Gotta get outa Outer-Mongolia - despite rumours of War in the West

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Day 151, 29th October

Senj - Ulaan Uul

After packing our tents, we headed off into another headwind, but somewhat stronger than yesterdays. Whey Hey! We’re in bloody “Outer Mongolia”, not bad for a gang of bad-ass-dudes who set off out on their bikes from sunny Stoke-on-Trent in June. But, I must admit, I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of Fish’n’Chip shops out here!

We arrived in the outpost of Senj around eleven and were directed to the only shop there by a group of funny guy in a four-wheel-drive Russian “ЧАЗ” vehicle. I bought some more ‘cakey-things’ again for $1. Glad I took a stock of US one-dollar bills for emergencies. The guys with the jeep then escorted us out of town onto the dirt road that they said would take us all the way to Zamyyn Uud - the border. After follwing them for a mile, they stopped, got out, and produced a bottle of Gobi Vodka. We all got fairly pissed after a few shots, especially when I produced my 100% pure spirit I’d got from the Irkutsk vodka distillery. Rory ended up taking the “ЧАЗ” for a spin, a bit pissed, but what can happen in a desert? Many things - I suppose?

The guys gave us another bottle and we were on our way again. We did another 30 miles, through landscape that was becoming more and more sandy and desert-like. The horizons appeared to be like one immense white sandy beach. We camped just outside the village of Ulaan Uul. From here on it could become very difficult, this will be our last chance to stock up on supplies before the border.

Total Miles: 7653.69 Todays Miles: 31.50 Average speed: 7.1 Time on bike: 4:23


Day 152, 30th October

Ulaan Uul - to 40 miles south

It was a good day, we started out with the wind behind us and arrived in Ulaan Uul, the last place of any significance before the border - and the buggers knew it! We were charged for water for the first time at a kind of petrol-pump sort of a thing along with all the locals. We bought a bit of overpriced foodstuff and then set off out of town again.

There were old kilometer posts in the desert to follow that verged west of the railway and ended up being our only guidance after a while and the only evidence of a road being there at all. We ended up doing a big loop around some desert area and never saw the railway for the rest of the day. The track wasn’t too bad and by the end of the day we’d covered a staggering 40 miles! A lot more than expected based on Tim’s reports from his trip last year. I can only imagine he took a different route, he did mention that he’d got lost once, though. We camped under a very stormy-looking sky. Sandunes can be seen ahead of us now and China is only 50 miles away.

As I lie here in my tent, one day before Halloween, 2001, I consider the following. In maximum 2 days we will arrive at the Mongolian / Chinese border. One thing that bothers me is the fact that you are not allowed to use your own transport in China, including bicycles. Tim’s arrest and near deportation last year has freaked us somewhat. We’ll have to find a way to smuggle our bikes across the border un-noticed or something. The second thing that bothers me is the bits of news I’ve been getting about rumours of war in the west. I know George W is looking for revenge for the WTC attacks last month, Iraq seems likely although I’m sure Saddam didn’t organize it. But, who knows, he may go for Iran or Afghanistan. Due to this, we’ve heard that China has sporadically closed its border a few times as a security measure - maybe we’re going to be stuck here in the Gobi for a few more weeks. At least it’s free of the world’s problems out here…

Total Miles: 7693.55 Todays Miles: 39.86 Average speed: 7.8 Time on bike: 5:04

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Photos

Bikepackers Graveyard
There was no village nearby, nothing. We wondered whether this was the Bermuda Triangle of the Gobi - where cyclists give up, get lost, or just cave in and wait to get planted!!!!

Shits of the Desert
A last resort for water is getting it from the camel-trough, but they ferociously protect it in a digusting sputum-spewing way!

Gobi Vodka
"Gobi Vodka - helping men, women, and children through the Mongolian winter for centuries"!

UAZ geezers
These guys with their UAZ jeep got us pissed on their bloody crazy Gobi vodka then sped off drunk into the desert.