This morning we learned by email that Mike from GXV had arrived in UB during the night and that once he had caught up on some sleep, and checked out the mechanical facility he had organized, he would come visit us. The purpose of Mike's visit was to add some stronger components to the camper mounts that we had replaced near Yakutsk.

Around 11:00am Mike arrived accompanied by a local guide Turuu and a Canadian Sebastian. It was a case of lets pack up the yellow truck and get moving. The facility where the work was to take place was on the other side of UB and it would be good if we could be there in one hour. However that was not to be.

Not long after leaving the Oasis I managed get hooked up with a bus in the heavy chaotic traffic that seems to be a permanent feature of UB. Fortunately the guide Turuu was able to help us understand the process that followed a traffic accident. We waited for about an hour in the middle of the road with vehicles all around us until a policeman arrived. After taking some measurements with a tape measure he instructed the bus driver and I to drive to the local police station and there we waited another hour or more. Eventually I was told (via Turuu) that the best result would be if the bus driver and I could settle the matter without any paper work. So US$110 later the event was over - except for the fact that one of our storage boxes had been destroyed - and we were on our way to the mechanical facility.

Well the mechanical facility turned out to be the workshop and offices of a drilling company (they drill exploration holes as part of mineral exploration), it is owned by a New Zealand guy named Tony, the 2IC is Todd an Australian and the head of maintenance is Barnsie another Australian. Amazing! - and Mike organized all of this from the United States.

After introductions and a bit of discussion a team of 3 Mongolian mechanics under Barnsies supervision got started jacking up the camper and pulling out the front mounts.

Nina and I finished off the day with a drink at the top of the Blue Sky building before having dinner with Mike.


With the truck now parked at the drilling company facility we needed a new place to stay. Fortunately the guys that helped Mike organize his trip (Chinzo and Turuu of drivemongolia.com) introduced us to a well located (just behind the Irish Pub in downtown UB) and newly established hostel called Chuca's Guesthouse (Chuca is Turuu's wife so it was all in the family).