Driving to Mongol Els

We flew out to Western Mongolia yesterday. When we arrived, our trucks and gear were no where to be seen. After all the other passengers, and anyone with a vehicle of any kind, had left the airport, we stood there with our bags as twilight set in. We were considering spending the night in the airport building when headlights appeared, bouncing along the road toward us. The trucks had had trouble on the drive from U.B. and, although these were all-terrain trucks originally built for the German military, we wondered if they would hold up to the challenges of the Mongolian terrain.\r

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We camped that first night on a rise looking back toward the airport. The next day was a rough drive in the 'unimog', as our truck is known. Sitting in the back of the truck is something like an exaggerated version of riding at the back of a school bus. Remember how you used to fly up when the bus drove over a speed bump or pothole? Well, the back seat of the unimog tossed 200-pound men several feet into the air. The landing back on the seats was bone-jarring. On one occasion, someone flew forward up the aisle and landed near the second row. Did I mention that all the seats had seatbelts except the last row? Go figure.\r

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Our 'exciting' drive brought us to our second campsite, alongside a small river on the edge of the Mongol Els dunes (a section of the Gobi desert). About an hour after we arrive and pitch camp, it starts to rain. It rains through dinner. It's raining when we retire to our tents. It's raining at 2 am when I finally find a comfortable enough position to fall asleep. \r

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As I drift in and out of sleep, I keep thinking that I've made a terrible mistake. What made me think I was prepared for two weeks of camping in the rain? Not to mention the 10 days of horseback riding that would start tomorrow. I'm too much of a city boy for this. Help!!!\r

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Photo album: Mongolia\r

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=c931oof.6yy31t0v&x=0&y=-h2vxir