Travel Blog

After nine days in Almaty I was bored and it was well and truly time to move on, Bike serviced, clothes washed and food stocked.   The day before had rained heavily most of the day so I was praying to the Rain Gods and to the Lunatic Driver Gods that I get out of Almaty unscathed.   I got ready early as the traffic doesn’t seem to build up until well after 9 a.m. fuel topped up and off I went east of Almaty in search of a small Lake called Oz. Issyk, near the small town of Issyk, funny that.

The Rain Gods had answered my call but the Lunatic Drivers Gods had ignored me, it was as if someone in the centre of town had dropped the start flag and the race was on, single lane road no problems we can fit 3 cars wide to overtake, blind corners, over crests no worries.   The Eastern ‘Suburbs’ of Almaty seemed to go on forever and it took me well over an hour to be free of most of the traffic and not long after that I turned off the highway towards Issyk.   On the south side of the town there is a Gate and a small fee needs to be paid to enter, once in the road slowly climbs beside a small fast flowing River with the freshest water I have seen for a while.

After a short drive you arrive at Issyk Lake which as you will see later is one of many  Issyk Lake’s.

After admiring the Lake for a while I headed off with my next destination being Lake Kaindy which I had read contains the remnants of a dead forest where the dead trees still stand all through parts of the Lake.   I took a Gravel Road and rode towards the small town of Saty where I got wet again.   There is a Road in there somewhere….

Then I took the turn off to the Lake which looked Ok at first.

I arrived at a River Crossing where the River had taken over the road.

I knew that there was another River Crossing after this and this was the only track in and out of the Lake, the Black clouds were rolling in and I made an executive decision to give the Lake a miss, as much as I wanted to see it I didn’t like the thought of trying to get out again after a nights rain.   So I headed back through Saty towards Lake Kolsai No 1. there is also Kolsai 2 and 3 more about those later.   So after paying another National Park Entrance fee to an Old Lady in a small hut who took forever to write out a receipt I was on my way up another dirt track and arrived at the Lake half an hour later.

Lake Kolsai is the first of three Lakes located along this Valley, No 1 (this one) is where you must leave your Car or Motorcycle and hike to the others, this takes around 16 hours to get to No 3 then another 16 hours to get back.   I wasn’t kitted up for that and I wasn’t keen on leaving my bike here unsecured for that length of time so after spending some time talking to other tourists and watching the rain clouds get closer I rode back down the Valley in search of a Campsite.   I took a small muddy track on the other side of the Valley which got steeper and steeper so I decided to turn around, the one thing this Bike doesn’t do well is turn around so it fell over in the mud.   I couldn’t lift it with all the luggage on so removed the Tank Bag and then emptied the Rear Top Case onto the grass next to the Track, then the Rain came down, by the time I had lifted the bike and threw everything into the Top Case everything was soaking wet.

In the pouring rain I slid back down the steep hill and found a small flat area right next to a sign saying ‘No Camping’ and quickly set up the tent and climbed inside.   It rained heavily all night and I was glad I turned around on the track to Lake Kaindy.   The next morning the sun was out.

So I laid everything out on the ground to dry while I made a Coffee and relaxed.

It was after 10 a.m. by the time I headed out of the Valley and back down to ask the Old Lady to please let me out.

Saty is getting a new bit of road, just not while I’m here.

On the way out towards the Highway I stopped at this ‘crack in the ground’ which started from a mere Ditch south of here and will eventually become Charyan Canyon further to the north, this will be my next destination.

The Road to Charyn Canyon.

And yet another cost to get in, Kazakhstan is reminding me more and more of home…

My Serious Mongolian pose I’ve been practicing since Mongolia.

The track to the base of the Canyon made famous in Long Way Round where they had issues getting back up again.   The track was very steep with lose gravel, large rocks and washaways so in a way I was glad that the Rangers had banned Motorcycles from going down it.

So now it was time to get back on the road and head towards the small town of Kegen, which was the last town before the remote Border crossing I would use to get into Kyrgyzstan.   After Kegen I found this nice hill overlooking the Mountains which separate Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and made it my home for the night.

The next day I was up and gone for what I thought would be a short ride to the Border.   It appeared that as I came through Kegen I had taken the wrong turn and I wasn’t where I thought I was, nothing a few random tracks can’t fix.

I eventually arrived at the correct Border Crossing which is located in a beautiful Valley.

After around 30 minutes for the Kazak’s to let me out and all of 10 minutes for the Kyrg’s to let me in I was riding away wondering if I was actually in Kyrgyzstan or still in No Mans Land with hours ahead of me.   Right off the bat Kyrgyzstan was impressive, the scenery, the people waved, but unfortunately the roads and drivers were still crap.

I arrived in the moderate sized town of Karakol and braved the crazy drivers to find a Café for lunch.   Two young girls were helping run the café and with the help of Google Translate I had a great lunch of Dumplings and Bread.   While I was there I met an Australian couple riding a Honda Africa Twin, Graeme and Katrina who just happen to see my bike parked out the front.   So after a long chat they headed off to find a place to stay and I rode towards Lake Issyk (Yes another one) to find somewhere to camp.   It is warm here and there are a lot of locals enjoying the Lake, I wasn’t used to this many people but I eventually found this place beside the southern shore of the Lake which was perfect.

I have no Idea what this is all about….

One of the local drivers who all seem to assume the position in the middle of the road no matter what, it makes it rather difficult when you are coming the other way and they just won’t move over.

I then saw a sign saying “Salt Lake 12 Kms” and I thought OK that should be good a dry Salt Lake.   The road was average Gravel but some of the Adobe Houses along the route were interesting.

This guy thought he could do the Creek Crossing for me….. as long as he didn’t need to put his feet down.

So I arrived at another Gate near the Salt Lake where there were a bunch of young guys who said I needed to pay 250 Som to enter, then it was 200 and then 150, I wasn’t sure that they even worked there so I gave them 100 Som ($1.80 AUD) and they let me in.   As I rode over the crest all I saw was a small Lake with water in it and a lot of locals laying on the sand and swimming, apparently the high salt content is good for the skin that’s why it’s called Salt Lake……it took me all of around 2 minutes to get back on my bike and ride away, if I wanted a swim I could go to the real Lake for free, lesson learned.

I stopped off at Orto-Tokoy Reservoir on the way through and the water was crystal clear.

Not long after the Reservoir I took a turn onto another Gravel road heading towards Song-Kul.  Song-Kul or Song Lake (Kul =Lake) is situated at just over 3000 metres above sea level and was a place I had heard was spectacular.   As Song-Kul was over 800 meters higher than Mount Kosciuszko (Australia’s tallest Mountain) I thought it might be a little cold but surely it couldn’t be as bad as Siberia.   This nice and quiet Gravel road heads west through a beautiful Valley for around 50 Kilometres.

Then it was time to start climbing….

And climbing, 3000 Metres wasn’t going to climb itself.

The remaining Glacier’s were cut away by excavators to clear the road up the Mountain.

The temperature had dropped from around 30 degrees in the Valley to around 16 degrees, then Song-Kul came into view.

A storm looked like it was heading in from the west so I rode past all of the many Home Stays around to the southern side of the Lake and set up the Tent out of the wind.

I was 3030 Metres above Sea Level which is the Highest I’ve ever ridden, and its the highest place I have ever been (Flying doesn’t count) so there are two firsts for the one day.

The clouds were black but the rain didn’t eventuate so I made some dinner and sat back and enjoyed the view.

Then I had a Dinner guest from one of the local Yurts, after chatting in broken English and showing him some photos of other countries he rode off towards home with a wave and a massive smile on his face.

The night was cool but not cold and I had a great sleep, when I woke the sun lit up the Mountains in the Background.

So after enjoying the view some more and packing up the camping gear, slowly as at this altitude doing this can easily have you breathing heavily.   I rode off south from Song-Kul towards Osh which would be my next major stop before Tajikistan.   The southern track involved climbing over Moldo-Ashuu Pass so at 3346 Meters this would be my new record.   On the way up I met this couple of Cyclists from the Netherlands and I thought I had it hard, I would meet them a few times coming down the other side.

