June 22nd "Mongolia Rocks" - Sukbaatar - Yeroo Gol

After our first day riding in Mongolia I must say it is a world apart from Russia.  The people have been extremely friendly to us on the road and no dog attacks!  There are gers off in the distance everywhere, men riding by on horseback and lots of livestock.  The landscape is definitely more arid and mountainous and as was expected the bugs are gigantic in size and relentless.  After about 45kms of cycling we came across the first sign of commerce in the form of a tea house style truck stop.  We were able to grab a very basic room upstairs from the restaurant with two single beds in it and no toilet or running water - this is just fine by me though to be away from the bugs for the night!  The owner served up a nice meal of rice and meat - just wishing I knew four words in Mongolian: No Meat, More Rice (but I don't).  Two dudes rocked up on horseback and sat down to eat with us.  They made fun of us most of dinner and pounded back the beers.

June 21st - "Sukbaatar"

We were meant to set off on the road again today, but we woke up to pouring rain so we kept sleeping until lunchtime - except there was no lunch, really.  There is a grocery store across from where we are staying and it has 4 aisles: the first two are full of all of the candies and chocolate under the sun, the third aisle is alcohol and the fourth is the dairy aisle with fridges that are not on.  There was a vegetable section at the back that was completely empty.  Needless to say we walked out with a bag full of M&M's, Oreo cookies, Pringles and Coke.  We found a restaurant that was open, but as we couldn't read the menu and the waitress couldn't speak English we let her pick our dish.  We actually ended up with rice, mashed potatoes and mutton.  Not quite into mutton, but the rest was delish.  I tried to order another plate each for Ali and I with no mutton, but the waitress thought we were complaining about the meat so we ended up just leaving.  Sooooo hungry!

June 20th - "Mongolia"

Leaving Russia was an afternoon long affair that took us through 3 different passport inspections and 2 dog checks! The Mongolian entry customs was much more chillaxed and before we knew it we were being asked to buy Togrog's (the Mongolian currency) and the only thing to eat was mutton and brand name junk food.  As we pedaled into the border town of Sukbaatar I could already notice a change in peoples demeanor and all in all it is much more friendly.  We found a hotel for $20 a night and went to bed after an instant noodle dinner.

June 19th "Ulan Ude"

After two hours of searching we were able to find internet today in a swanky hotel bar area.  Will likely not encounter internet again until Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia which we should reach after two weeks or so on the bikes.  We leave tomorrow for Mongolia and I can't wait to say Goodbye to Russia!!!!  Today we checked out the huge Lenin head in the town square which is very impressive and then ate tons of food1

June 18th "We Made It"

We made it to Ulan Ude today - 460km from where we started in Irkutsk!  Even though it rained the whole day we still had some excellent views and the travelling was fairly easy.  We are however questioning the future of our trip after today on our way into Ulan Ude we were chased by six German Sheppards.  It was absolutely terrifying and we both know this is only the beginning of the dog issue as we head South so we will see what we decide in the next two days.  For now Ali and I are enjoying our room at Hotel Buryatita on the 10th floor with a wicked view of the huge Lenin head in the main square.

June 17th - "The Flats" Selenginsk to ?"

Our easiest day yet with 55km of flat road and just for kicks a 5km hill set at the end of the day.  We di however find my least favourite camp site in the middle of a hill up some old logging road - I feel much better when our camp spot is a bit more inocuous.  This was our 9th day of riding in Russia and the first we have encounbtered anything but blue skies and it really only drizzled most of the day with the showers starting once our tent was up! I'm excited to leave Russia soon - with only 30km of hills in our way tomorrow to Ulan Ude where we will then go to the Mongolian Border.

June 16th - "Rest Day"

Today all we did was eat from the time we woke up to the time we went to bed. The End.