In polar travel, we are constantly mindful of keeping snow off of our clothes and out of our tent. Snow that gets on our gloves will eventually melt which makes our hands wet and eventually very cold. Same for the tent. Surprisingly, that same diligence is perfectly suited to here in the Gobi but instead of snow, it's sand.

And instead of winning against snow, I am loosing against sand. It's everywhere and a thin vineer coats everything. Granite Gear stuff sacks? Sand ensconced. Helly Hansen outer wear? Sand layered... You get the idea? It's dusty. Still, I like the challenge even if it is a losing battle.

We had a spectacular morning riding in the sand dunes. We found that by sticking to the wind hardened ridge lines, we could actually cycle on the dunes themselves. It was totally amazing and we laughed out loud as we roller coastered up and down.

Side note. It turns out that the sand dunes span for roughly 100 miles.

We met up with the van to leap forward and stopped into a ger for a quick hello, the traditional 'snuff' greeting and a few bowls of camel vodka home brew. Inside, and older man held court while five young kids played cards. A small TV was on in the background.

The man asked where we slept when we were biking. When 'J' answered that we slept in a tent, he said that we must be polar bears to stay warm through the the very cold nights. The comment made me smile.

Soon after, we started cycling again through yet a different landscape. Flying from Beijing last week, the Gobi looked like an endless plain of sameness. Now, we are discovering it's subtle nuances. The terrain now is a wide flat plain sparsely vegetated with small sage like plants no taller than 12 inches. The ground is an intricate mix of sand and rocks of all kinds and colors, some volcanic and others metamorphic.

Riding in this area is incredible. There is very little relief so we are able to spin relatively easily - emphasis on relatively as we are carrying a lot of gear. For as far as we can see in every direction, the land is the same.

We made camp as the sun sank slowly toward the horizon. Camp chores done, we stood, contentedly, as the sun melted into the distant mountains and we let the stillness of the Gobi fall over us with the darkening sky.