At the Peak I met Patrick and his wife from France driving their customised Land Rover Defender who have kindly offered me a place to stay just outside Paris later in the year.   After chatting about their trip it was time to go down abit…..

The road down….

On the way down I met John, an Aussie living in Canada on a Yamaha WR250 (Moto Mavericks), sometimes I could have done with a smaller lighter bike like this and other times like riding in the snow on the Transiberian Highway I’m glad I have the BMW.   If you are reading this thanks mate for the track and road advice and the Tajik money.   I really need to start taking photos of the people I meet……

I got to the bottom of the Valley and stopped for something to eat and a little Bike Maintenance, coming from Australia its not often you get to experience scenery like this, little did I know that this would be just one of many Passes and Valley’s I would experience over the next two days.

Climbing and descending Mountain Passes one after the other became my work for the rest of the day, this is how some look on the GPS.

And from my eyes……

After riding over countless spectacular Mountain Ranges and through Green Valley’s it was time to pack it in for the day.   I found a great campsite at an abandoned Salt Processing Facility, it had its’ own Bay Watch style Life Guard Tower…..

A small uncrowded Beach…

And all the Salt I could eat for free…..

Then a storm rolled in and made a lot of noise but not a lot of rain….

The following morning it was back to my day job of being a Mountain Goat….

More Semi’s coming down the Mountain, I’m not sure where they were going as they were all carrying ReBar (Steel Reinforcement Bar used in Concrete construction), I guess there wasn’t any alternative.

Some other smaller Trucks to share the Road with.

Horse Blockade…..

Mountainside Horse Conference…….

A few dumb Dog’s and even Dumber Owners who think it funny to chase Motorcycles, until one goes under the front wheel, I feel sorry for the Cyclists as I can easily out run the many lose dogs that are common in all of the countries I have visited since South Korea.

The Gravel Roads wind through the Mountains and through the Valley’s and except for a few trucks there is very little traffic, it is just a stunning part of the world to ride.

Prime Real Estate just waiting for a new owner…

Climbing the next Mountain, I had lost count by then…..

This Pass was nearly 3800 metres and still climbing…..

At the top was an Ambulance….not sure why or if this was just a coincidence…..

Then once at the top there was only one way to go….I feel sorry for this Donkey….

This Excavator was clearing some of the Glacier from the track.

Which didn’t leave me much room to sneak around between him and a very big drop….

Throw in slippery mud and it became interesting but in the end was no problem…

The track descended into the next Valley and there were no more Passes to climb which was disappointing as I was enjoying the views but I needed to get to Osh as it was getting late and find somewhere to stay.

Back to some type of crazy civilisation and I was quickly wishing I was back in the Mountains.

As I rode through a small Village north of Osh I was pulled over by the Police, this was not the first time but the others had been just a check or to say hello.   I was asked for the usual, Passport, Drivers Licence and Rego papers then one of the Police showed me a very nice picture of me on their Speed Camera apparently doing 64 in a 50 Kilometre Zone.   I hadn’t seen any 50 KPH signs and told him I thought the Villages were 60KPH, in broken English he said “No 50 and you need to pay a fine.   He then showed me a printed page which said 1000 Som for I am assuming the 14 KPH I was over the limit and said, “You must pay”.   I knew what he was after so I played dumb and said “OK I’m sorry,  do I go to the Police Station and Pay?” he looked at his book and said, ” You Pay or I write the fine” and put the Pen near the book but didn’t start writing, he looked at me again.   I asked what the offence was listed above for only 500 Som and he just looked at me so I said “What if I pay that one now and then I don’t need to go to the Police Station?” his eyes lit up and he couldn’t say yes quickly enough, so 500 Som went straight into his pocket for his Retirement Fund and he handed me back my documents and said, “Thankyou, enjoy your day”, I replied “you too”.

What he didn’t know was that I had been legitimately caught doing 14 KPH over the limit and walked away with a fine of only around $9.00 AUD, I kind of like this system of negotiating your speeding fine, it works for me and as I rode out of the Village I had to smile when I saw a 50 KPH sign.

An hour after that I was battling the manic Osh Traffic trying to find the Tes Guest House that John had told me about.

After going around in circles for a while, down a Pedestrian Path and through some Road Works I found the Guesthouse and settled in with quiet a few other travellers for the next 5 days.

After crossing Mongolia where both the Bike and I took a slight hammering it was time to rest for a few days until my Russian Transit Visa kicks in.   This is the Visa I had to organise back in Ulaanbaatar so I could travel through the Altai Region of Russian to get into Kazakhstan and it only gives me 5 days, this should be plenty providing nothing goes wrong.

Spending 3 days in Ulgii was just about enough the food is good once you know where to look but you quickly run out of things to do.   Every town needs a square…

Every day in the mid thirties and a few Thunder Storms made it interesting.

First Curtain Walled Building I’ve seen other than in the Capital Ulaabaatar, watch out Mongolia progress is coming…..

Getting some paperwork done, when the Internet cooperated…..

Saturday morning came and I was on the road early hoping to get to the Russian Border before it opened at 9 a.m. Goodbye Ulgii its been a pleasure….

A little bit or gravel for the morning commute.

And this all the way to the Mongolian side of the Border Crossing, Mongolia has to get its last bit from you.

I arrived at the Border a little late and there were already quite a few cars and trucks lined up.   I was approached by two guys asking for a ‘Road Tax’ payment, no uniforms or anything but this is how its done in Mongolia, 6000 Tugrik, a little over $3.00 AUD, hopefully this goes to fixing some of the roads, if they fix them all Mongolia won’t be the same.   These guys gave me a receipt so I guess its not a scam and they changed my remaining Tugrik to Roubles so I had some money when I arrived in Russia, they told me to go to the front of the line….so I did and around 45 minutes later I was riding through no mans land towards Russia.   That was easy and no searches this time.

When I arrived at the Russian gate it was closed and the same cars and trucks were lined up waiting.   The Russians don’t like to be rushed so they will only let a few vehicles through at a time, while you wait you sit in the baking sun.   Eventually I got through the gate and after relatively quick process presenting my passport I had to sort out the Temporary Import of the bike.   This is where the whole process ground to a halt, also coming through the Border were a large number of Kazak’s all in mini buses loaded with families and goods from Mongolia and they all needed searches and vehicle imports.   The Russians had one guy in a small office handling all of the import applications, he typed with one finger and was tediously slow and to add to that the Kazak’s like the Mongolians seem to have no concept of a queue so its pretty much a free for all, so when in Rome….  this process alone took over 3 and a half hours which made this a 5 hour Border Crossing, I’ve just about used up the first day of my 5 day Transit Visa sitting at this Border.

Late in the afternoon I was finally let into Russia…where they have roads…

And the scenery all through the Altai Valley was stunning.

It had been very humid all day and finally the Thunder Storms came, it was that hot five minutes after the rain had stopped I was dry again, until the next storm.

The cows here have a serious attitude problem, in Mongolia they are herded by  Motorcycle so they normally run away but here they just stand in the middle of the road and make you go around them.

I found a quite little place to camp beside a River, it had been a long day and it was hot again so it was an early night.

Now this is a Bridge.

The Altai Region doesn’t mess around and does Rivers properly….

Being a Sunday and the start of Summer this entire area was packed with holiday makers and tourists making it very slow going through the traffic.

But for every negative there is always a couple of positives……

The main Highway leads to Barnaul and then you need to come back south towards the Kazak Border so I turned off the highway and found what I thought was a short cut….had I mistakenly crossed back into Mongolia?

No they have proper Bridges here…..

On second thoughts…..this is one of the main streets of Rubtsovsk, the last Russian town before Kazakhstan and it is like a Motocross Track.

Another impressive Russian River.

My last camp in Russia, a lot of bugs at this one so another early night, I didn’t fancy swapping my blood for Malaria on my last night in Russia.

When I arrived at the Russian / Kazak Border there was no one else there, after a few minutes the Russians let me in and after a 10 minute Passport check, a cursory glance in my Tank Bag and a joke about smuggling a semi Automatic Glock (from the Russian Guard, I wouldn’t dare joke at any Border for fear of being locked up) I was through and on the way to meet the Kazaks.   Again a very quick Passport check where the single Official had to check with his boss if Australians needed a Visa, to his credit it did only start earlier this year.   Then a Guard who only wanted to know where I was from and where I was going rushed me through the gate with a massive smile and no search whatsoever.   So far the quickest Border crossing at around 45 minutes.

