World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Mongolia
27° | sunny | km 1294
Where to?
on 2016-07-27 in Mongolia
A couple of days before we crossed to Mongolia we heard some stories from different people that a couple of travelers got robbed on the way from the border to Ugli. They all agreed that you should not stop for anybody. We have heard stories like this before on several occasions and since they had never been true we did not worry too much about it.
There were also some stories that crossing the border would take a very long time. This story quickly turned out to be very true. After we had waited for quite some time at the Russian border we had the same thing happen on the Mongolian side. The Mongolian officials actually possessed the audacity to use Facebook and stuff right in front of you. Overall it took us more than six hours until we finally set foot into Mongolia legally. Luckily it turned out to be worth every minute of it.
Ahead of us was the famous fast stretching vastness of Mongolia. The road stretched to the horizon surrounded by some Mountains in the distance. We rode along the perfect tarmac road and just enjoyed the beauty of the countryside. Because of the stories we had heard we passed some biker and a couple of cars with flat tires or something just because we did not want to get robbed or something. Until Ugli we did not stop and just kept going even when the road turned into gravel we just kept on riding. We did not get into any troubles and after Ugli we quickly started enjoying the solitude and the silence in the countryside.
We stayed on the southern route towards Bajanchongor because we planned to go into the Gobi from there on out. We started out on a good tarmac road, but after a while it just turned into a number of gravel roads that split up from time to time. Most of them go into the same direction but every once in a while you find yourself slowly riding further and further away from the main roads. In the end you just have to get of the road and go straight back to the others because you never know where you will end up otherwise. We were very glad that all of us had navigators and so we usually had the same routes logged in. We met some Belgium guys back at the border and they had helped us out with some small dollar bills that we had to pay to get across the border. We kept meeting them along the way because they were doing the Mongol Rally and they had taken the same route towards Ulaanbaatar. When we met them for the third time we finally were able to pay them back by lending them our air pump since they had run a flat tire. We lent them the pump a couple more times sadly we did not see them after a couple of days but we are sure they have made it safely to Ulaanbaatar.
Just a day later we found ourselves at a big river that crossed our path to Bayankhongor. Just when we arrived at the place we were able to witness a car being towed across the river. We saw that the car at one point started to float and it was being pushed to the side by the current of the river. We knew right away that we had a big challenge ahead. The locals of course had made a business of dragging people across and they had 4 Tractors and a trailer ready to get any and everyone across that was able to afford it. We were in doubt that it would be safe to cross on the trailer and also a bit to cheap to pay the 10$ per person. So we decided to try it on our own.
To make a long story short: with a couple of bent spokes on the BMW, over an hour later and a lot more tired we returned back to the village, got back to the trailer and payed up. It was the right decision afterwards but once again you are always smarter in the end.
There were also some stories that crossing the border would take a very long time. This story quickly turned out to be very true. After we had waited for quite some time at the Russian border we had the same thing happen on the Mongolian side. The Mongolian officials actually possessed the audacity to use Facebook and stuff right in front of you. Overall it took us more than six hours until we finally set foot into Mongolia legally. Luckily it turned out to be worth every minute of it.
Ahead of us was the famous fast stretching vastness of Mongolia. The road stretched to the horizon surrounded by some Mountains in the distance. We rode along the perfect tarmac road and just enjoyed the beauty of the countryside. Because of the stories we had heard we passed some biker and a couple of cars with flat tires or something just because we did not want to get robbed or something. Until Ugli we did not stop and just kept going even when the road turned into gravel we just kept on riding. We did not get into any troubles and after Ugli we quickly started enjoying the solitude and the silence in the countryside.
We stayed on the southern route towards Bajanchongor because we planned to go into the Gobi from there on out. We started out on a good tarmac road, but after a while it just turned into a number of gravel roads that split up from time to time. Most of them go into the same direction but every once in a while you find yourself slowly riding further and further away from the main roads. In the end you just have to get of the road and go straight back to the others because you never know where you will end up otherwise. We were very glad that all of us had navigators and so we usually had the same routes logged in. We met some Belgium guys back at the border and they had helped us out with some small dollar bills that we had to pay to get across the border. We kept meeting them along the way because they were doing the Mongol Rally and they had taken the same route towards Ulaanbaatar. When we met them for the third time we finally were able to pay them back by lending them our air pump since they had run a flat tire. We lent them the pump a couple more times sadly we did not see them after a couple of days but we are sure they have made it safely to Ulaanbaatar.
