We crossed the border into Mongolia today and it was not that bad. It took a total of about 60 minutes to leave Russia and 30 minutes to enter Mongolia. We were told the drive to the hotel was going to be 200km so we prepared for a long trip. After crossing the border and exiting our bus we transported all our gear to a 5 passenger SUV. Now for anyone who has not been reading any of the teams blogs this might seem pretty normal. But this was anything but that. Unit blue has 4 team members that travels with a driver and a team manager from the what ever country you are in. Now if you have done the math you can already see that makes 6 people total in a 5 passenger van. Now this does not include the luggage that each person has. So fitting all of us and the luggage into the vehicle was an amazing geometric equation. After arriving at the hotel after a 20km trip not a 200km trip, we were all pleasantly surprised at the looks of it from the lobby to the hotel rooms. I would say it was on the level of a 3 star hotel built about 2 years ago. Upon entering my room and seeing the twin size beds, cable television, fridge and hard wood floors I began to smile due to the thoughts and sights of immediate comfort. After setting my luggage down I went to the lavatory to wash the dirt off my hands. After pushing and pulling on all kinds of switches to find the lights, I decided that I did not need it since it was taking to long and I had enough light from the sun outside. Then I tried to turn on the water in the sink and the shower and nothing happened. Then I used the toilet and it did not flush. I thought this was strange and then I got a knock on the door. Will had noticed the same thing and had asked me if I had water. I replied “ No!” We just stopped and looked at each other for about 3 seconds and I know we were thinking the same thing. After going down stairs and asking at the front desk “ Is the water working in the hotel?” The reply was “There is no water!” This began my mind to wonder how can a state of the art hotel like this not have any water. If a person had to choose between cable television and having water that should be a simple decision. I guess the hotel was built to specifications that hopefully there would be clean or even safe water one day. You know it is amazing that water is Life and needs to be passed on!

Song for the day- “Running wild in the 21st Century” band- Helix