I was now in Borat country.   (Looking back at the Border Post).

I rode a few metres down the road and woke this guy up to get my compulsory Third Party Insurance.

First impressions of Kazakhstan is that it was flat, hot and humid but the roads were Ok.

Out of the main towns I noticed these Cemeteries where the Graves or ‘Tombs’ are like small Mansions, this puts the Italians to shame.

The road was excellent all the way out of Semipalatinsk, this area reminded me a lot of Central Australia, flat and dry with reasonable roads, it should be easy to make the Kilometres up.

I stopped for a delicious chicken lunch at a Café on the Highway and luckily the nice lady took Russian Roubles because I hadn’t been able to find an ATM anywhere.   Then further down the Highway this guy pulled me over and offered me some Soup, so far the people in the North of Kazakhstan have been very friendly and always wave or sound their horns when you go past.

After the Town of Qalbatau my love affair with the roads was seriously over.

This is the main Highway between the north and south of the country and its like this if not worse for hundreds of Kilometres.

To make things worse the oncoming traffic would nearly always be on your side of the road, I guess they are trying to dodge the pot holes too but when they see you are just a Motorcycle they just stay on your side of the road, In the end I got sick of it so I would drive straight towards them until they moved over, yelling at a few in the process.

It was now getting late, it was still over 30 degrees and I was totally fed up with the roads and the drivers so I decided to find a Campsite for the night.

There were no trees in this area of Northern Kazakhstan but I found this place and set up camp.   It was still hot and humid and without shade the tent heated up quickly and was like a sauna.   The other problem is the area was full of insects, Horse Flies, regular Flies, Mosquitos and small swarming insects like midges that bite like hell.   After sweating it out in the tent for a little while I braved the insects with a thorough coating of Aerogard (Insect Repellent) and a t shirt to wave them off, this worked for a while but at this stage I wasn’t enjoying my first taste of Kazakhstan.

The next morning I was awake at 5 a.m. when the hot sun came up and blasted its way through the Tent.   The insects were either back or they never left so I got mostly dressed inside the Tent, packed up in record time and rode away leaving the blood sucking freaks behind.

Then it was back to the crappy roads which in a lot of ways were worse than Mongolia or Russia at least in Mongolia you don’t expect good roads as they are mostly Gravel and in Russia you get a break from the bad roads with good roads, here it was constant and if you missed a Pot Hole you could easily end up with a buckled rim or worse losing control of the Motorcycle.

Not sure this shack was built in the correct location……

After a morning of hell trying to deal with the shocking roads I came across this at Taldykorgan where the roads and Landscaping were immaculate, I think it has something to do with the signs advertising Expo 2017 in Kazakhstan, no doubt some events will take place in this town so they have tidied it up abit, its a shame they couldn’t spare some for the northern part of the Highway.

Then further south a four lane Freeway…

At first I thought the mountains in the back ground were clouds, this is the Mountain Range which Separates Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, I was getting closer to Almaty which would be my home for around 8 days.

I had ridden over 850 Kilometres and I wasn’t in a good mood, my GPS didn’t have Kazakhstan Maps (mainly because I didn’t have Internet to download them) so I was flying blind.   The traffic was horrendous and the drivers were the worst I had come across so far on the whole trip, aggressive, fast but with bad skills and then it started to rain again.   Because it was so hot and humid and the traffic wasn’t moving the overheating warning light came on on the bike so I borrowed the footpath next to a Bus Stop to let the bike cool down and figure out how to get to the Hostel I had booked.

I eventually found the Hostel Nomad which I had booked but I was 2 days early, no problem they had a bunk in a dorm for the extra 2 days, the remaining days I would have a single room which I got for a bargain.

Well I think I initially gave Almaty and Kazakhstan the thumbs down mainly because of the condition of the roads and the fact I was very tired when I arrived and I was covered in Insect bites from my one night camping.   Now I’ve had time to rest and get out and see the City it is actually a very nice place to be.   I even managed to shave and get a great haircut at a local Barber Shop after bumming around Mongolia for a month, although I can’t remember when…actually if I’ve ever had a side part but I might keep it…..

I’ve also had the bike serviced at the local BMW Dealer, They don’t get many bikes here and I was a little worried when they asked me what they needed to do for the 20,000 Kilometre Service, luckily I had it written out for them.   The Customer Service was excellent and they ‘assigned’ an English speaking girl to look after me, she arranged everything including a free Cappuccino and a Taxi back to the Hostel.   In the end they did a great job and the cost was around the same as what I would have paid in Australia, just like most things here they are around the same so not really cheap.   They even gave it a free wash and turned it into a Scrambler…….

Ok this is my Bike…..

Almaty has a little of a Melbourne feel to it with its leafy Streets, Parks and Gardens and maybe the fact it has rained for 5 out of the 8 days I’ve been here.

And this is certainly not Borat Country, more like BMW Country, Almaty is a very modern and trendy City and with the Mountains as a Backdrop it would be stunning with a snow covering in winter.

There are many local Parks some with memorials to the Great Patriotic War (WWII)

The Hostel Nomad (White Building) where I stayed has a Pub next to it (Green Building).

And one of the best Steak Houses across the road, complete with Heart Attack Ambulance on stand by.

Kebabs on the other corner.

And with these two a short walk away I’ve had the five major food groups covered…

And they even have their own Soft Drink, something looks familiar here but I can’t quite put my finger on it?

So Almaty, Kazakhstan sorry for getting off on the wrong foot you are a pretty cool place to stay and I might come back one day.   After 9 days here tomorrow morning (Thursday) I set off to explore South Eastern Kazakhstan before crossing the Border into Kyrgyzstan then slowly make my way south into Tajikistan and the (In) Famous Pamir Highway, I hope it is half as good as Mongolia.

Thoughts on Mongolia;

In a few words Mongolia was the best country I have visited (I know I haven’t been to many yet), it was exactly what I expected, remote, rugged and spectacular.   Ulaanbaatar was a challenge to get around but I used Taxi’s and walked as riding the bike was just too hard.   Once you are out of the City the scenery is just stunning with something new to gasp at around every turn, towards the end it kept throwing beautiful scenery at me and I couldn’t keep my camera batteries charged long enough or have enough space on my Memory Cards and it was “ok give it a rest, give me something boring for a while”.

The thing I liked most about Mongolia was the easy and simple nature of travelling, out of the Towns and Cities the Government owns the land and you can just set up camp almost anywhere and I mean anywhere you feel like it, I don’t think there is anywhere else like it in the world.   Unfortunately you can sense a change as Mongolia’s GDP skyrockets and the Mining Companies are here doing Exploratory Mining, tourism is getting bigger and bigger and I think some of the natural attractions may become either closed off unless you pay or rules will be put in place to ‘protect the Environment’ and camping may be restricted, I really hope this doesn’t happen because Mongolia is unique in the world in this way.   There appears to be a growing gap between the people who have and those who don’t, people with very nice expensive cars and houses living next to a Ger with just the basics, not sure what industry they are in?

Being in the Home Design and Building game I was disappointed to see western style houses popping up in a lot of places sometimes in clusters like our Suburbs and this is just not characteristic of Mongolia, I hope the people here can enjoy some of the western lifestyle withoput letting it completely take over and ruin their iconic Architecture and way of life.

The people here were very friendly more so out of towns and in the remote areas, they would always approach you for a chat or to offer help or a smile whether you asked for it or not and I never felt unsafe even though I travelled and camped in some very remote locations.

Riding a Motorcycle in Mongolia is equal parts challenging and substantially rewarding, you need to be well prepared and give in to the roads and environment, I ran into a few Motorcycle Riders who raced across Mongolia and hated it.   If you are reading this in preparation to ride in or across Mongolia the one thing you need the most is not money or the latest equipment,  it is time, yes it helps having a reliable bike and good gear but even if you do have the best and try to race across the country you will be disappointed.   I know not everyone has a month to do this but if you can put more time into Mongolia  you won’t regret it, this has been by far the most challenging and yet fulfilling riding I’ve ever done and its’ a place that will take something special to beat.

