Dennis
When we first entered Mongolia I'd only know Dennis a day, we were discussing listening to music whilst riding across Russia and I proudly began to get my Iriver player and moulded ear plugs with built in moniters from my top pocket. I'd also left a bar of chocolate in there, it'd melted, coating the whole lot in a sticky brown mess!
I pulled them out dispondantly just as Dennis walked past, "you're suppose to stick em in yer ears, not up your ass" he said, quick as a flash
Dennis could talk the hind legs off a kangaroo but I always loved listening to his stories and missed them when we parted.
His top box was his pantry. It had it all. Stove, coffee,food, herbs and spices, fruit, you name it, it was there.
Now this system worked perfectly well under normal riding conditions but the rough conditions caused chaos to his 'system'.
Black, rancid bananas mixed themselves with coffee and powdered milk which in turn spread over his stove, peanut butter jars broke and mixed with curry powder. You get the picture.
Dennis takes it all in his stride "oh bugger, look whats happened here" we'd all peer into the mess of his top box with as you can imagine, little sympathy
His Australian accent and expressions were rubbing off on us as well.
Next morning after this next photo was taken, Dennis goes for a walk behind some rocks armed with his 'date roll', "I'm just going to snap one off" he informs us, ten minutes later he's back "Oh bugger, I went and sat in it". It was another day before we found a river for him to have a good wash.
So here he is, as laid back as ever. We've all got a tents up and getting food on, Dennis lies back in the sun, "there's pleny of time for all that"...a good lesson from a seasoned traveller.
We'd been running out of decent tobacco but eventually got some which the Mongolians smoke, it was more like wood shavings and tasted disgusting, but of course better than nothing.
Dennis finally managed to roll one, "what do you reckon mate?" as if straight from Crocodile Dundee he says "well you can smoke it, but it tastes like sh*t".