After being rained in for one whole day we headed for Uliastay. The road was wet and slippery but not too bad and progress was good through very green low areas with the usual rolling hills with some trees on the slopping sides and as we rode across the plains we could see storms off in the distance where we had come from and we managed to avoid some storms as we headed for higher mountains in the distance. We passed over the mountains and stopped at a small town, Telmen. Here we found a cafe that was unusual in that it had two tables with chairs around them against the front wall with two windows looking out onto the road. On the opposite wall was what looked like a bed, it was a raised platform that came out from the wall about tow metres and ran along the wall for about five metres. A young lady helped us order some food and while we waited the cafe filled with about ten adults and five children, they all appeared to be together but there was only one Russian van parked out the front, we left before them so we didn't see how or if they all fitted in this van. As we headed toward Uliastay we could see another storm building in front of us so we made an early camp high on a hill top where we had a great view along the valley where we could see that the river had swollen from all the rain and it looked as if a couple of Gers had been engulfed by the waters. The next day we went through a pass in the mountains at 2500 metres where there was still some snow around and as we went through the pass there was yet another storm ahead of us, this time we went for it and only copped the edge of it and managed to stay dry. When we arrived in Uliastay it was evident that the storms had been hitting the town as you could see the river was well up and the road into town had been washed away in places. We booked into a hotel, the most over priced we did stay in, but again it was clean, warm and dry. While there we met James, a pom riding from Singapore home to England. He had already done over eight thousand K and had another ten to go, he wants to be home for Christmas. The following morning it was raining again as we left town and as we crested the second pass on the road out we were getting wheel spin trying to travel at 30Kph, it wasn't that steep, just that wet and slippery. It was a slow and nervous ride down the other side where we saw several Mongolians had pulled off the road, it was that bad. Near the bottom we too chose to leave the road and take a side track that was a lot better but we came unstuck when the front wheel kicked out on a rock dumping us on the ground. Julie and I managed to pick the bike up again and were ready to go when Ben returned. Eventually we rode out of the rain and the road dried out. That night as we set camp in the sun we could see and hear storms off in the distance. It was probably on twenty minutes after going to bed that the wind came up requiring me to hold the tent out and then the rain hit. The lightening had already become that frequent that if felt like we were in front of the paparazzi! After only about five minutes we noticed the floor of the tent was rising as the water started flowing under us. After about fifteen minutes the wind had stopped, the lightening had moved away and the rain had eased. When we looked outside there was about twenty millimetres of water flowing around us, but fortunately the tent had held and we were dry, Ben said he was OK and we eventually went off to sleep. The following morning we had a new lake near us and you could see where the grass had been bent over by the flow of the water, but the sun was now shining and after drying our gear we headed off toward Altay. On the way we stopped short to wait for another storm to pass and as we rode into town we had to ride through some flooded gullies and get passed a bogged truck, what a mess, and town wasn't much better with flooded streets. We stocked up on supplies, fuel and had lunch and then headed out toward Hovd. The road was very good as we headed out of town but it wasn't long before it became like riding on ice and after some slips and slides we rode off the road and onto a side track until the road became good enough to ride on again, but when the road became the river we stayed on it as it had a firm base and wasn't too slippery. We eventually set up camp on a nice dry and sunny gibber dessert. The next day the good road had ended but it wasn't too bad and progress was good until we neared Zereg where the road bacame rocky and corrugated to the point that we thought the bikes would break something and we chose to rattle along in third and second gear for K after K, we finally called it a day and set up camp about 30 K out of Hovd. The next day wasn't too bad and after arriving in Hovd we found a hotel and booked in where we stayed for a couple of nights to recuperate. Sorry for the long blog, but it has been a while since I have had the chance to write, I'll write another blog for the run to Oglii as that is a story in itself.