 

 

 

 

Video for Mongolia is complete, It was impossible to fit all of the good bits in in under 10 minutes, enjoy.

Ulanngom seemed like an Ok town but I had already decided I wanted to keep going and camp at Uureg Nuur which is a small Lake in the north west corner of Mongolia.

So after a few enjoyable kilometres of Bitumen in Ulaangom it abruptly ended just north of the town where I needed to hit the dirt again and head west through a Mountain pass.

What’s the most common Off Road Vehicle in Mongolia, Land Cruiser, Nissan Patrol……. no Toyota Prius and this guy just didn’t want to let me pass, but he couldn’t keep it up forever and soon enough was eating BMW dust.

Down into a Valley where I had small glimpses of Uureg Nuur, just enough to keep me motivated.

The other thing I was getting glimpses of were very large snow capped Mountains which just happen to be in the direction I was going tomorrow, might need some climbing equipment.

Then it came fully into view Uureg Nuur or Uureg Lake (Nuur means Lake), it was stunning, probably the best looking Lake I have seen in Mongolia.

Now to find the ultimate Campsite, this seemed good and I couldn’t go past the view.

The only issue was I had to ride back up over that crest in the morning as that was the only way in or out.

Not a bad view from the Deck…

The following morning the Lake looked totally different, as there was no wind it was flat and like a mirror.   Today should be an easy day, the GPS was telling me it was a little over 200 Kilometres to Ulgii, I should be there before lunch then…….

So obviously I made it over the crest or you wouldn’t be seeing these photos, just on the other side I spotted this little piece of prime Real estate, Location, location, Location.

So I followed the GPS north alongside the Lake and this is where the tracks got confusing, the GPS was showing me a track that wasn’t there and I was riding on pieces of a track that didn’t show up on the GPS, the Maps App on my phone had a different track altogether.   I followed to GPS the best I could, the track was very rocky and eventually moved away from the Lake and towards the Mountains…

At the top of the Pass the temperature dropped to around 8 degrees, the GPS told me I was high….

Beautiful snow capped Mountains in the distance…to big for me to climb I think.

The series of Tracks lead through these passes for a while and a number of times I was lost because the GPS and tracks did not match.   The GPS was also trying to send me on a different route than the tracks labelled ‘Northern Route’, as I had come this far I ignored the GPS and followed the Northern Route.

Eventually the track lead me down from the mountains onto a flat Plain which from up there looked like it was some type of soil which was a dark grey or brown colour, I was just happy to be out of the Mountains.   As I rode closer I realised that this Plain was not soil at all and full of rocks and stones ranging from Golf Ball sized to Football sized and the track through it was very sketchy at best.   This area I will call the Rock Graveyard, its where all the rocks and stones in Mongolia come to die and make my life an misery.

Bloody rocks….

This is what this area looks like from Google Earth and I had to cross right through it, incidentally the GPS was trying to send me down the East (Right) side of this Lake but I disagreed, Paul 1 GPS 1.

After over an hour of very slow riding sometimes over football sized rocks I noticed a Creek or River showing on the GPS screen, It had to be a dry Creek surely……

Wrong……

This was a River that drained into Achit Lake, which if you say that fast is what I was calling it later…….

This extra water was from the Snow Melting in the Mountains to the west and it had the River bursting its banks and creating a number of Rivers which I had little choice but to cross.

The first 3 crossing above were OK, fast flowing but not that deep.   Then I got to this last bit, it was fast flowing and deep, over half a metre in areas and when I walked it the current nearly pushed me over, throw in the weight of a fully loaded bike and the odds of getting across without dropping it aren’t good, actually they are non existent.

I spent the next two hours riding up and down the River bank trying to find a place to cross, would it be shallower nearer the Lake, no the water had spread into a number of Rivers and they were deeper with muddy bottoms.   What about upstream maybe it would be better, no the River was in 3 sections but very deep and fast flowing.   The problem with doing all of this exploring is I now had less than a quarter of a tank of petrol so going back through the Rock Graveyard and all the way around the Lake was not really an option.   Nothing left to do but harden up and dive in somewhere, Ok this looks Good….

Yes.

Ah…No.   Notice the large fly in this photo well there were literally millions of these following me and they bite so I couldn’t take my gloves or Helmet off at all.

All of the riding over these rocks caused the mount to my Helmet Camera to break off and I was lucky I didn’t lose it all together, the photos from here I had to take with the real Camera.   Anyway so I found this area below where I though might be OK, I walked it and it was around half a metre deep around the middle and fast flowing but not as bad as the other areas.   I loaded all of the electrical gear and other things I didn’t want to get wet into my Tank Bag and slung it over my shoulder just in case and without over thinking it too much I rode in.   Crossing this part was difficult, in fact I got stuck on slippery rocks twice and nearly dropped the bike both times, the bottom half of my Panniers were under water as was my boots which were already full of water anyway.

 

So after my blood pressure went down again I rode on through the next two smaller sections and found the track on the other side.

After around another 5 Kilometres of the Rock Graveyard I noticed the town of Bukhmurun appear on my GPS and it looked like it had fuel so I headed straight for it.

I found the Petrol Station and as I was fuelling up I met the local school teacher who spoke very good English (funny that).   He was surprised I got through the River unscathed but he also told me there were two more Rivers to cross on the west side of the town, one had a Bridge but one was very deep and I would not be able to cross it.   He said he had a friend with a 4X4 and Trailer that could take me across….for $70 US…my reply was that this was too expensive then it became $50 US immediately.   I said I would go and check the River first to see if I could cross and come back and see him if I couldn’t.   After riding out and looking at the river it seemed he knew what he was talking about so after some bartering he would get me across for around $35 AUD which was a lot less than what we started with.   So I follow him to his friends where they get the Trailer ready, the kids just love having their photo taken.   It is summer school holidays here which in Mongolia goes for 3 months, and before any of the Aussie kids get excited they don’t have any other holidays during the year.

So I follow them out to the River where I could ride through some smaller sections before we loaded the bike into the trailer for the difficult section.

More Photo ops for the kids, they were having a ball.

So the Bike is loaded up and strapped down and off we go, I tried to get some video but I was preoccupied holding on so I didn’t end up in the River after all.

Safe and dry on the other side.   There was no way I could have ridden across that River as it was far to deep, wide and fast flowing so the $35 was one of the best investments I’ve ever made, not sure what the guys will do for extra cash when they build a Bridge.

My lift disappears back over the River and I repack the bike ready to head off again.

A couple of small water crossings and a lot more dirt and gravel.

Brought me to this Mountain Pass that lead me to the Town of Tsagaannuur.   This was also a stunning area but by now I had been riding for around 11 hours straight and I wasn’t interested in scenery I just wanted to get onto the Bitumen and in to Ulgii.

Which is exactly what happened.   Except for a short Gravel section over a Mountain Pass the road was all good quality Bitumen.

Where I made my home in a Ger at the Travellers Guesthouse for the next 3 days until my Russian Transit Visa started and I could continue on.

So in the end the 200 Kilometres from Uureg Nuur to Ulgii took me around 12 hours, Mongolia has a way of turning an easy day into a very hard one, but this is what its all about isn’t it?  Otherwise I might as well be sitting on the couch at home watching the Long Way Round……again.

 

There are a few ways you can travel across Mongolia from East to West by car or Motorcycle, the 3 common ways are the Southern Route, the Central Route (which uses some of the Southern Route) and the Northern Route, this is the most common question Overlanders ask each other when they come to Mongolia.

The Southern Route heads towards the Gobi Desert which is the route we took a few weeks ago, I haven’t travelled all of it but I have been told it is easier, mostly bitumen but boring and flat, that’s not what I came all this way to see.   I had read that the Northern route is much more difficult, more isolated with deep sand and some high river crossings, as I was already at Lake Khovsgol in the north it seemed the most obvious choice, how hard could it be?

After a day and a half of rain I packed up the soggy tent and skidded my way out of the forest to the gravel (rock) road which was now a Rocky Stream.

Then back over the dodgy Bridge.

And back down the nice Bitumen Road with hardly any traffic on it.