Just a day later we found ourselves at a big river that crossed our path to Bayankhongor. Just when we arrived at the place we were able to witness a car being towed across the river. We saw that the car at one point started to float and it was being pushed to the side by the current of the river. We knew right away that we had a big challenge ahead. The locals of course had made a business of dragging people across and they had 4 Tractors and a trailer ready to get any and everyone across that was able to afford it. We were in doubt that it would be safe to cross on the trailer and also a bit to cheap to pay the 10$ per person. So we decided to try it on our own.
To make a long story short: with a couple of bent spokes on the BMW, over an hour later and a lot more tired we returned back to the village, got back to the trailer and payed up. It was the right decision afterwards but once again you are always smarter in the end.
32° | sunny | km 733
Happy Birthday!
on 2016-08-01 in Mongolia
The day before Denis’ birthday we were heading down towards the Gobi. The road was challenging but we felt good and we were making some good kilometers. Up until Denis noticed some knocking sounds on his rear wheel again. We checked it out and soon we had to find out that his rear bearing had given up again! At the time we were in the middle of nowhere. So we had to make a decision. We all agreed we had to get back to Bayankonghor but the question was how. We decided to go to the nearby town called Jinst, but instead of going along the main road which was about 60 kilometers we decided to use the compass and go straight for 30 kilometers towards the city. It was amazing we rode across the steppes the entire time with no obstacles and just kept the direction of the compass. We bought some beers at the local supermarket and decided to sleep in the tent and celebrate Denis’ birthday that night.
The rest of this entry is written by Denis because we sadly had to split up the next day.
We celebrated my birthday midnight in the middle of nowhere with a small beer. Fabis beer had gotten a puncture in his left pannier and ruined all his cloths. We went into the tents and in the beds around 00:15. Since i knew my back bearing was broken I was already a bit worried about the next day. I decided that I wanted to try to get to Bayankonghor and hitch a ride from there to Ulanbaatar. It was properly the cheaper bearings that I had to put in in Russia.
The next day after packing up my only wish was to be able to make it back the 90 kilometers to Bajanchongor. Just a minute after we got going I heard some loud noises from the back of my bike… I stopped immediately just to find out that the bearing had disintegrated and one of the bearings balls had penetrated my rear wheel hub. As everyone can imagine my mood was at an all time low. After a short review Fabi decided to go to the nearby village to try and get a lorry for my bike.
After some time waiting I saw a big cloud of dust on the horizon. It was Fabi! Behind him was a small pickup truck. After a short time we had the bike on the flatbed and it was mounted tightly with 6 straps. I jumped into the car and took off with the entire family of the driver. Bajanchongor was 90 kilometers north and the driver managed to get there without a navigation system. The entire drive I was wondering how he knew what roads to take. But he knew the roads so well that he actually managed to get to the city 5 minutes before Fabi and Basti. We had agreed to meet back at the hotel that we were staying two nights before. One of the girls that worked at the hotel came out and watched us as we got the bike back down from the lorry. She asked us if she could help us in any way and after we had told her about our misery she quickly began calling some friends. After just a couple of minutes she had organized a truck that was heading for Ulaanbaatar this night! It would leave at 8 o’clock pm and it would take me and my bike straight to UB.
The truck driver rode through the night and I arrived in UB the next day without getting any sleep. Instead I got to try some typical Mongolian horse milk. But they were really nice to me and they made sure that everything was all right. They even checked back up on me the next day to make sure that my friends had arrived and that everything was set.
We rode around UB for about 3 hours at 40°C, since they had to unload a lot of stuff before we were able to get to my Africa Twin. Since the morning of my birthday I had been up for 28 hours and I was incredibly relieved to have made it to the Oasis Guesthouse in UB. At first I enjoyed a typical European dish - Wiener Schnitzel with french fries :).
The rest of this entry is written by Denis because we sadly had to split up the next day.
