The Olgii PCV's came to Hovd for the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving weekend a little early. Ashlee has to leave for her IST (inter service training) the Monday following Thanksgiving so it's just easier for us to all get together this weekend. Laura and our friend Brad who was visiting came to Hovd earlier in the week. Scott, Ashlee and I caught a ride yesterday afternoon expecting to make it to Hovd by midnight last night. Because almost all Mongolian road trips are rather unpleasant and unpredictable in length, we were preparing for the worst (in this case, typically six to nine hours or so). There was quite a bit of snow outside of Olgii and the roads were frozen in some places but it wasn't impassable or impossible. Temperatures were well below freezing but with six people scrunched together we were kinda cozy and warm. Two hours into the ride our jeep started overheating so our driver stopped, tinkered around in the engine bay and we were on our way. Over the next twenty minutes the same thing happened two more times and eventually we resorted to waiting for someone else to come along and help us out. A small convoy stopped and talked with our driver a bit, hoping to help(Mongolians and Kazakhs are incredibly reliable when it comes to helping one another out on the road).
After a few minutes another jeep tied a rope to our jeep and towed us to the closest town, a lake side soum called Tuval, where the driver had some family. This resulted in us coming pretty close to freezing our asses off and whiplash every few minutes. What's a Mongolian travel experience without something painful to discuss the following day? :)
Anyways, we ended up having to stay the night at the driver's family's home, which was fine. They fed us, gave us some tea, and a place to stay for the night. The family was very nice, the kids friendly and curious, the house warm, and the food good. We woke up around nine this morning and got ready to go, getting on the road by 9:30. After making a couple stops to drop off the other two passengers, a few rugs, and a few stops to help other stranded travelers, we made it to Hovd around 2:30. We're warm in our friend Mona's apartment, enjoying the company of the Hovd volunteers, Laura and Brad. More info and pics to come as the weekend progresses.
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