This nice road lead all the way back to Moron where I turned my wheel west and started on what is known as the Northern Route.

About 100 metres west of town the bitumen ended and would not be back for days.   I think they called this town Moron because if you head west from here on the dirt you are one….so without any hesitation off I went.

Can’t be that bad look at the quality of this bridge.

Ok pick a track, any track or if you don’t like ours feel free to make your own.

So just to explain the Northern Route is a line on my map and GPS named Northern Route it looks like it is one road but it is just a series of ‘roads’ and tracks that sometimes join and sometimes don’t, occasionally you need to go off road all together in search of the next ‘track’ to take, some tracks disappear and some multiply, some have bridges and many don’t.

Another stunning Valley.

All over Mongolia when you reach the peak of hills or mountains there are these Monuments, sometimes made from stones and sometimes made from fallen timber from trees and decorated with Blue cloth, I have yet to find out why they put these here and Google couldn’t help.

The last Motorcycle Rider who didn’t turn around at Moron.

No I didn’t, although it was very tempting.

Unfortunately this is far too common all over Mongolia.

But the scenery is still beautiful.

Later in the day it was time to find another campsite.  Step 1….

The following morning the sun was up early and it was going to be a warm day.

Not far down the road was the first challenge, not the best bridge I’ve seen…

But no other choice..so here goes…

Dodging the holes and sharp metal all while it was swaying, at least I didn’t have far to fall.

Then the GPS told me to cross this river, I disagreed and found a way around.

Then I came to this Bridge which was heavily guarded, luckily had I crossed the river before this was the bridge to bring me back over, so in the end I didn’t need to cross the River after all, Paul 1 GPS 0.

Just another rocky hill to climb.

And more sand.

Mongolian Freeway.

Another small town for supplies, cant help but thinking I might run into a few Cowboys in towns like this.

And the GPS sends me out of town through someone’s back fence, this IS the Northern Route.

Over the crest just outside town the next Valley looked like the American West.

To my right I could see a massive expanse of sand and I kept pleading with the GPS not to send me through there….please.

Luckily I skirted around most of it and this was the worst it got…for now.

Got to chase some Horses again.

The wind had really picked up and was blowing sand everywhere, I couldn’t put the Visor down because then you can’t see the changes in the track surface and that’s when accidents happen so it was push on and stop whinging.

And I could see the dark clouds gathering in the direction I happen to be heading, great.

Then down it came, well at least it made the sand a little easier just seeing anything a lot harder.

But some of the ‘puddles’ were deeper than they looked.

The rain didn’t last that long and it became time to find a camp site again, this spot looked good.

And with the snow capped Mountains in the back ground…

The next morning while I was packing up these two guys came and visited me, they were all smiles until the camera came out then it was the Mongolian pose…

Then it was back on the road chasing Goats.

I arrived in this small town (Which I can’t remember the name of now) to find a nice bitumen main street and some shops to replenish my supplies.

In the street I found this little guy who had crashed his bike in the mud, no doubt practising for when he gets his car licence later on.

So I stopped my bike and went back to give him a hand.

First the bike went back on the footpath….

Then I had to lift him over the mud so his shoes didn’t get dirty…

Job done.   The whole time he looked like he was on the verge of tears and was looking at me like I was from another planet and when I gave him the thumbs up he just gave a short sharp nod and I got on my back and rode away.

So after getting more supplies, water and food mainly it was back to the usual ‘roads’.

I was now heading towards a massive area of sand to the south of Lake Uvs (I didn’t know this at the time) and it had been a hot day already peaking just over 30 degrees.

The bike has been excellent and so far has not missed a beat even though it has been given some rough treatment it still keeps on smiling.

Sand gets deeper, no turning back so plough on….

Up on the pegs, keep the weight back, occasionally it got too deep and I had the revert to the ‘don’t be a hero’ position, sit down legs out for ballast and keep going…

As you can tell I’m loving all of this sand on a hot day…

This deep sand went on for a few hours and was getting tiring until I found this family with their little front wheel drive station wagon bogged severely in a long particularly deep section.

After an hour and a half helping them dig their car out and move inch by inch across the sand using their car mats for traction they were finally out of the soft stuff and could move again.   To thank me they gave me some type of dried meat which tasted like petrified vomit so I put that in the Tank Bag for ‘later’…..

 

 

 

Not much further up the road I got my first glimpse of Lake Uvs which looks like a sea.   it is the largest and the most saline Lake in Mongolia and stretches around 84 kilometres north to the Russian border with part of the northern section actually in Russia.

This is about as close as I wanted to get as I had already ridden through very deep sand just to get this photo, the Lake is impressive but it seemed a lot of extra work to get to the shore only to turn around and ride out again and no doubt there would be some type of flying, biting insect waiting for me.   So it was back on the road towards Ulaangom which didn’t really get any better just less sandier.

It was starting to get late in the day and it had been a long ride so I was so glad to see a bridge up ahead which looked like it was reasonably new.

And I was even happier to find some Bitumen on it.

This Bitumen lead all the way into Ulaangom where as with a lot of Mongolia the cows rule the roads.

 

 

 

 

 

After a few days rest at the Fairfield Guesthouse in Tsetserleg I packed the bike and waved goodbye to a comfortable bed, shower and great food.   My eventual destination would be Lake Khovsgol to the north but first I wanted to have a look at the Tsenger Hot Springs that I had been told about at the Guesthouse, it was around 30 kilometres south east…30 kilometres can take a long time around here but the scenery was nice and as a very good start I had a bridge.

Then sometimes not.

The Valley was the usual spectacular scenery.

I arrived at the Hot Springs to find some renovations going on and it looked like they piped the water from the Springs into the building so you had to go in and pay to have a bath.

I didn’t have time for that so I found a nice shady spot for lunch.

Then I turned and headed back towards Tsetserleg, but not before these bloody horses ruined my run up for the creek crossing.

Just before town I decided I would adjust my chain again and I needed a flat surface to put the bike up on the Centre Stand, this abandoned factory was perfect.

On the way out of town I stopped at these Mineral Springs that the Guesthouse had told me about and filled up my water bottles, the water is safe to drink and was very clean. I think one of the young guys standing around was trying to charge me for the water but I knew it was free for everyone and sometimes it helps when you can’t understand Mongolian.

After the Spring there was another one of the local Toll Booths to travel on this section of the road, it cost me 500 Tugrik and within 500 metres after I paid it turned to gravel, I want my 27 cents back…..it was a dodgy Mountain Pass which this guy didn’t do right.

I did however find a nice spot for lunch and watched the cars and trucks negotiate the road.

A few Kilometres down the road and into the Valley the Bitumen started again.

Which didn’t seem to help these guys who consequently rolled their van.

They said they were OK so I rode on, knowing the Mongolian way they probably had serious injuries and walked up the road and died…

Around 10 Kilometres later I left the Bitumen again and headed north through another spectacular Valley……with some sand.

Not long after it was time to find somewhere to camp.   My strategy starts with finding a big hill because you get good views from up there and if it rains you don’t need to swim out of your tent in the morning.

Next negotiate the sea of rocks at the top of the hill.

And find a flat spot for the tent.

I did score this Eagle Feather for my Helmet as a bonus.

And just sit back and look at the view.

The next morning the Sheep had me boxed in at the top of the hill.

Sheep are not that smart so I just rode around them, unfortunately I couldn’t do the same with the rocks.

Yes managed to get out of the rocks without breaking the bike…or my neck.

And back on some sort of road again.

Then a little bit of water as you enter the small town of Erdenemandal.

North of the town the sand pit started and this was a long one.

But the sand abruptly stopped when I got to this large River, my GPS told me to cross here, I calmly explained to the GPS the significant differences between a Boat and a Motorcycle then I rode further east looking for another proper crossing.

I followed a track to a small farm where the Farmer motioned me to head further east to cross, I had read that this River could only be crossed with a dodgy small raft that a local had made and charges to get motorcycles across, not sure if I was keen on that, but I wasn’t turning back either.   When I got there I found a beautiful brand new bridge to cross, it should be smooth sailing from here.

But as abruptly as sandy track became a new bridge it then became a sandy track again.

