27-Aug-2004 -- This point lies in a small lake 35 km from the Russian border. Choi spotted this point in the spring and was determined to visit it. The previous evening I had my first chance to stay in a family ger. Dinner was noodle soup – prepared by the ladies of the ger (including 9 year old daughter – the dough maker).

I decided against borrowing the collapsible kayak that I had used at Khovd on grounds of weight- it weighs over 30 kg and the baggage allowance on internal flights is 10 or 15 kgs (depending on which set of rules you read). This point I reckoned should be quite close to the shore – maybe 100 metres. So I bought an inflatable toy rowing boat (20USD) and we were all set. In fact the point turned out to be 300 metres from the shore but the lake was so shallow that even at that distance the water was less than 1 metre deep – the boat was used but not essential. With no electricity in Uvs to recharge them (see CP visit 49N92E) all our digital camera batteries were running low so the only question was – would they hold out long enough to get the evidence?

Choi went first and spent some time near the spot trying to get close. He did not realise that the wind was blowing him sideways so the direction arrow on the GPS was misleading him. I walked out to him across a soft sandy bottom and we finished the job. Later Oyuna and Tuulga followed my foot prints on the lake bottom and visited the CP (or at least within 100 metres of it).

The lake is a beautiful spot but so remote that it is unlikely to become spoilt by tourism. Cormorants, swans, herons, ducks etc can live in peace here. There is a panorama from the land and a view from the plane on the flight back to Ulaanbaatar. For a while we had ideas of visiting the next point east but as it is protected by 50 km of sand dunes and only 1.5 km from the Russian border we had to leave it for others! We should not be too greedy - 4 new points in 4 days was not a bad haul! On the return journey to Ulaangom we lost the connection for the driveshaft to the front wheels – it is very useful to have 4 wheel drive – just remove the shaft and stick with 2 wheel drive.