Tick follows tock

Well then, tick does follow tock and Ive been in Ulaanbaatar for a week now. Not had, nor seen any Guinness but the advert springs to mind just now.

Ive managed to get myself into a shared ger to keep the pennies down and it looks like Ill be here in UB until Wednesday now. When I checked DHL a moment ago my spare parts apparently left Seoul in Korea yesterday so it looks like Ill be getting them fairly soon. The official estimate upon pickup was apparently Tuesday. So fingers crossed Ill get the bits then, manage to get things sorted up quite quickly then get myself on the move again come Wednesday morning. Then its up north to Russia before a bit of a drive east and the dilemma of going toward Vanino then Sakhalin and on to Japan or just tramping straight on over to Vladivostok for a direct ferry. Ive spent a little longer here than I had planned so I need to try and think about how best to proceed.

Otherwise Ive been chatting to allsorts in the guesthouse. On the way here I got shouted at and look upward only to see a few of the guys from Oasis and so I sat for a beer with an English motorcyclist, an Aussie 4x4 guy and a Spanish cyclist. We were joined briefly later on by 2 French bikers and a German 4x4 lady.

Ive given the bike a quick once over today and all looks reasonably well. Its had a brief water only wash to get the worst of the muck off and Ive oiled up the chain again. For the rest of my time this week Ive wandered round town, caught up with some communications and gotten myself to monasteries and into a national park. Theres some photos of these on Flickr.

Theres not a lot else to say really. The knee has gotten back to being almost perfect and Im just getting on with things otherwise. Ulaanbaatar is an ok spot but its not really grabbed my imagination. The rest of the country is pretty impressive but you need to either book onto a longer tour or get on the bike and explore it so Ive not seen as much as I could have.

Ill leave it here for now but Im hoping that the next time I post something it will be a little more interesting and involve me actually getting on the move again.