Cycle Mongolia

Entry 1 Ulaan Bataar - Bayanhongor

NDCS rep Helen left this message early on Tuesday morning (UK time):
"All the group arrived safely, and everything is going well so far, although everyone is feeling a little apprehensive!

It's Tuesday morning and we are now back at the airport, off to Bayanhongor today. We have been told that the weather is very changeable, and at the moment it's pretty windy, so we are prepared for everything the weather can chuck at us! Last week apparently there was torrential rain, followed by sandstorms, followed by 27 degrees heat! So we could get anything!

To all the friends and family who will be checking in to the live diary: please be aware that we are going to have limited opportunities to ring the UK with updates. So don't worry if there's no news from us for a while.

The flight was a bit long, we flew over Mongolia, and then back again! But luckily everyone had a good night's sleep last night.

We have seen lots of Ger (traditional felt tents of nomadic herders), and are all looking forward to seeing lots of the countryside.

Wish us luck!

Entry 2 Tuy River Valley Thursday (UK time)

Helen rang this afternoon (Thursday) with the latest news from the group!

All is going well, It's our third day of cycling, and it's hard going, with head winds all the way and rocky terrain.

Ricky - Difficult going out this way! Love you!

Ant - Hard but going well. Robb, Good vibes for exam!

Tim - Ride is hard going but fantastic , plenty of hills and mountains to climb.

Peter - Hard to believe I'm here! Wild country, tough country, and lovely people.

Amanda - fantastic time, tough, but so glad to be here.

Greta - A gruelling ride, what an experience!

Kevin - hard but a great experience

Neil - very hot, very cold, and very, very windy! Much tougher than expected, loving every minute, missing you all.

Andrew Hall - All is well, I love you all, see you soon...I'm exhausted!

Jez - It's Japan all over again, but this time there's no prunes. Keep safe walking that hound my love 

Nigel - Challenge? I'll say! It's much tougher than expected but the rewards are greater because of it. Missing my family.

Chris - Today was very tough. Well and truly knackered, then had to put up a tent in force 4 gale. Aaaagh! Thank God for ibruprofen. 

And from Helen - this is the toughest challenge yet, but everything is going really well!

Entry 3 Sunday afternoon (Mongolian Time)

Update from NDCS rep Helen sitting in an internet cafe in the middle of nowhere, Mongolia!

I'm writing this from the town of Tzetzerleg having crossed over the Khangai mountains...no mean feat!!

We've had an unexpected stop here due to some really nasty weather this morning. We woke up to rain and it got progressively worse, windier and colder as the morning went on....and even turned into sleet - not much fun at all. We were FREEZING!!!! However we battled on despite the Arctic conditions and made it to the town, where we are staying in a hostel tonight. It's the first chance for a proper wash since we started cycling!!! So despite the change in itinerary we're all really excited about getting a shower and a decent bed for the night.

The ride so far has been a real one-off challenge and all the cyclists have definitely earned their sponsorship money, it's been absolutely gruelling in places. We've dealt with some strong head winds, steep mountains, a bone-shaking day (that's about 9 hours) spent cycling the equivalent of Brighton beach, so in short some really testing conditions...and that's without mentioning the champion snorers in the group!

A special mention has to go to Birthday boy, Adam, who we've renamed The King of the Mountains, he's cycled up every one we've hit so far.....and there have been quite a few!

Highlights so far are the visit we made to a Ger (traditional Mongolian home) along the way. We were treated to homemade Yak's yoghurt, cream (a bit like clotted cream) and cheese - all absolutely delicious.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day (apart from the freak storm at lunch!) and was spent cycling through beautiful lush green valleys and on fairly smooth paths with a tail wind, even the odd mountain to climb up didn't dampen out spirits.

So that's about it from us. At the moment, we're all drying out our gear and slowly warming up again and we'll be on to the 7th day of cycling tomorrow. Everyone is doing incredibly well and really rising to the challenge - a great bunch of people who are just getting on with whatever is thrown at them....which is just about everything!

Love to all our friends and families

xx

Entry 4 Karakorum, Tuesday (UK time)

Update from Helen, who rang at 9.00am today (Tuesday)

We've finished! Everybody is absolutely knackered, we finished at 12 o'clock today. The finish line was great, next to a big monastry, and everyone made it through.

Everyone has thighs the size of tree trunks!

It's been a hard week, but the weather has got better. We've avoided the rain the last couple of days, and the paths have been a lot smoother and easy to ride on.

We've done over 400km off road, so we are all feeling quite smug!

See you all soon!

Entry 5 Back at Ulaan Bataar Thursday (UK time)

Update from Helen, who rang at lunchtime today (Thursday), from Ulaan Bataar, they are about to get on the plane.

The celebration meal last night was a great success, dancing 'til 4am! The hottest moves on the dancefloor were from Amanda, Andy, Jez, and Peter! We then had to get up nice and early to go and visit a deaf school. We got to meet lots of the kids and everyone really enjoyed it, despite the hangovers. We then spent the rest of the day buying gifts for our friends and family.

Compared to the beautiful, spacious countryside, the capital Ulaan Bataar is far from picturesque!

We are about to start the plane journey from hell, starting at 1am on Friday, including a 9 hour stop over in South Korea! This could be the longest Friday ever.

Luckily there is a hotel in the airport so we are all planning to chill out and get massages. Unfortunately we are just going to miss the football.

There will be some very interesting Mongolian outfits making their way back to the UK!