Sophie
Latitude:48.03518
Longitude:100.40946
GPS location Date/Time:08/15/2014 21:57:34 PDT

Message:Random place of interest along my route….

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Sophie

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Ready for Adventure
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We stopped for lunch at our first real Mongolian establishment. We’d been warned about no fresh food, language difficulties and a reluctance on the part of restauranteurs to serve non-locals. All of this was obviously just scaremongery, as we managed to order and get served no problem.

The facilities were basic, a stark room resembling someone’s lounge with an extra table and chairs in. However, the food was excellent!

The lady who served us (and did the cooking) was lovely. Even though we didn’t share a word between us, it was a good atmosphere. I managed to get the details of the trip across, which she relayed to her kids. She asked if she could write on my tank when she saw the other writing. Why not? I handed her the pen and she set straight to it.

I’m not sure what she’s written, but she did it with a smile!

The problem with Mongolia is the scenery. It’s just stunning, which is a problem. Get up and walk to your bike and you’re thinking “WOW – Take a picture!”.

Ride for half a mile and you’re thinking ” WOW – Take a picture! “. Come round a bend and you see the most amazing post card scene, so you’re thinking ” WOW – Take a picture! “.

And so on. It’s the same every time I come over a hill, the next scene gets even better, so I’m thinking ” WOW – Take a picture! “.

The sense of space is phenomenal. Thousands upon thousands of square miles of open steppe, nothing to break the view save the odd ger. Mountains rising in the distance.

Breathtaking.

After consultation with the incoming riders, we’ve decided to take the central route across Mongolia. From Ulan Bator that takes is across to Tsetserleg, then over to Olgi prior to exiting into Russia on the road to Novosibirsk.

The road to Tsetserleg is all tarmac, with the odd section of roadworks where it’s all dirt. After that it’s tracks and sand until we’re close to the border. When we hit the sand the tyre pressures will come down and we’ll have to take it easy – but with any luck we should be OK.

Luckily we can wild camp just about anywhere, it’s almost expected. It’s been great to have a few days off, but the serious stuff is about you start!

This morning Ron and Dean left before I thought to take a picture. An Ozzie and a Londoner off to Vladivostok. Take care guys.

Beth left shortly afterwards with Shalom, heading for the large Buddhist monastery in the north. All the guys all wanted her picture, the poor girl was quite embarrassed!

Shalom’s speedo cable broke a while ago, which means it’s stopped recording the mileage too. Take a close look at exactly when that cable broke. What are the chances eh??

Wild and domesticated camels abound. These are bactrian camels, which is great as I’ve only seen dromedaries up to now. (It was starting to give me the hump!). I’d always thought that bactrians would make a better mount, as the shape of the humps makes them look comfier. I’ve had the opportunity to try both now, but I declined on both occasions. I prefer mechanical rather than organic steeds.

Horses are the other main form of transport here. It’s very common to see people on horses herding their flocks, even in the middle of the city. Cows roam freely and with unfenced roads is pretty much a free for all. In fact the roads so far are pretty much anarchy. No respect for others, just an “I must pass you” mentality.

Outside of the city I’m sure it’ll be much better. Or rather I HOPE it’ll be much better!!

OK, it’s not actually midnight here, but it’s midnight somewhere on the planet! Besides which, the photo I took at midnight doesn’t look so good – being a bit dark and all.

I was up early this morning and the sight of all the adventure bikes next to the gers was too good not to capture. Each one tells is own story, with certain modifications made by the owner to overcome this or that problem. Scuffs, scrapes and broken components from this or that crash etc.. Not worth a great deal in financial terms due to the high mileage and condition, but priceless sentimental value to their owners. Maybe.

Most of the riders are heading off today, north into Russia and then east towards Vladivostok. We’ll stay another day to explore the city and get Mongolian SIM cards. After a great night swapping stories last night, it’ll be a lot quieter when they’ve all gone. I’ll see them away later.

I’m still surprised at how many people are out there doing this. Brilliant!

After a great night’s sleep in one if the comfiest beds so far, Mongolia pulled a sunny day out for us. The food at oasis is great, so after breakfast we set off to see what Ulan Bator has to offer. The other bikers had told us of an amazing bazaar that was all things automotive. I wanted to find a new switch and some oil to do an oil change.

I set off waking with Ozzie Ron, Shalom from Israel, Beth from the USA, Chip and Ken. We left London Dean changing his rear tyre, and London Jamie doing who knows what. All these guys are bikers heading East, so we’ve been swapping notes on our respective journeys so far.

The bazaar was closed, but I found a shop selling oil. I also found an ATM, which once we’d raided gave us enough money to be millionaires! I’ve actually held a million in notes, how’s that for a life experience?

I was looking to change my oil but had nowhere to dump the used oil. Someone suggested the garage next door, but I didn’t want anyone else doing the spanner work. I already had oil, so I doubted they’d be willing to assist. As it turns out the guys were great. They were happy to have us there and only charged for disposing the old oil. (A very small price).

In the end there were four bikes getting attention. I did my oil and filter and fitted my switch elsewhere, so I’m good to go. Kent from the US joined us at the garage for a new rest tyre. Awesome!

At UB, Chip and Ken had lined up a place to stay from the horizons unlimited website. The Oasis is a traveller friendly hostel, with everything you need (including WiFi!). I’ll stay for a couple of days as it looks like there’s a lot to see in UB.

Tonight we’re staying in a ger, which is actually very comfortable. It’s interesting to see how they’re constructed, very clever with inter-changeable parts. Stable but transportable, with a wood burning stove in the centre.

There’s about half a dozen other touring bikes here, so with any luck we’ll be able to find out which is the best for crossing Mongolia. The northern, central or southern route. Taking to the guys it sounds like they’re all doable, but the only way to know for sure is to pick one and go. Hmm.