progress today. I walked about 17km with a fierce tailwind and got to a restaurant at the top of a hill. It was the first services in over 100kms. Unfortunately it was closed, so I sat around the back to have a coffee and shelter from the wind. Just then the owners came along. They invited me into their luxury yurt. Which is about ten meters in diameter. We watched the results of the American election come in on their solar powered satellite television. I will be in Sainshand tonight, my last urban area before the border with China, a further 220 kilometres away.