On to Mongolia!

After Olkhon Island it was back to Irkutsk and more work on my Russian verbs with Anna my teacher. (Although when I worked out how quickly my time was passing the planned second week got shortened to two days).

 

[caption id="attachment_363" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Long suffering teacher and ling.uistically challenged pupil"][/caption]

 

During the two days in Irkutsk I also managed to track down a new front tyre for the bike as the current one would definately not pass pink slip / MOT requirements and has nil tread left to grip dirt. Not the easiest thing to find when Russian bikes don't use 21” wheels – but I got lucky, the only bike store in town had ordered one in specially at the request of as foriegn biker who had done more pre-planning than me but had then had to cancel his trip. I'll fit the tyre in Ulaan Baator (or even a bit later) as I can squeeze a few more miles out of the current one (as long as it stays dry) and I don't know when I'll next be able to get a tyre.

Here are a few parting shots of Irkutsk.

 

[caption id="attachment_364" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Flowers are for sale everywhere"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_365" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Lunchtime on a sunny day."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_366" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Kiosks are on most street corners - you make your purchase via the little window - making them perilous for non speakers because its really hard to point."][/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_368" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Yes - its even made it to Russia."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_369" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Another ornate building."][/caption]

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_370" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="No caption required!"][/caption]

From Irkutsk I planned to drive back to Ulan Ude and then down to the Mongolia the next day back around the southern shores of Lake Baikal. Irkutsk to Ulan Ude should be an easy days ride – but the combination of a late start and the fact I find it harder to achieve an average of more than 60kph on Russian roads once you allow for friendship, fuel and food stops meant I found myself slightly short of the city as dusk fell – and also with a blown headlight bulb – so it was another night camping in the forest at the side of the road.

 

Onwards the next day saw me rolling through more beautiful countrysides and slightly dodgy truck stops for food. As might be expected the food in these stops has changed as I've travelled across the country and here it is predominantly meat and noodle based – vegetables definately a rarity. The main truck stop staple is the “pozi” - a large meat (usually mutton and not prime cut) dumpling wrapped in a noodle type covering. If you don't like that you can have the same meat fried in batter or in a clear soup. Fortunately my stomach seems to be suitably hardened to all this.

[caption id="attachment_373" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Another truckstop"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_375" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Surrounding countryside - wheat fields to the horizon."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_376" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="and adjacent very typical petrol station - you prepay for petrol through the window before they'll turn the pump on."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_377" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="New Russian truck waiting for fuel - serious 6WD go anywhere beasts."][/caption]

 

There was some trepidation in approaching the border crossing – heightened by initally not being to find it. I followed the road and it came to a dead end and a very closed looking post. Turns out it had recently moved and was now down the end of the unmarked dirt road half a kilometre back.

Once found the crossing was reasonably straightforward. The exit from Russia very easy – the entry to Mongolia slightly more complicated involving multiple trips between various counters and unreadable forms. However I kept smiling and a very nice female customs officer took me under her wing and steered me through the process (this was after the third time I had visited her with the wrong piece of paper – she probably decided helping me was the only way to get rid of me). Her customs check of the bike was cursory to say the least – open one bag a quick look in the top and its all done – not like the poor minibus full of passengers next to me who are having everyone of hundreds of packages carefully examined. No photo's of the border posts I'm afraid – I didn't seem like a wise idea.

So two and half hours after arriving at the border this is what I saw. The photo doesn't do it justice but it was an absolute chaos of trucks and buses on the Mongolian side. You immediately felt a different atmosphere – there was no doubt I was now in Asia proper.

[caption id="attachment_378" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Border town - Mongolia"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_395" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Friendly local rider heading for the border chaos."][/caption]

Again Ulan Bator (the capital) should have been an easily achievable target by dusk – and again I fell short. The road hazards were just like Russia - plus a few new ones which kept speed down.

[caption id="attachment_394" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Free range camels"][/caption]

The Mongolian country side initially was very agricultural – huge wheat fields but as I moved south moved more to the herds of sheep, goat, cows, horses and camels (I didn't expect them). Also everywhere you looked you could see a ger somewhere on the horizon. Whereas the Siberians seemed to gather themselves into villages the Mongolians seem to spread themselves out thinly over the countryside.

[caption id="attachment_379" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="First view of the countryside"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_380" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="and another early view - gers dotted around"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_396" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Small towns appear infrequently on the route south."][/caption]

I was going to camp out again – but just as I started to look for somewhere I spotted a sign for a tourist camp. I thought it worth a look so followed the dirt road and eventually came to a very nice looking hotel surrounded by tourist gers. All looked very flash but I thought it was worth asking a cost – and it was; a night in a very pleasant room, dinner with beer and breakfast worked out at about $35. Also turned out I was the only guest so there were about 7 or 8 staff to look after me, insist on carrying my bags in (despite them being more than a bit grubby) and generally be very nice to me. A good fun stop.

[caption id="attachment_381" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="My hotel for the night"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_382" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Tourist gers in front of the hotel (unfortunately closed)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_383" align="aligncenter" width="355" caption="Staff members kid who adopted me."][/caption]

Mongolian money is fun – there is a lot of it in the sense there are about 1300 T to the dollar and it comes in low denomination notes and no coins so you end up with this thick wodge of cash at all times. The lowest note is worth about 2-3 cents and the highest about $12.

After the hotel I travelled on slowly to Ulaan Baator where I plan to spend a few days servicing the bike and studying maps before moving around Mongolia – I'll post some stuff about Ulaan Baator in the next day or so but as a taster here are some more general photo's of the country side and people as I approached it.

[caption id="attachment_384" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Land of the long white cloud."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_385" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Typic.al ger graziers camp"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_393" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="and their horses."][/caption]



 

[caption id="attachment_387" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Worker building the stupa's in the above photo."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_388" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Old fortifications like this are all along the highway."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_389" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Small roadside eatery - Mongolian style."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_390" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="and friendly kid (and parents) inside."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_391" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="First sight Ulaan Baator"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_392" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="and second sight not much prettier."][/caption]

More on Ulaan Baator in my next post.

PS: If you haven't noticed the "Where am I page" now includes a map of my route to date.