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TOPIC: Mongolia

Mongolia 26 Jul 2019 14:13 #30356

  • Serge C
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Riding into camp (one night)

"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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Mongolia 26 Jul 2019 15:44 #30358

  • Tim D
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That Youtube link is a dud Serge, comes up as "this video is available".
Last Edit: 26 Jul 2019 15:45 by Tim D.
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Mongolia 26 Jul 2019 18:42 #30363

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Sorry, I had it set to private!
"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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Mongolia 27 Jul 2019 14:21 #30378

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Summer Hail storm, Mongolian style!

"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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Mongolia 27 Jul 2019 17:41 #30382

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I bet your glad your there in summer :(

Does the bike in the tray mean somebody beat you to a dry warm seat?
It's just more time to be flat out!
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Mongolia 04 Aug 2019 11:12 #30437

  • Serge C
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15 days in 15 minutes!

"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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Mongolia 04 Aug 2019 11:58 #30438

  • Serge C
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Back in 2015, when Onion and I were heading to Iceland, we were waiting in Hong Kong for our connecting flight and noticed a sign announcing a flight to Ulaan Baatar.  "Who would ever go there?" we thought!  

Here we are, 4 years later...and it's us!



We considered this destination a while ago and (along with Bruce), found the Himalayan Heroes at the Motorcycle Expo. We had a chat and grabbed a brochure and got to thinking.  It didn't take long to decide to pay a deposit and get it happening.  The tour advertised 10 days riding on either KTMs or Royal Enfield Himalayans.  We chose the Enfields, figuring the tour would probably be pretty cruisy, but not long before we departed, we were advised that the Enfields and KTMs were no longer an option and we would now be riding either (new) XR400s of XT250s.  We were initially a bit p'd off about this, but as it turns out, they were a much better choice for the tour.

So, we had our final beer in Australia and boarded our Cathay Pacific flight for the long haul to Hong Kong.



We had a 5 hour lay-over in Honkers before the 4 hour MIAT flight into UB.



Upon arrival, we were met by our man and he transferred us to our UB hotel (The Whitehouse).  It wasn't a particularly nice hotel, but it gave us somewhere to lay our heads.  We had a quick shower and freshen up and went in search of beer, finding one of (apparently) 42 Irish Pubs that adorn the capital of Mongolia!  We settled into our first pint on the local brew, when the other three guys from our tour walked in.  Introductions were made, abuse was hurled and within minutes, we were the best of mates.  Onion, Bruce and I stayed there for dinner while the other guys went in search of a night club.  The three of us watched a bit of wrestling that was happening as part of the Nadaan Festival (Mongolian equivalent of the Olympics), before calling it a night and heading off to bed.  I was sharing a room with one of the other guys and he came in around midnight.  There was a fair bit of noise happening down in the street below, but I slept pretty well anyway.
"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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Mongolia 04 Aug 2019 12:18 #30439

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We woke to our first full day in Ulaan Baatar and headed to the restaurant for breakfast.  Our waitress handed out some menus and diligently listened to our various choices of fare.  When she returned, she distributed plated of food that none of us had ordered!  All the meals were the same, but not what we asked for.  We pointed at coffee, she gave us tea.  We pointed at toast, she gave us bread.  We pointed at orange juice, she gave us apple and so on.  We acknowledged a losing battle, so just ate what we were given.  This was the breakfast pattern for the next 3 mornings!

After breakky, we headed into town for a look-see.  As the Naadan Festival was still happening, it was relatively quiet in the city centre and walking around was pretty relaxed.













The City Square was clean and well maintained, but for a country that spends most of its year under ice and snow, there were some shabby looking places around.   The Monguls seem to erect a lot of monuments, but once they're up, there's not much maintenance going on.  Still, it was good to get out and get the lay of the land.











It was very warm as we were walking around, so we headed for the air conditioned comfort of the Blu Sky Hotel and had a coffee whilst cooling down and freeloading on their WiFi.  After a while, we headed back to our hotel for a freshen up, before being taken to a local BBQ restaurant for a welcome lunch.  Most of the food on offer was fine, but I wasn't interested in the horse meat, sheep tail fat or the delicacy of the cooked sheep's head!



After lunch (and a few beers), it was back to the hotel for a little nanna-nap, before meeting up with the other guys and heading out to another Irish Pub for dinner.







Another relatively early night before the tour starts in earnest tomorrow!
"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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Mongolia 05 Aug 2019 07:26 #30447

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Great report and pic's Serge.
Al
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Mongolia 05 Aug 2019 22:33 #30456

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We woke this morning to another warm and sunny day.  We were told to be outside reception by 8:30, so there wasn't a lot of time to get sorted.  We played Russian Roulette with breakfast again.  this time I received some eggs I didn't want, 2 sausages and a trumpet!  

We collected our bags and lugged them downstairs and got a first look at our bikes.  we were not particularly impressed!  we had been told that they were all only ONE ride old.  Clearly, this was not the case.  They didn't look shagged, but I reckon a good wash and some fresh tyres would have gone a long way to boosting our moral!





Anywho, we jumped into the transport vehicles and headed out of town.  Our first stop was at a village we had donated money to, to help establish gardens and homes for these folk to become more self sufficient.  We needed an 'official' to show us through the compound, and as it was still a 'holiday' time (these guys have more public holidays than we do!) there was no one available, so we took a couple of pics and continued on.



Our next stop was at a supermarket, where we were invited to buy supplies of chips, nuts and other nibbly things to get us through the next couple of days.  Onion found some appropriate snacks!



With shopping in hand, we headed to a 'truck stop' and had lunch at the restaurant there, while the crew un-loaded the bikes and got them ready.  by the time we'd finished eating, it had warmed up to the high 20s and no one felt like climbing into riding gear...but we did.  We selected our weapon of choice (and adorned them appropriately) and prepared to head off.





Mindae (or ride leader), took us out pretty sedately, allowing us time to get used to the bikes and riding on the right (wrong) side of the road.  The tarmac her was pretty good, so we settled in quickly and were soon exceeding the speed limit as we mooched along.  This ride was only going to be around 200ks before we got into our camp, so we thought that given we were on bitumen, we'd get there quickly.  Wrong!  After only a short while, the road surface turned to a pot-hole infested nightmare, with some craters big enough to swallow a Volkswagen!  We swerved all over the place, trying to get a clean run, dodging on-coming traffic that was doing the same thing.  It was harrowing, but we eventually got back onto some clean road for our final run into the camp at Elsen Tasarkhai, on the edge of the Little Gobi desert.





This camp was to give us our first experience of sleeping in a gir (which is basically Mongolian for home).  the tents are very sturdy and waterproof and although being basic, very comfortable.





There were camels and horses available to ride (if we wanted), but no one was interested.



The run into camp gave everyone the opportunity to play in the sand.  Most did, but I hate sand, so I didn't spend much time in it.  just enough to remind me that I hated sand!

We settled into a few beers before dinner and then ate.  A sheep had been freshly butchered behind the shower block and then cooked up for some other travelers.  They invited us to join them for a taste, so we did.  then we drank vodka together.  Then we stopped cos it was starting to get ugly!  we decided to go for a walk up the sand dunes to watch the sun go down.  it was very pleasant.











So, first day on the bikes went without a hitch and we settled into our girs for a relaxing night, to the sound of wild horses snorting outside.
"That's what I do, I drink and I know things!" - Tyrion Lannister
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