En route to the Great White Lake

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  Karakorum, Mongolia
Saturday, June 24, 2006

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After selling my horse on the previous day, I decided to go north hitching to Tsetserleg and Terghin Tsagaan Nuur, the Great White Lake, where I originally intended to go on horseback.

So I packed and walked to the bridge on the north of town, the only way for northbound vehicles. Around 15 of them went through between 2 and 4 pm. There was those who had some free seats, but they were going to close and remote places. And there was those who were going far, but they were packed to the top.

- A truck carrying a full ger and its contents. Lots of smiles, but they were already filled up, and anyway they were on their way to their summer camp, somewhere lost near a river or up a valley.

- A convoy of 7 big pajeros, each with only 2 or 3 passengers. But these organized tours do not usually take hitchers, and anyway they headed upstream the Orkhon, from where I had come back a few days before.

- A tuned sportscar, with its bodybuilded Mongolian driver. He called his sister, who spoke english, and then went to get her. They were ok to take me along to Tsetserleg and to the Great White Lake, and even proposed me to go visit some relatives with them over there. They were on holiday and had time to spend. I had a hard time explaining them that I could not pay for the ALL the petrol, otherwise I would have rented a jeep. It seemend quite obscure to them that a foreigner could not spend 100 dollars for a few hundred kilometers ride... So after about an hour they left me there, a bit disapointed but we were all happy to have met and spent some time together.

- During all that time, thunder was nor far, and less than a kilometer away, waterspouts were pouring down dark clouds. Eventually I was spared and only had to endure a strong cold wind.

- Herds of sheeps and goats were going across the bridge every half hour or so.

- People pushing carts full of wood, coming from the other side of the bridge and heading towards town. That looks a hard task, and I am waiting there looking a bit helpless, so naturally the smiles appeared, maybe as mutul encouragements.

- An old Mongolian stopped by for a moment. We communicated a little bit, and then he tried explaining me long theories. Typical of the Mongolians is their total inability to speak with their body. So my interlocutor was just watering me with his speech, which I really tried hard to understand. When I told him I had not understood, he started over again. Same non-result. Still, he waited with me until the 2 buses from Ub arrived. The first one did not even stop! I just stepped on the road to stop the second one. Same driver than 2 weeks before, when I wen to Tsetserleg to try buy the horses.



The bus was overfull. I threw in my bags, saddle, saddlebags, and all was left for me to do was to stand near the door, my bag resting on my feet, and someone's shoes into my calves. And tere I was in for the rodeo, up-down-left-right-front-rear in cycles of 3 to 5 seconds, depending on the holes and the yaws the driver made to avoid them. But I was on my way to the north, and that was enough to make me happy, as everytime I am on the move.

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