Dark Side of the Moon

 

Day 7

Position: N 45° . 52 E 097° .52

Distance Travelled: 22.8 km

Sitting around a modest wooden table holding large saucer cups filled with warm salty milk tea, three Canadian travellers stare ignorantly at the menu. Which item has meat I ask, knowing full well that they likely all do. Our gracious host leafs through our Mongolian phrase book and points to hot food. I figure that's as close as we will get to actually ordering so we smile and wait to be served.

We have pulled camp and hauled the buggies to a nearby town to replenish our water stores and enjoy a traditional Mongolian meal. After entertaining the town with buggy rides and photo shoots, Eric, Sarah and I get down to business. This is the point in our trip where I decide if I want to continue. It is something that really has not been talked about since the accident 6 days ago. I begin the conversation, asking the team how they feel about the expedition thus far. Both Sarah and Eric agree that the trip has been a little unexpected as far as reading wind and terrain go and that the pace hopefully will pick up soon. It is quite common to struggle in the first week to 10 days of an expedition as routines and schedules slowly work into efficient travel. They are confident that things will turn around soon.

I have had a lot of time over the last 5-6 days to think about why I am here, and if I should continue. I have spoken candidly with my team mates and tried to be honest with myself. Knowing my friends and having a very reassuring voice from home has given me a stronger confidence in my own abilities. I tell Sarah and Eric I would like to see the trip through and finish with them.

We wave good bye to our hosts and pull out onto the desert plain in the mid day sun, water bags and belly's full. Our destination is through a mountain pass and hopefully to sustained flat terrain. The winds are non cooperative and or tack is too high; we are forced to pull the buggies once more. The foot hill pass is other worldly, beautiful in the setting sunlight. With the sun low, we try once more for distance with kites before making camp. Twice, large shipping trucks with full loads turn swiftly into our path and chase us down, honking and shouting, to grab our attention (as if the honking was necessary). With darkness upon us and a real fear of becoming road kill we make camp, hopefully hidden in the moonscape safe from curious truck drivers.

Curtis

Through the dusk

Day 6 of the expedition

Position: N 46 03 E 097 45

Distance traveled: 31.1 Km

No wind during the day leads to bad sun burns. Currently my right knee, the left one being covered by the shadow of my book, is a rather tender colour of red. Our Camino chocolate has melted. Our water consumption has skyrocketed. The winds are meant to increase in the evening, but by 3 in the afternoon, the grass stands still. Suddenly the tent starts shaking and we head excitedly out to test the wind direction, it's blowing the right way! Suddenly the air, and our lungs, fill with dust. Another dust devil. We watch it blow its way across the Gobi, vanishing in the distance as the wind fades back to 0.

By 4 we prepare for departure, the wind still gusty and unpredictable. When the time comes to launch the kite, I count 4 dust devils on the horizon, the one closest to me, brushes by a few minutes later, whipping dust in my face, I can feel the strain on the kite but for the most part the devil leaves it alone. Half an hour later we have traveled 1 km and the winds have shifted 180. Sarah calls a break and we re-evaluate our situation. After about 30 min of waiting and discussing the option of hauling our buggies, the wind changes, making kiting once again possible.

As predicted, the winds stabilize and the dust devils vanish as the sun gets low on the horizon. An hour before sun down, I suggest we change kites, to the 7m Frenzy, the same kite that Curtis had his accident with 6 days prior. A silent moment passes but the rest of the team agrees. We unroll the kites in silence. The sun goes behind a cloud and the air feels cooler. I launch my kite, and it gives me the usual lurch forward with a little lift off the ground as it sores into the sky. Powerful but manageable. Sarah then Curtis follow suit.

Within minutes we are cursing. I watch the dust whip off the back tires of Curtis buggy as he pulls some hard turns to avoid ditches. The wind stabilizes and the kites just hang in the air. In less than an hour we spot the lights of Bayan-Ondor and the salt marches stretching out behind it. Eight days ago our Russian van had gotten stuck in those salt marches and we had come to this town for lunch. We camp a respectful distance away. Tomorrow the plan is to pull in for lunch and have a conversation over a hot cup of milk tea. After all this is the town that Curtis agreed to push on towards before making a decision about continuing on with the team.

Eric

Away from the city, into the Gobi!

 

Hide and Seek

 

Day 5

Position: N 46° .11 E 097° .24

Distance Travelled: 41.3 km

Cruising along, just inches from the desert floor, I check my kite and then glance ahead to see Sarah off to my left and notice the shadow of Eric's kite just above me and to the right. Looking over my left side I notice a third vehicle, a curious nomad, keeping pace on his motor bike, his young daughter riding the gas tank. It appears that they have been following us for some distance waiting anxiously for one of the kites to drop so they can make their final approach and thoroughly investigate the situation. The wind , for the most part gusty, drops into a soft lull. I work the kite in a figure of eight pattern trying to propel the buggy forward, it's of no use, the kite falters and folds a little touching down softly on the ground in front of me. This pleases the nomad very much as he seizes the opportunity to pull in close, turn off his bike, and introduce himself. We have been caught once again.

Before coming to the Gobi I was under the impression that we would see very little life ( maybe a nomadic family every 4-5 days). Now 5 days in to the trip I am beginning to think that going unnoticed and discreetly "dropping in" on a herder may be impossible. Granted you can see a horse or traveller coming in the distance hours before they arrive, and true a trio of large flying orange kites dancing above the horizon may not scream discretion, but this is the desert after all, might we go unnoticed just one night, just one morning.

