Over the Pass

Awaa at top of pass bodes well for travelers

Wow, what a day! The weather broke as we decamped. Should have put on my heavy orange jacket and rain pants. I didn't realize we were going over the 2500 meter pass today. First we had a bit of rain. But further on, we hit a hail storm. I wore my cloth gloves, but my hands froze.

At the top of the pass we got off our horses. I couldn't unzip my pants to pee, my hands were so cold. We walked down the other side, the weather warming with every stride. Soon we reached the beginnings of the Darkhad Depression, where we made camp along side a wide dry riverbed.

Vehicles use the riverbed as a road, and as dusk fell we were visited by three motorcycles, each with two riders. They were goldminers returning home. It was our turn to play host, serve tea and a little food.

I told the man with the antlers that I was in the market to buy a deel, the traditional Mongolian overcoat. He offered to sell his to me for 25,000 tg, or about $17. The next morning the price came down to 20,000, but I declined the offer, because the buttons were missing. His demonstration of using a twig as a substitute for a button had little impact.