After around 10 more Kilometres of this I found this new road which lead all the way into the town of Moron where I could get fuel and supplies for camping at the Lake.

The Bitumen road went all the way to Khatgal which is a small tourist village at the bottom of Lake Khovsgol.

Lake Khovsgol  is 1645 metres above Sea level, 136 Kilometres long and has an average depth of 138 metres, it holds the second largest volume of water in Asia and holds nearly 70% of Mongolia’s fresh water.   It stretches from Khatgal north to near the Russian border and is connected by tributaries to Lake Baikal in Russia which was partly frozen when I was there last month.

Khatgal was a little boring and touristy so I decided to find a way around the East side of the lake and look for a camping spot as it was nearly 7.30 p.m.   Just outside the Village I went across another dodgy bridge all the time trying to look out for spikes and nails to tear through my tyres.

My Map had a campsite shown on it which was nearly on the banks of the Lake so I followed the track which was already wet and slippery.

Then it got more slippery and I had a few close calls

As the black clouds started moving in I thought if it rains while I’m down here I’ll never get out so I turned around and found the nearest reasonable place to set up camp where I would have half a chance of getting out again.

Minutes after I set up and took this photo above the Thunder and Lightening Storms started and it rained solidly until 6 p.m. the following day.

I had planned to spend only one night at the Lake but the Storms and Rain meant I had to spend two nights and a very wet day in the tent again, I’m getting used to this.

 

After 2 nights and 1 days rest in the bustling town of Arvaikheer it was time to move north again, this time the destination was the Ulaan Tsutgalan Waterfall which I had read about before coming to Mongolia, it is also sometimes known as the Red Waterfall.

The only thing that stood in our way was a Mountain Range, how hard could it be?

After some Bike maintenance and Fuel we headed out of town and not long after left the Bitumen road behind again, this type of road we wouldn’t see again for a few days.

Almost as soon as we rode onto the dirt the Mongolian Roller Coaster returned again and we continued riding up large hills and through rocky Valleys punctuated with only a small town or two.

Gates to the small town of Uyanga, Population: Hardly Any…..

Just after Uyanga the day got interesting, it appears that the valley to the north of the town has become a giant Quarry, I’m not sure if they have started Exploratory Mining or what is happening here but it started off with a few diversionary tracks (the GPS Track was useless because all the tracks had been moved during excavation) and a couple of light Creek Crossings.

Further on the tracks went everywhere and it became difficult to figure out where we were going or if we were accidentally riding in the Quarry with all the Dump Trucks and Excavators driving everywhere.   One track we followed up a sandy hill and once I got to the top I realised that they had changed the road on me and now there was a cross road with a loaded dump truck heading my way.

It was too late to stop so with hopeless optimism and the words ‘keep momentum’ ringing in my ears I tried to accelerate through, I made it to the other side then hit a soft patch of sand and the bike went down.

This was a slow one and there is nothing you can do but to step off the bike so you don’t get anything caught in it when it falls.   I waved to Kinga to stop which she promptly did only to lose balance and drop her bike also, we both had a laugh and photos were taken as the Truck driver rushed back with a worried look on his face to help us lift the bikes.

Luckily it was only a few more Kilometres of Quarry and we rode up a nice stony track to the top of a tree lined ridge.

And down the other (Steep) side to yet another beautiful Valley.

With a small Creek Crossing.

Where we ran into these guys.

Always the same question “How fast does it go?”

And where we sighted our very first Mongolian Yak.

I tried to do the David Attenborough and sneak up on this little guy nearly falling into the creek in the process due to the slippery rocks, I know he is thinking “what is this idiot doing?”

Then it was more of this.

 

One of these that needed a half hour long detour through Marsh Land where my front wheel fell into a hole. (Sorry no photo, I was busy)

And a few of these.

Then we headed up again out of the Valley.  (Arty Photo with Filter)

And it seemed back into Russia where there were trees.

And Excavators.

Which created this for us to negotiate.

Then more Trucks and dust.

To yet another spectacular Valley.

Until we arrived exhausted at the Majestic Gates of Bat-Ulzii.

Where once again one of the local shop keepers closed his shop jumped on his Motorcycle and guided us to one of the local Cafe’s for dinner.

As it had been a long day and was now getting late the priority became finding a good camp site for the night and I just couldn’t go past this tree, if it can survive like that here then we can too.

That night there was a stampede outside our tents, I didn’t dare go out and look but I guess we had camped right in the middle of the Yak and Horse Freeway and it sounded like they were running over the top of us.

The next morning they were all back for round two.

Complete with a friendly driver.

We packed up and got back on the bikes hoping that today was going to be a short and easy run through the stunning Orkhan Valley to the Ulann Tsutgalan Waterfall.   But no Mongolia had not finished with us yet we still had a few more of these to negotiate.

After a few more creek crossings, one in particular where I got stranded with my skid plate resting on the football sized rocks I stopped worrying about photos and video and just concentrated on getting the bike through without dropping it in the water.

After a few hours of ‘fun’ we finally made it.

Ulann Tsutgalan is the largest of only a few Waterfalls in Mongolia and this is only around one tenth of its usual capacity, I would love to see it covered in snow in the winter.

Unfortunately it is becoming more popular as a tourist attraction and was fenced off but we got told to ride around it, another plus for Motorcycles.   I think one day too soon this will be a fenced off, pay to get in tourist attraction with a million rules and regulations to protect it.   One good thing is they did have toilets, well drop toilets (If you haven’t used one its an experience and you need strong thighs).

After some lunch at a local Ger we were back on the ‘road’ through the Valley hoping to make Kharkhorin before dark.   This time we went on a different track, I think Kinga was annoyed with the Creek Crossings from this morning but I was the one with the wet boots.   So this track was drier but also full of sharp tyre ripping rocks and it kept disappearing, one minute it was a loosely defined track next minute you were in the centre of a river of rocks looking for where the track begins again.   It did have a Bridge though.

The track continued towards Kharkorin along the Orkhan River Valley which was absolutely spectacular it is little wonder that this area is UNESCO Heritage Listed.

As we arrived in Kharkorin the rain started and so did the circus of trying to find somewhere to sleep.   After trying a few Hotels we found a reasonably priced Ger at a Guesthouse, parked the bikes and unpacked, this one had its own Guard Dog.

The next morning it seemed the Guard Dog had grown a lot overnight….and also turned into a completely different breed.   The bad news was I was shortly going to take my bike and he would lose his shade.   The dog actually belongs to a French girl who arrived late last night.   She has two horses and the Dog and is slowly travelling around Mongolia, mostly camping and occasionally staying in Hostels.

So today I part ways with my riding companion as Kinga has decided to head straight towards the Russian Border to make up for some lost time, she has also had some bad bruising on her leg she injured in the fall back at the Ice Canyon and will go to the local hospital and get it amputated….ah I mean X rayed.   Me I have nearly two weeks to go before I can go back to Russia so I have plenty more exploring to do.

Starting right now with a visit to the Historic Ruins of the ancient city of Karakorum just down the road which served as the capital of the Mongolian Empire for a short time back in the days of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan, all that is left is the walls, so why pay to go in when you can see it from outside.

From Karkhorin I was heading north to Lake Ugii to see what that was like and hopefully camp there for a night or two.

I punched the destination into my trusty GPS and off I went west out of town and over the bridge.

Back on the Mongolian Roller Coaster.

And back into the Orkhan Valley again, where the Eagles are massive.

Ok River on my left that must mean I follow the River north through the Valley to Lake Ugii….right…..

Wrong….. as I was sitting on this rock above having a snack I checked my Maps Me App to see how far north I had travelled….only to find I had crossed the river and was heading south.   I checked the GPS to find I had mistakenly punched in the location of the waterfall instead.   Lucky I checked it now with only an hour wasted heading south…but its not really wasted when you have scenery like this.   So back to town.

Past the Guesthouse I started at and onto this boring mind numbing road.

Which didn’t last that long and before I knew it I was looking down on Lake Ugii.

With a maximum depth of 15 metres the water is not as cold as some of the deeper lakes and the Horses seem to be making the most of it.

