Mongolia > Beautiful valleys and lakes

I get up early. Again this morning, swarms of mosquitoes surround me. Even DEET doesn’t seem to keep them away. I can’t imagine having to deal with this on a daily basis if you lived here. The road to Khovd is about two hundred kilometers long. It’s unpaved. I have no idea how fast we’ll be able to drive on these roads. At eight o’clock we drive out of Olgii. The first stretch starts well: asphalt. But soon that pleasure ends. Work is underway to pave the road further. The road continues unpaved. It’s more like a track where most vehicles drive. Next to the main track, several other trails run parallel. You can really drive anywhere.

Mongolia - Mongolia is especially known for its unpaved roads

The most important thing is to head in the right direction. Surprisingly, the road appears on our navigation. Because a GPS signal can deviate by dozens of meters from the exact location, the navigation assumes we are still on the right route, even on the side tracks. Only when we are more than a hundred meters off does the navigation leave the track. By simply choosing a track that leads back toward the purple line on the navigation, we eventually return to—or at least close to—the original route. The scenery is fabulous. Rolling valleys and beautiful lakes. It’s a desert-like steppe landscape. Not a single tree in sight. A pity we have to keep our attention on the road. Regularly an eagle flies overhead. They are hunting desert mice and other small animals. When we stop for coffee, a truck driver immediately pulls over. Problems? On this route, everyone helps each other. He accepts the offer for coffee. He offers us plums and tangerines. A little further on, we have to cross a sizeable stream. The water splashes high up. When passing another car, we make a mistake.

Mongolia - A bus broken down at the side of the road

The car waits patiently to let us go first. But the puddle is deeper than expected. Mud splashes all over the waiting car. Its windshield is covered in mud. He won’t be pleased with us. Sorry. We pass a broken-down bus. The driveshaft needs replacing. Do we have a large spanner? Unfortunately, our tools aren’t big enough. The passengers of the bus sit resignedly along the roadside. Some of them are having a cup of tea. What else can they do? Slowly Khovd comes closer. Sometimes we can drive at a decent pace. On other stretches we barely manage twenty km/h. On the last pass, Mongolians approach us. “Welcome to Khovd,” they say while shaking our hands. They are on their way to Olgii. As we enter Khovd, we see hundreds of ger tents at the edge of town. This is how people maintain the nomadic lifestyle. Khovd itself is a simple town. We cannot find the Royal Hotel listed in the Lonely Planet, even after asking around several times. Nearby we find a good alternative. In the evening, when we walk to a small restaurant, we see that the Royal Hotel is right behind our hotel. Judging by the building, we probably didn’t make a bad choice in not going there.