Only two of us

May 25 and 26^th

Day 10 and 11

Distance traveled: 51 km

Position: N45 ° 51 E099° 21

Only a couple of days ago we were a three person team, all working for the same goal. Today we are only two. Sadly Curtis has decided to leave early due to family reasons. As soon as the decision was made, the ball started rolling fast - flights were changed and a pick up was arranged.

As soon as the winds increased, we launched our kites, heading west, aiming towards a river and a small settlement of a couple gers, where Curtis would meet his driver and head back to the city. The winds blew steady all afternoon, giving us hope of reaching the river that day. But 5 km away the sun dipped below the horizon and the winds faded out.

We got into the small settlement early the next day, with time to spare before Curtis left. So we headed to a nearby ger for meat dumpling and milk tea, then went down to the river to wash and start re-organizing all our gear.

Eric and I met Curtis over three years ago, when he moved to our home town to work as a pharmacist. He quickly picked up dog sledding and kite skiing and became a good friend. The three of us headed to Greenland on a kite skiing expedition and shared an amazing 45 days of expedition life together. It was sad to see him leave this expedition early. 

Eric and I will continue on.

The driver stood there waiting for us to say our goodbyes. We hugged and said some parting words, before they closed the doors to the van and started their two day drive back to Ulaanbaatar. As it was still early in the evening we had hoped to continue kiting till the sun set, but as the van pulled away the winds soared into a vicious sand storm that lasted the rest of the night. 

We wish Curtis all the best and safe travel home.

Sarah