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Transmongolia - Part Four: Traversing the Steppe
Transmongolia: Part Four - Click above to watch video after the jump
*After an extended hiatus (we blame the whole getting lost in the desert thing) Transmongolia is back. Click here for our previous coverage of the 2011 Mongol Rally.
Other than a complete break down or having to wait days for a spare part to arrive, there are few things as disheartening on the Mongol Rally as driving in the completely wrong direction for hundreds of kilometers. After recovering from a near-disastrous rendezvous with the Chinese-Mongolia border, our humble ambulance regained its eventual path toward Ulaanbaatar.
With a scheduled welcome party arranged in Mongolia's capital just a few days away, we hurried to get back on track as fast as possible; while gradually losing more members of our convoy with every deep pit and poorly spotted rock in the road.
The end was in sight, but the final sprint across the steppe would still test the endurance of our newly formed friendships and our overworked engine.
Transmongolia - Part Four: Traversing the Steppe
As we ventured out of the Gobi and into the Mongolian steppe, the landscape shifted to sloping grasslands and sizeable hills that seemed small in comparison to the Altai range that we had grown accustomed to.
The steppe signaled several things for our battered rally team: that our journey was nearing its end and that our contact with large towns became more and more frequent. We no longer were concerned with filling up our jerrycans with the maximum levels of fuel and stocking up on food, water, and other necessities at every establishment we crossed.
With the moderate temperatures of the steppe, and the knowledge that we had only a few more nights under the vivid stars of the Mongolian wilderness night sky, we slept out in the open - with only sleeping bags, neighing horses in the distance, and the constant wind whipping across the hills.
It was bittersweet to know that we'd be back in the familiar grasp of a rapidly modernizing city in just days - one that for me, would now be revisited with an entirely new perspective.
For more information about the Mongol Rally, including how to sign up for the 2012 rally or tips for entrants outside the EU, visit the Adventurist's website - or view the Adventurists' 2011 trailer here!
Transportation was made possible by the scholars & gentlemen at the Adventurists. No editorial content or opinions were guaranteed, and nor was anyone's safety or hygiene.
Filed under: Photos, Asia, Mongolia, Video, Budget Travel
