Thursday 25th July 2013

End of the road?

Have to wake early, Tim and Atle have to be at garage. Hilde is preparing for interviews. I have a bath full of laundry, and will send big stuff like bedding and towels to be washed properly by hotel Laundry service.

In a hurry. We try to make a cup of tea. New kettle blows fuse. Phone room service for boiled water. Woman does not really understand English. Phone rings, somebody else from room service asks what we want. I repeat, hot water. Then Reception phones. First Room service lady had called them, didn’t really know what I wanted. Good grief. Then hot water arrives. Put boiling hot towelling dressing gowns on to answer the door. Thank you. She asks about kettle. We explain again, show her the fuse board. It doesn’t matter now we have hot water. We are in a hurry for breakfast. Thank you. Take boiling hot towelling dressing gowns off. Ahhhh. Cup of tea.

Knock on door. Boiling hot dressing gowns back on. Yes. Lady from house keeping. What is the problem. Show her kettle and fuse. Doesn’t matter now, in a hurry. Thank you. Boiling hot dressing gowns off. Knock on door. For goodness sake. Boiling hot dressing gowns on. Maintenance Man with screwdriver in pocket. Show problem. He unplugs fridge, plugs kettle into that socket. It does not blow fuse. But water was already boiled, so we are sceptical. Never mind. Please go. We are melting, stressed and late. Thank you. It is like a Brian Rix farce.

At garage, are the Swiss couple we met at Mongolian border, and then spent the first night with. They were in the Southern Gobi, but their converted Defender was really bad. They had limped to UB, sometimes at 5kph over the wash board roads. They were really shocked that their blog had been hijacked by Al Qaeda. The host company had taken several days to rectify the problem. Such a gentle couple, they were mortified. Tim and Atle give them some parts which hopefully we will not need.

The news for The Beast and Hildefender is looking hopeful. Our engine noise does not seem serious and the new tyres have arrived. The new parts for Hilde’s car have not arrived yet, but are on their way.

Hilde meets her translator, Emi. The three of us then go sight seeing, on the way to a Gobi Cashmere outlet. Emi seems quite ashamed of the state of some of the roads, but we say the Mongolians are trying really hard to improve the country’s infrastructure. We arrive at the outlet. The choice is overwhelming, the colours are vibrant, it is sweltering hot and Hilde and I feel a little rushed. I had noticed another shop, Gobi Organics. This is more like it. More expensive, but natural wool colours from goats, camels and yaks. Wool that had come from animals we had seen in the Gobi, then transported out in such huge bundles on the roads. Hilde and I see a cardigan on display. We both say, “That is gorgeous!” at the same time. We try one on, in different colours. We buy, and agree to wear them when we are next in Tyin together. Tim gets a beautiful jumper. Hope he likes it. Emi didn’t know, but as our Mongolian guide, she is entitled to a percentage of our bills, in cash. She is thrilled.

On the way back, we try to find somewhere for lunch. We get dropped off not far from the hotel. There is a sign for a Mongolian restaurant. Several very drunk men are hanging about, and try to help us to find the door. Thank you. We walk into, a bank. Oh. Wrong door then friend. Try next one. Closed for refurbishment. Emi explains that there is such a small window of good weather, a lot of work can only take place during the summer, at the height of the very small tourist trade.

We walk up Tokyo Street, towards the hotel. Several pubs, including an Irish one. Wonder how well the Guinness travels here. End up eating at hotel restaurant, light lunch. Tim and Atle arrive back from garage. Hopeful news about car repairs, but neither finished today. Not good news about driving to China. Apparently we should have applied for some paperwork which takes three months to process. So, we cannot take cars into country. Well, that is very disappointing, but one decision has now been made for us.

We then start looking into shipping the cars back, to Europe or England. One Danish company is sorting quotes, and the LR garage itself is looking at the possibility of us using its haulage company.

What will we do then? Tim and I did not have chance to collect our Chinese visas yesterday, so we will have to go tomorrow, as we need our passports back. We discuss possibilities. We will have to wait in UB until cars are fixed. Then we could spend more time driving through Mongolia, further North and East. To freight them home now we would have to empty them, get them cleaned and crated. But we are not ready to fly home, it is still July, it is too early. Maybe fly to Hong Kong for a few days. But that would mean we didn’t need our Chinese visas. Maybe fly into HK, then boat or train to one of the factories we were supposed to be visiting for the celebrations, then back to HK for a couple of days. Exciting prospects.

Try to FaceTime Rachel, but only afternoon this week she has been at uni. Have long chat to Matt. Really good to see him looking so well, sorting out flat, possible Shelter Box assignment and cycling trip. Great also to retell our adventures so far. Will try to get Rachel tomorrow, before they go to Cornland for the weekend.

We walk for dinner, uphill to a Japanese restaurant. A lot of sushi on the menu, but none available. Too late to go anywhere else as most restaurants close at 10pm. Order far too much. Fantastic noodle soup with a fried egg and large prawn on top. Hilde and Atle have a gin and tonic, no ice. As the waiter did not write down our order, several items did not appear on the table, but did appear on the bill. Quite comical trying to sort it out, as the staff were desperate to close up and go home.

Gentle walk downhill. Fresh air. Many young people going to disco and karaoke bars. We talk in foyer for a while, then head to our rooms. What will tomorrow bring?