We celebrated my birthday midnight in the middle of nowhere with a small beer. Fabis beer had gotten a puncture in his left pannier and ruined all his cloths. We went into the tents and in the beds around 00:15. Since i knew my back bearing was broken I was already a bit worried about the next day. I decided that I wanted to try to get to Bayankonghor and hitch a ride from there to Ulanbaatar. It was properly the cheaper bearings that I had to put in in Russia.
The next day after packing up my only wish was to be able to make it back the 90 kilometers to Bajanchongor. Just a minute after we got going I heard some loud noises from the back of my bike… I stopped immediately just to find out that the bearing had disintegrated and one of the bearings balls had penetrated my rear wheel hub. As everyone can imagine my mood was at an all time low. After a short review Fabi decided to go to the nearby village to try and get a lorry for my bike.
After some time waiting I saw a big cloud of dust on the horizon. It was Fabi! Behind him was a small pickup truck. After a short time we had the bike on the flatbed and it was mounted tightly with 6 straps. I jumped into the car and took off with the entire family of the driver. Bajanchongor was 90 kilometers north and the driver managed to get there without a navigation system. The entire drive I was wondering how he knew what roads to take. But he knew the roads so well that he actually managed to get to the city 5 minutes before Fabi and Basti. We had agreed to meet back at the hotel that we were staying two nights before. One of the girls that worked at the hotel came out and watched us as we got the bike back down from the lorry. She asked us if she could help us in any way and after we had told her about our misery she quickly began calling some friends. After just a couple of minutes she had organized a truck that was heading for Ulaanbaatar this night! It would leave at 8 o’clock pm and it would take me and my bike straight to UB.
The truck driver rode through the night and I arrived in UB the next day without getting any sleep. Instead I got to try some typical Mongolian horse milk. But they were really nice to me and they made sure that everything was all right. They even checked back up on me the next day to make sure that my friends had arrived and that everything was set.
We rode around UB for about 3 hours at 40°C, since they had to unload a lot of stuff before we were able to get to my Africa Twin. Since the morning of my birthday I had been up for 28 hours and I was incredibly relieved to have made it to the Oasis Guesthouse in UB. At first I enjoyed a typical European dish - Wiener Schnitzel with french fries :).
31° | sunny | km 97
Big Crash
on 2016-08-03 in Mongolia
Since our journey to Ulaanbaatar had been quite nerve racking and we were glad to have gotten to the Oasis safely we decided to relax and enjoy the company of the other overlanders for a bit. One night we decided to go out with a nice Spanish guy and two guys from Italy. Because of some lucky coincidences the night lasted much longer than we had anticipated. At dinner we met Zola - a Mongolian woman - and her American business partner. Since the restaurant closed quite early we decided to head to the Blue Sky Lounge in one of the skyscrapers of UB.
There we got to know a small group of people from the Netherlands which joined our group for the next stop - a small club nearby. Zola and the American wanted to leave after the bar because they had plans for the morning but they decided to join us for one more drink in the club. The music was good and everyone was having a lot of fun. So naturally when the lights went on in the club none of us were ready to go home yet. Zola and her business partner had stayed for the entire time and it was her idea to go on for karaoke. We all had enough to drink that we agreed that it would be a good idea. Thanks to our Mongolian city guide we found the last open karaoke place and settled in. We sang songs from Whitney Houston, Freddy Mercury and many more. The neighbors must have been very glad when we were finally told to leave. We all took a cab back home and ate breakfast at the Oasis just before we went to bed.
What made the night even more special was that our group consisted of six different nationalities that found one another in Mongolia and we all decided to spent a very fun night together!
Two days later we met up with Zola once more. She had agreed to show us around the traditional Danshig Naadam festival, which is a smaller version of the well known Naadam festival. It lasts for 3 days and consists of three main events each day. (Horse racing, Mongolian Wrestling and Archery). Our American friend Gail had arrived at the Oasis the day before and he decided to join us for the day. After we walked across the festival, tried out some games and watched the wrestlers for a while we decided to get back to the Oasis.
