October 8, 2016
to Karkhorin: Valley of the horses under a blue sky
"What are you thinking? Going all the way to Karkhorin?" Patrick says. He's not been feeling well and been riding on Rachel's wheel.
We are blessed with blue skies and a gentle tailwind. After rest days and comfort, sometimes it's difficult to set off again. Today's ride we lose elevation with only a few climbs. We make good progress, stopping a few times for food. Patrick isn't eating much with an upset stomach.
After leaving Tsetserleg, the landscape changes again. Gone are trees and bushes replaced with rolling hills of grasslands. This time of year golden yellow, in springtime this must be a beautiful green. There are a few herds of goats, sheep and yaks, but mostly this is the valley of the horse. Huge herds of horses! There are towns 25kms and 80kms from Tsetserleg. Originally planning on 80kms and a short day into Karkhorin, we decide to go all the way. We heard from Pierre who left yesterday and made it in one day that there was 500 meters of climbing and 900 meters of downhill. We didn't notice the downhill much, we seemed to have to pedal the whole way. Losing elevation is not the same as downhill.
Karkhorin is another town that you see 20kms away. We find "Jim's Cafe" called Morin Jim with a little difficulty, it's not marked on Google maps. Taking the main road that goes to the Erzen duu monastery, we see it on the left. Checking in Pierre is in the cafe. He is staying in the ger at the side of the cafe. We take a room upstairs in the building behind the cafe, have a hot shower then go eat in the cafe.
Tomorrow we stay and go see the monastery.
Today's ride: 119 km (74 miles)
Total: 23,562 km (14,632 miles)
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