Surrender
There comes a moment when you realise: nothing ahead will be easy. We were, to be honest, a bit spoiled by Japan. The kilos we gained in the convenience stores are gone by now. Mongolia has a lot to offer, but convenience isn’t one of its attributes.
After leaving Kharkhorin behind and entering the Orkhon Valley, the weather turned from boiling sun to thunderstorms and rain. The path became muddy, the winds colder, and the sky began to ask more of us.
Routing isn’t how you’d expect it to be. You can’t trust roads. So we made some wrong decisions. Faced rivers too deep to cross. Took detours that drained our energy and challenged our motivation.
For a moment we lost our flow. Till we gave in and surrendered! To our route, our plans, the sky, the washboard, the headwind, the cuisine and everything this open, rough, and incredibly beautiful land asks for.
In return, we got the limitless hospitality of wonderful Mongolian families and people, breathtaking scenery, funny encounters and the omnipresent company of horses, yaks, goats, sheep, and eagles. We found so much wonder and unexpected beauty in our inconveniences. Our rhythm is back, stronger, with a deeper sense of what it means to bikepack here: humble, vulnerable, dependent, in constant contact with nature and all its unfiltered power.