We dropped Zola off after a while since she had made plans to go to the spa. Gail said his goodbyes at one of the traffic lights and told us we would meet back at the Oasis. Just a couple of minutes later we had dropped Zola off and the three of us where also on our way back. But we had to stop again after just a kilometer or two. A car driver had overlooked Gail and turned right into him. Gail had no chance to evade the accident and after we stopped he immediately tried to tell us what had happened. He was struggling to breath and having a hard time talking so we knew right away that there was something wrong with him. A very nice Mongolian lady had already called the ambulance and so it got there very soon. The ambulance - a Lada - took Gail to the next Hospital, Denis joined them to make sure everything is ok. Fabi and Basti stayed with the bike to make sure that his GSA would be taken good care of. The entire story is incredibly long and a lot of stuff happened so quickly, but to summarize: Gail had 4 broken ribs and a punctured partially collapsed lung.
We spent the next days taking care of Gail and his motorcycle. Especially trying to get all the information from the authorities and to find out what actions we had to take turned out to be quite the challenge. In the end the Mongolian police handled everything very professional and Gail was acquitted of any wrong doing.
After we got most of the questions sorted out and we could not be of any more use to Gail we prepared for our second attempt into the Gobi desert.
There we got to know a small group of people from the Netherlands which joined our group for the next stop - a small club nearby. Zola and the American wanted to leave after the bar because they had plans for the morning but they decided to join us for one more drink in the club. The music was good and everyone was having a lot of fun. So naturally when the lights went on in the club none of us were ready to go home yet. Zola and her business partner had stayed for the entire time and it was her idea to go on for karaoke. We all had enough to drink that we agreed that it would be a good idea. Thanks to our Mongolian city guide we found the last open karaoke place and settled in. We sang songs from Whitney Houston, Freddy Mercury and many more. The neighbors must have been very glad when we were finally told to leave. We all took a cab back home and ate breakfast at the Oasis just before we went to bed.
What made the night even more special was that our group consisted of six different nationalities that found one another in Mongolia and we all decided to spent a very fun night together!
Two days later we met up with Zola once more. She had agreed to show us around the traditional Danshig Naadam festival, which is a smaller version of the well known Naadam festival. It lasts for 3 days and consists of three main events each day. (Horse racing, Mongolian Wrestling and Archery). Our American friend Gail had arrived at the Oasis the day before and he decided to join us for the day. After we walked across the festival, tried out some games and watched the wrestlers for a while we decided to get back to the Oasis.
We dropped Zola off after a while since she had made plans to go to the spa. Gail said his goodbyes at one of the traffic lights and told us we would meet back at the Oasis. Just a couple of minutes later we had dropped Zola off and the three of us where also on our way back. But we had to stop again after just a kilometer or two. A car driver had overlooked Gail and turned right into him. Gail had no chance to evade the accident and after we stopped he immediately tried to tell us what had happened. He was struggling to breath and having a hard time talking so we knew right away that there was something wrong with him. A very nice Mongolian lady had already called the ambulance and so it got there very soon. The ambulance - a Lada - took Gail to the next Hospital, Denis joined them to make sure everything is ok. Fabi and Basti stayed with the bike to make sure that his GSA would be taken good care of. The entire story is incredibly long and a lot of stuff happened so quickly, but to summarize: Gail had 4 broken ribs and a punctured partially collapsed lung.
We spent the next days taking care of Gail and his motorcycle. Especially trying to get all the information from the authorities and to find out what actions we had to take turned out to be quite the challenge. In the end the Mongolian police handled everything very professional and Gail was acquitted of any wrong doing.
After we got most of the questions sorted out and we could not be of any more use to Gail we prepared for our second attempt into the Gobi desert.
29° | sunny | km 1584
Last minute flight to Gobi
on 2016-08-10 in Mongolia
After all the troubles with the Mongolian authorities and medical staff, it was finally time for Fabis Girlfriend, Steffi, to visit us in UB. Her flight was punctual and after we had spent the morning applying for the Chinese visa we managed to pick her up just in time. As expected we did not see much of Fabi and Steffi for the first two days but after that we all joined forces to give Gobi and our bikes a second chance. We had left some of our luggage back in UB to make sure we could enjoy our time in the desert a bit more. We were all expecting some heavy offroading with occasionally deep sand. As it would turn out we did not get disappointed.
