Yesterday we drove to Altai to catch the charter flight, which was bringing in the change of crew from UB. But when it got halfway, they reported iced up wings, so were obliged to turn back. So we had to stay in Altai an unexpected night; terrible hotel conditions, but at least there was a toilet down the hall. Meanwhile, around lunchtime when we were still awaiting the plane that wouldn’t come at the airport, I started getting chilly. Didn’t think much about it until we reached Altai, but when we were finally arrived at a camp we thought we could stay for the night, I was freezing, and then became nauseous. I did finally vomit, which is rare for me, so I knew something was wrong. I then became feverish and still could not get warm. Luckily we had the camp doctor with us and he advised it might be food poisoning, so gave me some things to settle it. He decided it was best to get me to a hotel in town since the camp gers are not heated, and it was obviously going to get cold (freezing) and typically they give you nothing more for bed clothes than a sheet and light blanket. So we searched Altai for a motel room. When we had just about run out of options for motels, we learned by phone the rest of our crew had returned to town and found a hotel, so we joined them, and shared 3 rooms between the lot of us (14). I ate almost nothing for 30 hours. Finally, the plane arrived around noon today, we exchanged greetings with the new crew, and loaded up the prop for the 3 ½ hour flight to UB. But first we had to weigh in; the pilot, a very friendly lady with English accent, asked us each our weight in kilos and then weighed our bags, and naturally we were overweight. The doctor volunteered to remain in Altai as most of the rest of us had international connections to make and he is Mongolian; but besides, he grew up in Altai, so hopefully it is no hardship for him to remain there an extra night. We landed in UB about 5pm today, and went to eat at an Indian restaurant. The food was very good, mild but nicely flavored, but I could eat little since my stomach is still tender. Hopefully I will recover better tonight. It was absolute luxury to have a warm shower, especially after having been sick and sweating in the same clothes.
Don’t know if I am up to it, but the others want to get up to watch the final football match at 3:00am. I would like to but, probably need my rest, even if I will be mostly sleeping long hours on the remaining flights. Hopefully the trials are mostly behind us, but we were counting on a day in the UB office to do some clean-up work, so are now further behind. Guess we will have to collaborate on the flight. Time is running by, so wish us well on our connections so we return on schedule. Guess that it about all for now. I’m glad this hotel in UB is modern enough to have wireless connection! See you soon.
We are hoping he has a smooth flight and flawless connections on his trip back home. We can't wait to see his photos.
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