06-Sep-2004 -- Staying in the Chinngis bulls ger camp after the 3rd International Gobi Marathon (see also 44N 105E) we had a morning to kill before the plane left at 3pm. When I looked at the GPS- rather late in the morning - I saw that the nearest CP was just 18 km away. I thought it had already been visited but was not certain so - off we went. No trouble finding it. The bemused driver- Gana enjoyed the hunt. Not much life visible here except for grasshoppers and a flock of quails. Back to the camp, lunch in 5 minutes, pack, jump back in the jeep and race to the airport.

Informality is the key here – we load our own bags on the plane, no security or identity checking and then jump on. We were 30 minutes before scheduled departure time but everyone was waiting for us. 75 minutes back to UB compared with 1.5 days down in jeep.