The road to Dalandsadgad was paved all the way and we managed to complete the 650 kilometers within one day. The biggest issue were major headwinds from UB on out. Which is why we used a lot of fuel and Denis and Basti were actually pretty close to run out right before Dalandsadgad. In the end we managed to find a nice camp spot a couple of kilometers behind the city and were glad to watch the beautiful sunset together.
The next morning we decided to ride to Bayandalai, grab some food and drinks for the evening and try to fill up our bikes and spare tanks for the road ahead. Sadly the only gas station had closed and so we had to continue on without refilling the bikes. Since we were easily good for 300 kilometers or so we did not feel to uncomfortable soldiering on. We decided to ride north-west into the Gobi because we had heard that there would be some nice dunes and a beautiful countryside. On our way there we accidentally went into different direction and so Basti and Denis took the north route around a small dried out lake and Fabi and Steffi went south of that same lake. As it later turned out the southern route was terrible full of heavy washboards and deep sand. This is why Denis and Basti waited for quite some time until we all met back up close to where we had planned to spend the night. Basti meanwhile had gotten a rather severe sunstroke and was trying his best not to collapse in the sun. We quickly searched for a nearby yurt to have him take shelter and get some rest in.
The scenery at our campsite was great. We had the dunes right in front of us and it was impossible to stop Denis from trying to ride them up. So we threw the remain luggage into our yurts left Basti behind and went into the sand… we quickly had to find out that it would not be as easy as we had hoped for. Just before the dunes was a small swampy area which we managed to cross after some time but right after that we got very quickly stuck in the sand. We even tried letting some air out of our tires but it was no use in the end. We walked up the dunes for a while and spent the remainder of the day trying to get our bikes back out of the sand. It was a bit disappointing but it will certainly not be the last time that we will try.
That night we got served a fresh goat on the camp site. Denis was even offered to kill the goat which he eagerly declined - but it tasted great with some rice so we went to bed well fed and prepared for the next day. After going back to the same spot of desert with Basti and climbing up the dune all the way we took some nice pictures and headed towards Sevrei to refill the bikes and head back to Dalandsadgad. What we did not know at that time was that the road would be taking us right through the desert which meant for a stretch of 3 kilometers we had to struggle through deep sand once more. We tried using tracks made by other cars, going in with speed riding on the etches of the gravel/sand, Steffi had to walk most of the way... It took a lot of time and sweat to get through but once more we succeeded.
The rest of the road was easy to normal offroad right up until just 5 kilometers before Bayandalai where we suddenly hit deep sand again. It was late and we all just wanted to get through, Basti probably struggled the most due to exhaustion. Fabi did not want Steffi to walk all the way again so he kept her on his back. We all made it through but in the end we were really glad to get back on the paved road and out of the difficult sand.
The next day we rode the 650 kilometers back to UB and visited Gail to make sure he was doing all right. After we found out that the doctors had drained the blood from his lungs and things were looking up, we all went back to the hotel to spend the night in peace. Just before we settled into our beds Basti noticed two guys having a very close look at our bikes. We are pretty used to this and were not to stressed about it at first. Right up until they started looking through the bags on the Africa Twins handlebars. Right in front of our eyes they had the audacity to rummage through our stuff. At one point they looked up and as soon as they saw that Basti and Denis were getting ready to go there they ran off. But they had already taken Bastis sunglasses and some pocket knives he had in his bag. Luckily nothing else was missing so we parked the bikes right in front of the hotel and went back to bed.
The road to Dalandsadgad was paved all the way and we managed to complete the 650 kilometers within one day. The biggest issue were major headwinds from UB on out. Which is why we used a lot of fuel and Denis and Basti were actually pretty close to run out right before Dalandsadgad. In the end we managed to find a nice camp spot a couple of kilometers behind the city and were glad to watch the beautiful sunset together.
The next morning we decided to ride to Bayandalai, grab some food and drinks for the evening and try to fill up our bikes and spare tanks for the road ahead. Sadly the only gas station had closed and so we had to continue on without refilling the bikes. Since we were easily good for 300 kilometers or so we did not feel to uncomfortable soldiering on. We decided to ride north-west into the Gobi because we had heard that there would be some nice dunes and a beautiful countryside. On our way there we accidentally went into different direction and so Basti and Denis took the north route around a small dried out lake and Fabi and Steffi went south of that same lake. As it later turned out the southern route was terrible full of heavy washboards and deep sand. This is why Denis and Basti waited for quite some time until we all met back up close to where we had planned to spend the night. Basti meanwhile had gotten a rather severe sunstroke and was trying his best not to collapse in the sun. We quickly searched for a nearby yurt to have him take shelter and get some rest in.
