The finish line

Good morning :) Slept wonderfully in our warm toasty ger. Apparently a young girl popped in before 7am and filled up the heaters with wood.

Look at all that butter and jam for breakfast.

Autumn is such a beautiful season.. can't get enough of these golden leaves.

Briefing before we start biking, he 'said' its an easier route, partially on roads and roughly 37 km..

More roads which felt good despite some steep inclines..

Turtle rock (Melkhii Khad), a famous rock formation in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park.

About 15-20 minutes from Turtle rock we stopped for lunch. Mmm..

After lunch we had some free time to walk up a Buddhist Monastery (forgot the name :P). Remember to bring cash with you, entry costs 2000 MNT and would be a shame to miss the views from the top.

We arrived at Bumban Tour Camp and finished the bike ride!

Doing abit of shopping :P

Alexis and Denz from my team. *hugs we did it :D

Nomadic food: steamed mutton dumplings and khuushuur, ingredients prepared the same way but deep-fried until golden brown.

Mongolia, you've been an epic journey and biking here was incredibly challenging but worthwhile at the same time. Short but sweet, I'm really glad I joined this event and helped raise funds for Tsolmon Ireedui Foundation. Can't wait for next year's bike ride. ;)

The road less travelled

Rise and shine at Mandal resort in Terelj National Park, Mongolia. I recently took part in the APAC Bike Ride Challenge, SocGen's annual CSR event which has been running for six years now. Previous cycling events took place in Beijing, Siem Reap, Taiwan, Seoul and Mount Fuji..but this year was definitely the most adventurous and difficult one. With 108 participants from six different offices in Asia, it was a really fun team-building event and the most important thing is that we helped raise funds for numerous charity partners. After months of preparations, I'm glad I was able to join as a participant and ride my leg's off. hehe here are some snapshots..

So cold in the morning. Must've been hovering around 2-3 degrees. It gets warm during the day like roughly 9 degrees but drops below zero at night. brr..definitely passed the tourist season.

Bacon on toast, boiled eggs, cream soup and a raison slice for breakfast. Can't complain, it's fuel for the road :P One thing about food on the camp, we came to the conclusion that the vegetarian menu is much nicer than the meat option.

Saw so many big foots here! (J's old SUV)

Day one - off we go on a 40km route for the fun riders.. At first I was like no biggie, I can handle this but boy there were some really long steep terrain (for beginners) Absolute thigh-butt killer.

Lots of pistachios, pecans, fruits and chocolates every 7-8 km.

After huffing my way up the hill, it's time for lunch!

Yummy pack but couldn't rest for too long. Got cold quite quickly once we stopped moving.

Beautiful landscape and very mountainous compared to Inner Mongolia when we went 4-5 years ago. At certain parts of the trail, there was no one in front or behind me for as far as my eye can see. It's moments like these when you go wow, it's just me all alone here in this vast wilderness. Such an amazing feeling. Surprisingly it was a very calming experience..

And then the unexpected thing happened...it started snowing halfway through.. I'm so thankful that I survived without a scratch. Mud was caking onto my tires and it became really slippery without good grip. 

Famished by dinner time. The salads were really good. I was expecting only lamb and meat. 

Our yurt (ger) accommodation have wood heaters and beds! omgosh to me that's considered luxury and no I'm not being sarcastic because I've stayed in ones with nothing but just a few thin mats and blankets... After dinner I went straight for bed and probably passed out before 10:30pm. Nighty night.