Now We Are Four

It transpired over the weekend that Li Jing has also cracked a rib - he was in such pain on Saturday night that he had to go to hospital. He has thus decided to go to Beijing to recover, and will rejoin us when he is feeling better - he did not look at all well.

The endurance event ended with a wonderful dinner and prizegiving with photos of all the competitors flashed up on a huge screen to the accompaniment of trimphant music. This even included me, though I only covered a token kilometer due to my bad back. Wutzala came second and the majority of the international riders made it round.

The following day I went to a post mortem which was very constructive. Mr Ho, the President of the Asian Equestrian Federation gave his recommendations, and afterwards I was invited to join a select group for lunch with the Governor of Xilingole province.

We have now come down to earth with a bump, having left the luxury of a five star hotel and returned to nil star accomodation! Today we rode about 20 miles steadily to Shangdu town, though Zorbee managed to dispose of Peng when he was frightened by loose wire which is a continual hazard round here. Happily Peng was OK.