The scenery at our campsite was great. We had the dunes right in front of us and it was impossible to stop Denis from trying to ride them up. So we threw the remain luggage into our yurts left Basti behind and went into the sand… we quickly had to find out that it would not be as easy as we had hoped for. Just before the dunes was a small swampy area which we managed to cross after some time but right after that we got very quickly stuck in the sand. We even tried letting some air out of our tires but it was no use in the end. We walked up the dunes for a while and spent the remainder of the day trying to get our bikes back out of the sand. It was a bit disappointing but it will certainly not be the last time that we will try.
That night we got served a fresh goat on the camp site. Denis was even offered to kill the goat which he eagerly declined - but it tasted great with some rice so we went to bed well fed and prepared for the next day. After going back to the same spot of desert with Basti and climbing up the dune all the way we took some nice pictures and headed towards Sevrei to refill the bikes and head back to Dalandsadgad. What we did not know at that time was that the road would be taking us right through the desert which meant for a stretch of 3 kilometers we had to struggle through deep sand once more. We tried using tracks made by other cars, going in with speed riding on the etches of the gravel/sand, Steffi had to walk most of the way... It took a lot of time and sweat to get through but once more we succeeded.
The rest of the road was easy to normal offroad right up until just 5 kilometers before Bayandalai where we suddenly hit deep sand again. It was late and we all just wanted to get through, Basti probably struggled the most due to exhaustion. Fabi did not want Steffi to walk all the way again so he kept her on his back. We all made it through but in the end we were really glad to get back on the paved road and out of the difficult sand.
The next day we rode the 650 kilometers back to UB and visited Gail to make sure he was doing all right. After we found out that the doctors had drained the blood from his lungs and things were looking up, we all went back to the hotel to spend the night in peace. Just before we settled into our beds Basti noticed two guys having a very close look at our bikes. We are pretty used to this and were not to stressed about it at first. Right up until they started looking through the bags on the Africa Twins handlebars. Right in front of our eyes they had the audacity to rummage through our stuff. At one point they looked up and as soon as they saw that Basti and Denis were getting ready to go there they ran off. But they had already taken Bastis sunglasses and some pocket knives he had in his bag. Luckily nothing else was missing so we parked the bikes right in front of the hotel and went back to bed.
21° | sunny / cloudy | km 425
The Blue Lake - a mirror into a beautiful Mongolia
on 2016-08-14 in Mongolia
We had decided to give the infamous Blue Lake (Khar zurkhnii Khukh nuur) a visit. Zoola had told us about its beauty back when we were in UB the first time and since we had some more time on our hands we thought we would rather spend them at the lake than back in UB.
It is about 280 kilometers east of Ulaanbaatar and the road is mostly well paved. Just the last 30 kilometers are offroad but very easy to manage with any vehicle. After we had payed some warden the “entrance” fee we road along the lake looking for a proper spot to set up our campsite. The countryside was the complete opposite to the Gobi, very green with trees and juicy grass. We found the perfect place just meters away from the lake. We set everything up and enjoyed the evening in front of a fire with some barbecue. Before the sun had set the surface of the lake became crystal clear. Without any waves the water became a mirror of the surrounding countryside and it was incredible to look at.
The lake had been the starting place of the Khans lineage and it was here that Genghis Khan was pronounced the first Great Khan. It is an spectacular place to be at and you get a feeling of what it must have been like back in the days of the Khans.
We stayed at the lake for two nights enjoying the lake the weather and just the time off from everything else. We played around with our cameras trying to capture the mythical sensation of the place. The pictures were still not doing it justice even though they turned out good.
On our way back to Ulaanbaatar we stopped at the famous Genghis Khan statue. The statue displays the Khan on the back of a horse. It is the largest stainless steel statue of the world and it did look impressive to say the least. It is possible to walk up on the back of the horse and enjoy the view over the surrounding area.