We have had visitors and unexpected invitations at all hours, morning, night, in the rain, or on route. It puzzled us at first that we could not seem to develop a routine, some sort of schedule for efficient travel. It is becoming clearer now that this expedition ,very much unlike Greenland may be more about a human and cultural connection , rather than reaching a physical endpoint.

After explaining the buggy, the system and that I am from Canada, I play with the kite a little in the dying wind, waiting for it to pick up before I sit back in the seat and rock the kite downward, I move forward and wave good bye to the herder and his daughter. The interactions are becoming easier, and we are making good distance. Maybe we will make it to Shainshand, hopefully taking advantage of all the great interactions and life this desert has to offer along the way.

Curtis

Life in the Gobi

Day 4

Position: N 46° 22 E 096° 56

Distance traveled: 12.84 km

I expected the Gobi to be a bleak and uninhabited vast wasteland. However ever since we have left the city, we have seen life everywhere. On the drive down, enormous vultures perched on the side of the road, rabbits, foxes and marmots scurried back into their burrows as we passed by.

Curious horses watch us haul our buggies, the occasional eagle will circle above trying to figure out what we are. Herds of sheep and goats wander the land, followed closely by a herder on horse or motorcycle. Alike, the Mongolian people have been curious too, and at 7am we heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. Two young guys from the closest ger (Mongolian yurt) had seen us kite by yesterday and decided to check us out. After taking Curtis then Eric on to a wrestling match, they waved goodbye, however their old motorcycle refused to restart. So the guys, still half awake helped push the bike to jump start it.

Curtis and I then headed to a closest ger to restock our water supply. A family quickly welcomed us inside their home for tea.

Once back at camp we carefully took the tent down, as the winds howled. The winds were way to high to kite, and still increasing. So with our faces covered with our goggles and neck warmers we hauled our buggies down wind. In the afternoon the rain started to fall hard, and we quickly set up our tent.

However as we slowly move further into the Gobi, the terrain starts to flatten and slowly signs of life become less and less.

Sarah

Hot weather and flat terrain

Day 3

Position: N 46 22 E 096 46

Distance traveled: 25.7

 

As a general rule of thumb, I would consider any day in which I get to kite and ride a camel, a rather good day. Unfortunately pulling buggies through the heat defiantly dampened the mood.

The morning was rather relaxed. With no wind by 11, we settled with pulling/pushing the buggies up hill. Its hard work, especially under the Mongolian sun, but with a buggy, as apposed to a rickshaw or other carriage that a human would pull, a buggy at least gives you the luxury of riding down the hills. And today involved lots of down hill. Our general strategy was to move out of the foot hills and onto flatter ground where we would have a better chance of kiting. We also knew that the main track or road was in the same direction and, if we could get there, we would have our navigation and terrain issues solved.

By the time we battled through the foot hills, we were exhausted and despite liberal applications of sun screen, we still managed some impressive sun burns. But like a charm, the moment we arrived at the end of the foot hills, the winds picked up enough to start out kiting towards the main track. With the kites in motion,  we zipped over the remaining rolling terrain, passing gers and herds of livestock. Every now and then a herder on horseback or motorcycle (Mongolia's new horse) would follow us for a few kilometres before eventually turning back to their flock of animals. Near sun down we reached the track and rolled on to a near by ger truck stop, which is where I met Mr camel and his owner. Through the evening many people came over, even what I could guess to be a family, who through a long game of charades on a sketch pad, managed to invite us in for dinner. We (if the point got across) gratefully declined, as we had already made dinner, but stated that we would be by in the morning.

Eric

Cause for thought

Day 2

Position: N 46.18 E 096. 27

Distance travelled: 10 .2 km

 

My forearm feels like it's on fire. The right side of my body is numb, I am on the ground still moving forward, still attached to my kite, no longer in my buggy. Reaching up through mouthfuls of dust and dirt I grab the red brake line that always seems to be just slightly out of reach and the kite grudgingly lowers to the ground, still tugging but pacified for the moment. Eric runs over to check on me. I am ok, bruised and scraped, but this could have been worse…much worse.

Our system is simple. We start with a large modified kite buggy holding all our gear, food, water, and of course driver. Sitting in the buggy we are able to move forward with the power of the kite ( attached to our harness) and steer with our feet using the front wheel. If any part of this system were to fail it is mostly likely to be my ability to stay in the buggy when the wind pulls a little to hard. This is essentially the weak link that led to my accident. I feel now that I am in over my head. My confidence is shattered, in fact I am afraid to sit back in the buggy and try again.

Eric, Sarah, and I sit and talk options as my adrenaline lowers and the pain of falling from the sky begins to set into my hip. This is real, this is dangerous, and I confide to the team that I am not sure if I can or will want to continue. I go to bed unsure if this will be my last night on the trail as part of the team.

With morning comes a clearer mind and a very sore right arm. After a night's rest and some time to review options, I tell the group that I will be willing to try again. Slower, with less wind and a personal intermidiate goal of 100km (the next town). We travel 10.2 km, pulling, pushing and riding our buggies over the vast desert. We even made some distance using sails fashioned from therm-a-rest and a wind sock. More importantly, I sat back in the buggy, with a much smaller kite, and cruised through better terrain . With my confidence growing, I start feeling better about the next couple days and grateful that Eric and Sarah are willing to change the pace, reaffirming their ability to be great team mates and friends.

Curtis