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After Kazakhstan Mongolia is the second largest land locked country in the world, roughly half the size of the former. It's the eighteenth largest in the world, after Iran and before Peru. Known as the land of the eternal blue sky, it continues to impress me. Currently I am 75 kms north of Choir; almost half way across the country and not too far from the start of the Gobi desert. It's my favourite country on the walk. Though an impoverished nation there are so many kind and thoughtful people.
(Photos to follow with a better internet connection)

Due to a fierce wind it was pretty cold when I rolled out of Ulaan Baator last Sunday. So cold that I had to stop in a cafe just to check my gps in comfort. Not a good start as I marched towards the Gobi! Eventually, I found the road and battled with heavy traffic, too much for this narrow and battered road to cope with. That night I made it to a petrol station where I camped. Next day, Halloween could have been tricky but it was a treat. This  blog could almost read like a thank you manual, suffice to say that I got to a small town and when I stopped at a petrol station that didn't have a market that the nice ladies brought me into their office for tea and a delicious bowl of beef stew, it could have been just like my mam cooked every Wednesday!
That really pumped me up. I felt like walking a big day and I did, 62 kilometres, just shy of forty miles. I finished at 4 am at a petrol station and awoke the attendant to ask if I could camp. I also left my headlight with her to charge overnight. In the morning I was invited in for tea and soup. I took full advantage of their hospitality by repairing a puncture by their heater. So far it's mostly the mornings and evenings that are uncomfortably cold, that is when I am packing up and pitching my tent. Other than that, despite the temperatures which I have posted, its a sunny chill. I am obviously well wrapped up. I now use map me.com as my mapping source, I have found it to be more convenient than Google Maps. With this I don't need an Internet connection, I just download a map when I have a connection and can check it when I don't have service. Map Me shows where food and petrol stops are, so I usually check in advance. I have found it to be fairly accurate, but happily there are often extra locations which are not listed; mostly mom and pop type operators.
I would like to be in China in two weeks and I need to walk around 40 kilometres per day. There will be days when it's prudent to stop early (as happened the two following days) So, that's what the massive days are for, to make up for my slackness.
After such a long day in which I passed my global 9,000th kilometre I was disappointed that the place I camped in was only two kilometres from a hotel. This happens so much on the walk as mentioned in the last update also.
Mongolia, thanks to galloping Genghis Khan was once the worlds largest empire stretched all the way to Europe. The country has since been under the rule of the Qing dynasty in China. They then aligned  and influenced by the former Soviet Union for seventy years after they helped free Mongolia from their Chinese shackles; more so for fear of Chinese reprisals. Over the years the  Soviets rebuilt many cities, like Darkhan, I was told. Other gifts included whole apartment blocks. With much of Eastern Europe and Central Asia gaining independence, Mongolia decided to ditch their Soviet style governance for multi-party democracy. The country could be economically in a healthy position had they the expertise to capitalise on its huge untapped resources like gold and copper. They asked foreign companies to help with the mining process and has been cut a raw deal. This was an issue in the last general election when the people lost confidence in the previous administration. Newly elected Prime Minister, Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat of the Mongolian People's Party has been left a difficult  task in steering the country back to prosperous times of the mining boom of about ten years ago.



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This is the yurt which a very caring family let me sleep in last night! This morning they brought me over to theirs for breakfast of porridge with beef chunks and cheese. Theirs is the first one in the pictures. Mine is the one with the bed and wood burning stove and I was standing outside it.
It was such a thrill! Thanks to Scott Richards for updating my world walk map. Also a long overdue thanks to Tom Denniss for making a few enquirers about my Vietnam and Australian visas on my behalf. Tom has also been great at helping me with some  research which I kinda sub-contracted to him for a whopping $0 fee! And final thanks to my wonderful sister Ann Salmon for making a serious of phone calls to successfully sort out some serious grief I was having. Love you and miss you little sis 😀 xx
Tonight I am in Choir.

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My route for the next two days. Choir to Airag. People at the hotel here thought I was saying Iraq! It's 100 kilometres and after my three easy days of 32,34 and 28 it's time to get the feet out! I see nothing on the map, only a village way off my route. There is a remote train station roughly half way, so perhaps I will camp there. Locals tell me there are no cafes but drivers can't be relied on, my experience has almost always been they don't notice the small stuff. I am also told the Gobi begins in Airag, so I guess this desolate 100 km spot is just a warm up, I will see. A half week ago I was trying to stop my water bottles from freezing and either taking them into cafes to defrost on the radiators or just buying more water. Now some people are walking around in tee-shirts! Talk soon, now it's time to stock up and get out the sun hat and sunscreen. Remember that life is precious and that early cancer screening saves lives.

I didn't answer a question about how the nomads fuel their fires correctly. Mostly animal dung and coal. There is a coal mine in the Gobi.