Day 31 of expedition
Distance traveled: 62.6 km
Day 32 of expedition
Distance traveled: 82.2 km
Position: N44° 45 E110° 11
We woke up early to start hauling. By mid-day the heat was unbearable, travel was slow and our water consumption had increased drastically. With only three expedition days left, the town of Saynshand, our end point, seemed just out of reach. But by 4 pm the winds started to increase, and we headed out with our 10 meter kites. At first travel was slow, but the winds increased fast and after both getting dragged out of our buggies and through the thorny bushes, we decided it was time to switch to smaller kites. The open rolling terrain allowed us to travel fast till night fell.
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful day; steady winds, blue skies, and flat rolling terrain. We cruised away from our camp site. After the first hour and a half we had already done 25 km. By 2 PM, the town of Saynshand came into view. After spending the last week wondering if we would ever arrive, it was a huge relief to see it just ahead. We stopped for lunch wondering what to do next. The town of Saynshand is home to just under 20, 000 people and is the capital of the Dornogov province. Because it is situated just beside the Trans Siberian railroad, it has hotels, shops, museums and internet cafes. But instead of pulling into our end point, Eric and I decided to continue past the busy town, and push on for another 15 km to a beautiful and tranquil tourist ger camp in the middle of the steep. We kited right up to the parking sign and landed our kites. After being served a great meal of meat dumplings, Eric and I walked away from the camp to drink our first cold beer and celebrate arriving at our end point.
Since arriving in Mongolia over 40 days ago, the entire trip has been a non stop adventure. We came with so many unanswered questions; neither of us had ever traveled through a desert, nor done an expedition with buggies. We stepped far outside of our comfort zone - between the ever challenging terrain, the gusty winds and the limited water - there were so many unknowns. But after 32 expedition days, exhausted and covered in sand and dirt, we have finally arrived.
A big thanks to everyone who helped make this trip possible, especially Curtis Jones. Although sadly he is not here with us now to celebrate, he spent a year planning this expedition with us and traveled with us for the first 10 days of the expedition.
Arriving a day early we have time to relax before starting our two day drive back to Ulaanbaatar, the capital city. We will continue to update the webpage with video and photo's and blogs.
Sarah