I headed around the north side of the lake and set up camp.   It was very quiet with no one around and I thought I had found the best camp site in the world…….but the moment I finished setting up the tent out came millions of flying insects.   At first I thought they were mosquitos so I grabbed what food I could and headed for the sanctuary of the Tent.

I had read about an Insect similar to Mosquitos called Chironomidae that looked the same but did not bite, that would explain why I got to the tent before I gave away my 9 litres of blood to millions of them.

So I sat eating my dinner while Millions of these things stuck to the outside of my tent, I guess I would be eating in tonight.

As darkness came the Chironomidae went off to hell to sleep and it went quite.   Then without warning the wind picked up and got stronger and stronger to the point I was worried the tent would fly away with me in it, I have never been worried about this tent.   I could hear millions of grains of sand hitting the walls and roof of the tent then 3 of the pegs were blown out of the ground.   I spent the next 2 hours spread eagle across  the floor of the tent trying to stop it from blowing away.   At the same time fine sand was pouring in from the two small mesh vents in the ceiling and ended up everywhere, In Russia it was a Snow Storm now here in Mongolia I was being pounded by a Sand Storm.

After the storm finished I slept soundly covered in sand.   When I woke up the sun was burning through the tent and I could see my friends had come back from hell and were once again covering every inch of my tent.   I had been smart this time as when I noticed them appear yesterday I took my riding gear and helmet into the tent, so once I tipped the sand out I got dressed in my full gear and helmet and launched myself out the door into billions of swarming Chironomidae.   When I got outside I noticed I had acquired another friendly Mongolian Dog and he couldn’t care less about the swarm of bugs, no doubt he knew they didn’t bite and he thought I was just being a sook.

So I threw him a couple of Biscuits to eat and jumped on the Bike as quickly as I could and rode about 100 metres away from the Lake until I knew the bugs were not following me.   Then I put my Visor down and went back into the swarm to grab the tent which I roughly rolled up, stuck it loosely on the back of my bike and rode to safety away from the Lake.

After stopping to pack the tent and gear properly well away from the Lake it was back to work in the sand heading to Tsetserleg, but at least they had a working bridge for me here.

After around 40 kilometres of sand and gravel I was back on a highway heading to Tsetserleg for a few days off work.

I had read about the Fairfield Guesthouse in Tsetserleg in a few blogs during my prep and it sounded like a place I could spend a few days and catch up on things before heading west, and it is.   Its owned by an Australian couple who are great and have a lot of advice on where to travel around Mongolia in fact Murray jumped out of his chair and met me at reception when he heard the familiar Aussie Accent.    Its not the cheapest place in town but is still very affordable, is very clean, the internet and showers work, the Café food is excellent and they have secure parking out back for my bike, can’t ask for anymore than that.

So as usual once the bike and gear was packed away its a walking tour of the town, this reminds me a little of Townsville Queensland with a big rock next to the town centre.

The public buildings are mostly old Soviet style.

The Monastery has prime position.

And looks directly down the main street, the park and fountain could do with a bit of work though.

Urban sprawl, one day all the hills will be covered with little boxes.

So from here I head south east to Tsenger Hot Springs then north to Lake Khovsgol for a few days camping by the lake where I hope the Chironomidae don’t find me.

 

 

 

As the sun rose over the Flaming Cliffs at Bayanzag we slowly packed up and got ready for another hot day full of tough riding through the Northern Gobi region.   It was just before midday when we finally rode away from the Cliffs with a rough two day plan to reach the moderately sized town of Arvaikheer in Central Mongolia.

First stop was the small town of Bulgan around half an hour west of Bayanzag for fuel, water and some lunch. The first two were easy but then we came across a Grumpy women at a local Café who didn’t really want to cook us anything at first, I was happy as the Mince Meat they use in everything is causing me a few ‘issues’ but when more locals turned up she decided it was worth her while to fire up the frying pan.

During lunch I noticed a Hot Springs on the map around 1 Kilometre south of town so we decided to check it out and see if it was swimmable.   It looked good but was also the watering hole for every animal within a hundred kilometres so we decided to give it a miss and stay dirty for a little longer.

So it was back on the road again to see how far we could ride before setting up camp for the night.   The road started like this…..

Then not long after we entered a sandy area with small dunes that seemed to go on forever and it was now well over 30 degrees.

Once the dunes ended we then rode across a flat swampy area, luckily there wasn’t much water so it wasn’t too bad just lots of soft sand to contend with.

These Camels seemed to find a convenient underground spring to have a bath in, I’ll pass on my bath for the night….again.

Then it was back onto the Mongolian Roller Coaster for a while as the sun started to disappear over the ridges.

So we found a nice spot to camp near a Dry River Bed.

The following morning we packed up and once again started heading towards Arvaikheer. The day started off with fast tracks over large Grassy Hills and through Green Valleys.

Then some flat messy sand that had been churned up from previous heavy rainfall.

A little while later we arrived at the small town of Guchin-Us where a maze of dirt tracks and a brand new un opened Petrol Station greeted us, we also needed lunch and we were both apprehensive that it was going to be a repeat of yesterday.

We found the old Petrol Station and while filling up we started talking to a women who spoke English very well.   Turns out she has relatives in Australia and her son is studying medicine at a University in Edmonton, Canada.   Within minutes she summoned her husband who got straight on the phone trying to make sure we had somewhere to eat.   He then jumps on his Motorcycle with a girl of around 7 or 8 years old who I assume is his Grand Daughter and motions for us to follow.

As we were riding towards town the little girl with a smile from ear to ear could not stop watching us and seemed genuinely delighted that she was helping a couple of travellers find lunch.   We ride to a local Café where the owner opens up for us and starts making lunch, he also owns the general store next door so I go there for a drink and supplies.   Meanwhile the little girl had gone around the back to her school and told every kid in town that these weird looking Australians with big Motorcycles were at the Café and this was the result.

This was an experience I’ll never forget and I hope that these kids will get the chance to do what we are doing in years to come.

So after the kids all went back to school we headed back out on the road again.

Which one do I take….it doesn’t really matter they all lead to the same main road…

Where the Bitumen started…..

And less than 100 metres down the road it stopped again….

This could be my new house…..well me and 5 thousand cows.

Late in the afternoon we finally made it in to Arvaikheer where after trying to find Hostels that didn’t exist we booked into the local Hotel which was pretty good and only $11 AUD each per night, we’ll take two please.

So Arvaikheer is a moderate sized town nearly in the centre of Mongolia and they drive exactly the same as just about everyone else in Mongolia, badly.

This guy caused mayhem outside the local Bank when he ran into the back of the car in front, this went on for over two hours until the police arrived and they could move their cars.

I known where I’ll be dancing on Saturday night…..

The local Square (Yes every town has one thanks to the Russians).   I would later find out that today was Kids Day that’s why they were all out running around and not at school. Apparently this is common through areas of Eastern Europe and Asia and no one understands me when I say in Australia everyday is Kids Day, they don’t need one special day to get spoilt.

We had a rest day the following day and prepared to head further north into the UNESCO Listed Orkhon Valley in search of a mystical Waterfall.

 

With Bike maintenance complete and Visa obtained it was nearly time to head south to the Gobi,  but just as we were getting used to being the only ones at the Oasis these 3 crazy guys from Germany and Austria turned up after crossing Mongolia west to east in 5 days, and then a father and son from Switzerland who also travelled a similar route.   So what else do you do but all go out to dinner and then polish off the bottle of Vodka Kinga had been carrying since Siberia.

So with sore heads all around it was time to say good bye and leave after 8 days at the Oasis.

This is the first part of the plan, head south to the Gobi Desert and find the Yolyn Am Ice Canyon, sounds easy.

But first we had to get out of Ulaanbaatar, the worlds most congested small city.

After we were free of the traffic it was back on the open road, it was good to be moving after over a week sorting out the Bike and Visa.

Then it was time for lunch at a small roadside ‘Café’ these are pretty much sheds and Ger’s set up on the side of the road where they cook your meal in the same room and the choice is a little ‘limited’ but good stop for lunch and you get to eat with the locals.

I think this guy was keen on swapping bikes but I’m not sure the wife was interested, and yes it was a bad hair day.

So due to the new bitumen Highway they laid just for us we made it easily past the town of Mandalgovi which had its own Ferris Wheel, every town should have one.