We got back to UB and split up so Fabi and Steffi could enjoy her last days in Mongolia by themselves. Basti and Denis went back to the Oasis to meet up with Gail and the others.
It is about 280 kilometers east of Ulaanbaatar and the road is mostly well paved. Just the last 30 kilometers are offroad but very easy to manage with any vehicle. After we had payed some warden the “entrance” fee we road along the lake looking for a proper spot to set up our campsite. The countryside was the complete opposite to the Gobi, very green with trees and juicy grass. We found the perfect place just meters away from the lake. We set everything up and enjoyed the evening in front of a fire with some barbecue. Before the sun had set the surface of the lake became crystal clear. Without any waves the water became a mirror of the surrounding countryside and it was incredible to look at.
The lake had been the starting place of the Khans lineage and it was here that Genghis Khan was pronounced the first Great Khan. It is an spectacular place to be at and you get a feeling of what it must have been like back in the days of the Khans.
We stayed at the lake for two nights enjoying the lake the weather and just the time off from everything else. We played around with our cameras trying to capture the mythical sensation of the place. The pictures were still not doing it justice even though they turned out good.
On our way back to Ulaanbaatar we stopped at the famous Genghis Khan statue. The statue displays the Khan on the back of a horse. It is the largest stainless steel statue of the world and it did look impressive to say the least. It is possible to walk up on the back of the horse and enjoy the view over the surrounding area.
We got back to UB and split up so Fabi and Steffi could enjoy her last days in Mongolia by themselves. Basti and Denis went back to the Oasis to meet up with Gail and the others.
23° | sunny / cloudy / rainy | km 660
Departure
on 2016-08-18 in Mongolia
Since we had almost exhausted most of our days in Mongolia we decided to spend the remaining time in Ulaanbaatar. As soon as we had moved into our Yurt chaos broke loose. We had pulled everything out of our bags to get some stuff sent back home and so we had unpacked all our stuff. But after a couple of days it was time to pack it all back up and head out to the Chinese border.
Gail was getting better with every day. And he was in high spirits even though we could see him hurting whenever he had to move. Still he was the first back in the saddle of his bike and he headed out a couple of hours before we managed to get started. We had planned to travel the 650 kilometers to Zamin Uud in two days and find a proper last camping spot.
We left UB late in the afternoon with a blue sky ahead. But after just 300 kilometers we saw black rain clouds coming up. We decided to skip camping and keep going to meet up with Gail in Zamin Uud. It took quite some time until it actually started to rain but just when the sun set it started. It was very difficult to ride in these conditions because it quickly became very dark. But in the end we managed to find the hotel Gail was staying in and booked two rooms.
We decided to travel with a guide and group through China, since China is more complicated then any other country we had been to so far. You will find more about certain regulations and laws in the next article.
We met the other travelers two days later in Zamin Uud, our group for the next 30 days was now complete. 4 Bikers and two dutch couples from Holland in 4x4 Trucks: Ruben and Jessica and Elko and Fleur.
We met that evening for the first time and we immediately knew we would have an exciting and fun 30 days ahead of us.
Gail was getting better with every day. And he was in high spirits even though we could see him hurting whenever he had to move. Still he was the first back in the saddle of his bike and he headed out a couple of hours before we managed to get started. We had planned to travel the 650 kilometers to Zamin Uud in two days and find a proper last camping spot.
We left UB late in the afternoon with a blue sky ahead. But after just 300 kilometers we saw black rain clouds coming up. We decided to skip camping and keep going to meet up with Gail in Zamin Uud. It took quite some time until it actually started to rain but just when the sun set it started. It was very difficult to ride in these conditions because it quickly became very dark. But in the end we managed to find the hotel Gail was staying in and booked two rooms.
We decided to travel with a guide and group through China, since China is more complicated then any other country we had been to so far. You will find more about certain regulations and laws in the next article.
We met the other travelers two days later in Zamin Uud, our group for the next 30 days was now complete. 4 Bikers and two dutch couples from Holland in 4x4 Trucks: Ruben and Jessica and Elko and Fleur.
We met that evening for the first time and we immediately knew we would have an exciting and fun 30 days ahead of us.