Mongolian Service Station

It's pretty hard nowadays to even fathom that if a mechanic needs to work on your car, they don't just use a hydraulic lift to raise your car and work on it. I know I was surprised to see this, but it totally makes sense. I've come across similar setups in other developing countries as well since. Straightforward, practical and cheap.

While there are some paved roads in Mongolia, much of the country is unpaved, and you don't even get the luxury of gravel roads. Much of the distance covered was on dirt roads that had turned into muddy roads with days of rain. If you're traveling over that kind of terrain, it's only a matter of time before you get a flat or have some other type of problem. Generally pretty often.

I don't recall the issue anymore with our vehicle, but we had to stop in this tiny sumu to get some repairs done. There wasn't much to explore, but I was entertained by some of the neighborhood dogs that seemed to be solving their own problem after two dogs got "stuck" in what seemed like a mating ritual gone awry.

Concrete blocks and metal tracks compromise this simple but effective service station in Mongolia.