Where we set up camp in a large hole beside the highway.

After a cold and windy night despite sleeping in a ditch we got back on the road with all the other traffic.

Before we new it we arrived at Dalanzadgad, one of the largest towns in the Gobi and guess what, they had their own Ferris Wheel, I didn’t take a photo of this one because it looked exactly like the last one, made by the same people?

So now it was off the Bitumen and through the mountains to find the Yolyn Am Ice Field, why is it called an Ice Field, in the Gobi Desert you ask?

Lets go and find out….so its back onto the Freeway…

We weaved our way through the valley to find a Parking Lot where you had to walk around 3 kilometres to see the Ice Canyon, this is why Motorcycles were invented so people didn’t have to walk.   So we decided to camp in the Valley that night because it was nothing short of spectacular, and it was nearly dark so that was an easy decision.   We found this spot out of the wind and set up.

As it was still early I decided to go for a gentle stroll and I picked the nearest hill behind camp, which turned into a bit of a mountain and took longer than I thought, but check out the view….

Looking South towards the Chinese Border.

Camp seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, whose idea was this again?

Looking North towards the Gobi.

And smaller still….

Once I got my breath back it was time to go back down, which is always easier….always.

The next morning we awoke to find we had been adopted by a heard of Cattle, you will never get lonely in Mongolia.

I had decided overnight that I came along way to see the Ice Canyon and Rain, Hail, Shine or a pitiful chain fence was not going to prevent this, after all this was Mongolia the last ‘Unfenced Wilderness’.   I will add Kinga thought this was a stupid idea and didn’t want to risk riding around the fence (she had other ways of risking injury).

So back to the car Park and after a little ‘Motorcycle Boot’ excavation I managed to fit the GS between the steps and the last post with millimetres to spare, fully loaded at well over 300 kilograms it was going to be very untidy if I had to walk back and get Kinga to help me lift it.

Getting back up was not so easy and involved a lot of throttle, spinning wheel, flying dirt and a rear wheel sized gouge up the hill but it was worth it.

So on the way down the walking track I smiled and waved as I rode past a number of bemused Hikers and ended up here.   Yes Ice in the Gobi Desert, so much for Climate Change……

So I returned from my ‘Dangerous Mission’ to find this……

Kinga had been messing around in the sand and this is what happened, once you lose balance with these bikes you just have to let them go, but unfortunately this one fell on her leg.

So after picking up her bike and cleaning a fair amount of Cow manure from it we packed up and headed back out towards Dalanzadgad for some fresh supplies for the next destination.   It started off with a few kids doing wheelies on their push bikes and ended up  a small crowd like this…..very friendly guys all with good information about the roads.

The next destination was Bayanzag or ‘The Flaming Cliffs’ around 100 kilometres or so north west of Dalanzadgad.

So back onto the Freeway again….

Sometimes at least one of the tracks you see matches the line on your GPS.

And sometime you just have to make your own.

These tracks are a mixture of corrugated hard packed gravel where you need to keep the speed up or get shaken to bits and then sneaky patches of soft sand like this one hidden behind a mound, this is why it can take all day to cover 100 to 150 Kilometres here, and yes I did help pick it up……

So after a pretty tough days ride we found those ‘Flamin Cliffs’ and with the condition of the roads getting here I expected them to actually be on fire…….

After checking out a nearby Ger Camp who wanted 45,000 Tugherik ($25 AUD) for the night we decided to rock right up to the side of the ‘Canyon’ and pitch the tents for free, try doing that in Australia.

And the view from the Balcony.

The next day the Sun was up before we were and it was going to be another hot one.

Plenty more to come from Mongolia, stay tuned.

 

Exactly a week ago I left Ulan Ude in Siberia and typically the weather was pretty average but the last two days here have been 31 degrees.   The night before I left I had spent hours trying to upload a video but the wind and thunderstorms cut the power to the hotel.   The next day the storms had gone but the wind was still strong and I could see the dark clouds rolling in again from the south west, which was where I was going.   I finally got moving at around 11 a.m. and headed for the Mongolian Border, the rain missed me but the wind did not let up the entire way and I arrived at the Russian border city of Kayakhta at around 4 p.m.   I decided to wait until the next day to cross the border and after searching for a hotel with no luck I rode east along the border fence about 20 kilometres and found a nice place out of the wind to camp.

The following day I was up and ready to tackle the border beurocracy.

It ended up going like this; 

Russian border full search everything off the bike, smiles and a stamp on the passport, around 1 hour.

Mongolian border, drive through the water, wait while the paperwork was filled out for the bike, stamp passport through, immigration full search everything off the bike, smiles, Customs office, more paperwork and another full search everything off the bike…..then smiles.    Money from the ATM and rode to the last gate where they have the insurance office, $5 AUD for a months third party Insurance, not sure if it’s any good in an accident but you have to have it.

Welcome to Mongolia.

Where the roads are worse and the drivers are…..well um…worserer……

I continued on towards  the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar where I had to pay 3 tolls to use the single lane pot holed road, but I guess if they use this to fix up the Highway then it’s all good.   (I later spoke to other travellers who didn’t have to pay so just my luck).   This local guy was my welcoming party, nice guy and spoke English very well.

The traffic in Ulaanbaatar was horrendous, the city is laid out east to west in a valley and literally has a single main road which runs straight through the centre.    The Highway from the north joins this road to the west of the city centre and the Oasis Guesthouse where I would be staying was on the east side, so not much to do but get into it…..and it was completely mad with every man women and child for themselves.  

 After over an hour to travel around 8 kilometres I arrived at the famous Oasis Guesthouse which is a popular place for overland travellers (bikes and cars) to stay and rest or do maintenance.   The toils of the day disappeared when I was shown to my own Ger compete with wood fire.

There were a few other travellers at the guesthouse so it was a good chance to get some information on the roads ahead.

On Sunday we all decided to go on a small tour, from left to right, Matty (UK) Mylo (Czech Republic) Paul (UK) Chinggis (Mongolia) Gabi and John (Aus).

With Chingiss guiding us it was a fantastic day, first stop was the Chingiss Khan statue around an hours ride east of town, its become a bit of a tourist attraction since it was built around 10 years ago but it had to be done.

Matty and Paul have driven their BMW all the way from the UK including through some very serious stuff in western Mongolia, they can get that car to go anywhere.

The boys had brought a couple of drones along on the trip so Matty sent one up to do a circle of the statue, I’ll try and include the footage in the next video, it is fantastic.

After then it was off to the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park for some lunch and some more touring.

And a visit to the local Monastry.

We then headed back towards UB on a single dirt and rock track that followed a beautiful valley and the riding and scenery was spectacular.

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Until Matty drove over a random rock and broke the fuel line on the BMW, he had it fixed in minutes (he has done this before) and we were all back on the road.   The boys have done so well getting that car through this terrain which was tricky enough for the bikes.

This was one of the best days I’ve had on this trip so far, riding with a great bunch of people and having Chingiss guide us made all the difference, thanks for a great day guys.

Over the following couple of days everyone drifted off to their next destinations, Matty, Paul and Mylo left for Russia and John and Gabi headed south east to the Chinese border for a 30 day tour of China, good luck everyone.   As everyone was leaving Kinga finally caught up with me and we will ride together through the rest of Mongolia so it was bike maintenance 101 for both of us before we set off for the Gobi desert.

So new rear tyre fitted, new chain and sprockets, new headlight globe and an oil change done I should be ready for the next stage, Kogge (hope I’ve spelt this correctly) is the mechanic who has a shop next door and he kindly let us borrow some tools we didn’t have, thanks Kogge.

My apologies I’ve just realised that I haven’t posted any photos of the Oasis Guesthouse, which has been great and if anyone comes here it is a must that you stay here.

And some photos of downtown UB.

So with the bike maintenance complete it was time for a test ride so Kinga and I followed the ride we had done on Sunday so she could see the sights.

​​So today is Friday, I’ve been in UB for a week and today I received my Transit Visa to get back through Russia, tomorrow we will head south towards the Gobi Desert then further north west through Mongolia, we have 3 weeks and I can’t wait, depending on internet I will try to post updates as I go, if not see you back in Russia.