Solar Eclipse

140km of extreme driving, they say it was along a road so the term 'off road' somehow does not apply, however I have recently re-defined my understanding of the word 'road'. It took fourteen hours to arrive at Khoton Nuur, thats an average of 10km an hour, although much of the track was driven at no more than a slow walking pace.Over many long stretches there had been serious erosion to the tracks with long irregular gauges carved into the earth and large sharp boulders scattered over the rocky terrain. It meant for a very uncomfortable ride and normally where I enjoyed the challenges of extreme driving, these extended lengths of irregular bumpy 'road' meant that I could not find any rhythm behind the wheel: it was a matter of endurance. However, at any given moment when I was able to sway my concentration away from the track, I was always met with the amazingly beautifull backdrop that accompanies almost every spot one finds oneself in when in Mongolia. The Mountains and Valleys and sheer expanse of Nature would instantly fill me up with wonder and beauty and a sense of deep fullfillment and adventure. We drove over the crest of one mountain, high enough to see the great wall of mountains that seperated us from China, and then descended slowly to Khoton Nuur Lake, a giant Azure gem surrounded by snow peaked mountains that gazed appreciatingly down at their perfect reflection in its calm crystal waters.

We found our own small corner of the lake and made camp next to a sandy beach, feeling somewhat plonked into the middle of Vall Hallor in our large chunk of out-of-place metal that had transported us there, and awaited the visit of whatever Gods must surely live in this heavenly designed wonder of a place. There were no such Divine appearances, however we were visited by some Princes of the Steppes, Nomads on horseback herding their goats and horses that would occasionally pop by to say hi and see who it was that had ventured so far. And then ofcourse there was the Divine 'dissappearance' that we had come all this way to witness.

Between 17:00 and 18:00 on the 1st of August 2008 our exact position on Earth meant that its alignment with the Sun was directly obscuring it with our planets Moon. We were going to witness a full solar eclipse from the most advantagious place possible to witness it from. I was completely exited. I have many friends who have seen such an event and whom all of them said that one could only experience it to understand it. Now was my time of experiencing and in a place that was anyway beyond explanation in its beauty and being, 'special' was the only word that came to mind. We were joined by two French people, a brother and sister called Sabine and Bruno who had also stumbled on to this grand idea of coming to this place for the same reason, and amongst us all there, armed with self made Sun viewing optics assembled from cardboard and silver foil, we patiently watched the Moon swallow up the whole of the Sun. An array of photo and video cameras all neatly aimed at their objective, standing on tripods like missiles awaiting to be launched. Bit by bit, just like Pac-Man gobbling up a pill, the Sun dissappeared and like a long slow swoop of a giant birds wing over ones head, the light crawled away and we were left in a twighlight between two worlds. The temperature dropped, shadows sank beneath their masters, a faint circle of brilliance glimmered around the spherical shape of the Moon, and we all stood in speechless awe. Then everyone started hugging eachother. There is something in a shared experience of a natural yet paramount event like this that unites and bonds those there together in an odd way. I wondered at that moment if it was because something so precious and tantamount to life was now temporarily lost, or because of the knowledge that this essential every day gift would soon re-appear and give its life giving light and warmth once more. There was something of celebration in both the gain and lost of this moment which I still can't put my finger on, of fear or desire, of the temporary or the eternal.

The brilliant ring of light became like a diamond engagement ring, colours appearing in a 360 degree orbit of the horizon, a full surround sunrise, and then the darkness dissappeared and the remainder of the day crept back in all its glamour and ordinariness.