In the morning we had a slow start as Elvira invited us in for a shower …. too good an offer to refuse! So we had breakfast in the restaurant of the hotel so that we had contributed something for our night’s stay and shower!
We then headed off on the M52 further into the Altai. We feel that we are nearly in Mongolia but it is still 500km through the mountains. The road follows the river and there are loads of places to stop or camp.
Further along the M52 the road peels away from the main river and follows a smaller one. Our coffee spot was also a good place to have a quick fish.
Needless to say, we would not be having fish for dinner.
The landscape is still rolling hills and pine forest. Great views as you drive along a very quiet road.
We are starting to see lots more horses around. Most of them are ranging freely over the common land and through villages. I suppose that like the cows they head back in the evening. Some even take the bus.
We stopped between Barlak and Shebalino for Marjool to start work on the Vat return …… funny doing office work in the mountains near Mongolia. What would we do without the internet? Graham’s job was to change the oil and filter. We have only come 10,500 km since leaving home but the oil change interval is 6000 miles and so is just about due. All being well next time should be southern China. Maybe if we spoil the truck a little it will look after us through Mongolia. It’s much less fun draining the oil without the inspection pit.
Once the jobs were done we carried on to Shebalino and drove out the side of the village towards the common land. We knocked on a door and asked if it was ok to sleep there. They were again friendly, one family gave us a big bag of pine nuts to nibble and the family next door came up and asked if we would like to sleep in their house if we got cold! I hope that they would get the same reception if they turned up in our village looking for a place to park for the night?
troopytracks 