Onward to Ulaan Uul

January 28.

A couple of interesting observations for today: how to start the van in extreme cold temps, and the first and second attempts to find the path out of here.

This morning I'm startled to see Mishig in his winter del and warm hat. Now I know it's cold out. But I wasn't prepared for what I saw him doing to the van that morning. He had three different heat sources - two torches (yep, with about 8-inch flames) and a fire - underneath the van. Now, I'm no mechanic, but I have to believe that most cars on the road in my hometown wouldn't tolerate such treatment - some computerized piece would malfunction. But this Russian-designed van is intended to be started this way, and everything is manual - transmission, steering, etc. So there's Mishig, lying on the ground, legs sticking out from under the van, directing heat at the axle and parts of the engine. This goes on for about 30 minutes. I'm thoroughly entertained. He seems amused at my amusement.

Then he sticks a hand crank on the front of the van and turns over the engine. Then he starts and runs the engine for a few minutes and switches it off until we're ready to leave over an hour later, at which time it again starts reliably.

By the way, Mishig stores the van battery inside overnight. When it's time to re-insert the battery, it fits behind the driver's seat which, conveniently, is not fastened down and can be removed in seconds. Come to think of it, almost nothing inside is fastened down, including my seat. (There was no discussion of seat belts, but also no concern, no traffic, and rarely did the van exceed 20 mph in that terrain.)

Oh, and the van is not heated, so we ride wearing multiple heavy layers.

So there we were, guided by Malgar, heading northward out of town and up into the mountains in a ravine that got dangerously narrow. I began to have concerns about the van staying upright (but kept these to myself). Suddenly Mishig is turning around in the first available open space, way above the town. This is the wrong way...

We bounce down the ravine, drive almost all the way back into town (have we left yet?) and drop down onto the frozen river. Now this is beginning to make sense. We follow the river northward for awhile, and make our way up through the mountains.

It is beautiful. We have consistently sunny skies. On the way, this is the first time we see a herd of horses, grazing through the snow. We stop to take a look.