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Published: October 18th 2007
Now we are truly nomads in nomad’s land!
Arriving in Mongolia, the first thing that struck me was a great sense of freedom, the ‘land without fences’ shows that actually you don’t need to trap or hobble your animals in order to farm them. (apparently pigs are resistant to herding but horses, goats, cows, and sheep all seem to stay within range of the ger and can be moved each day by a horseman (dogs do not seem to play any role in the herding, and just act as guard animals for gers). A ger is the traditional white round tent that a significant proportion of the population still live in. They are made out of felt and have a fire in the middle, so they look considerably warmer than our tent! We have been waking up to frosts every morning and all our thermals are now in use. Luckily they usually lead to crisp and beautiful days on the road. It’s hard to imagine just how cold it must be here in mid winter, given it’s only mid autumn now.
The landscape is craggy and bare, dotted with gers. The main highway from the border to Ulaanbataar has little traffic
and most of the traffic we do encounter is travelling almost as slowly as we are, lumbering under large loads of hay, with numerous breakdowns causing drivers to stop for emergency repairs
We also seem to have become minor celebrities with cars slowing down beside us for a good look (rubber-necking!) some shout out the window, most flash their lights, wave or beep.
In the villages children run over saying ‘hello, hello, hello’ and are very keen to investigate our bikes. Horseman who we have stopped to observe herding their livestock stop work to come and say hello, and are more than happy to pose for photographs. One even invited me to sit on his pony.
The road undulates from one bowl like valley to the next, each revealing a new panorama as we drop over the side into it.
Mongolia is supposedly a vegetarian nightmare, with mutton in every dish, and we have compromised a little, but the wordless communication book is coming into it’s own and we’ve had some nice vegetarian meals and also managed to find tofu in the local market. The local market ( Darkan) did also contain decapitated horse heads….
Trip notes
Sept
24
Crossed border to Mongolia -crossing went smoothly though we met a motorcycle tourists who had been delayed for a day at the Russian border due to insurance problems.
Sukhbataar 53.5 Km
Food and drink 300
Hotel Orgki - 12000 togrog + 2000 for bicycle security (asked for later in the evening!) no hot water, heating, or lock on the door and toilet wouldn’t flush but they did provide boiled hot water and cooked us nice vegetarian meals.
Dinner in restaurant - 11050 togrog
Changed money at bank within Mongolian border buildings.
Exchange rate = 1189 togrog = $1 US
Euro = 23
Sept 25
48km (km 72 of A3) = Free camp
Rained all night so we were lucky to be inside- had a late start after visiting market.
One flat tyre Nigel front.
Breakfast 6000 Togrog
Socks x 3 pairs 4000
Food -4580
Total = 14580 Tg
Euro = 8.5
Sept 26
Good free camp, heavy frost, To Darhan 51Km
Couch surfing with American Peace Corps volunteer.
Supermarket 19000
Restaurant 7500
Minibus 1200
Total = 27700 Tg
Euro = 16
Sept 27
Rest day Darhan (Couchsurfing)
Bootleg Timberland Boots 14000
Clothes 5300
Food and drink 8500
Internet 600
Total = 28400 Tg
Euro = 16.5
Sept 28
Darhan to Baruunkharaa 72 KM
Food and drink 15100
Sweatshirt 3000
Hotel 10000
Total = 28100 Tg
Euro = 16.5
Sept 29
Baruunkharaa to km 260km of A3. 71km Climbed to 1130m - highest point of trip so far.
Bread 450
Free camp at 1100 metres.
Euro = .30
Sept 30
Km 260 of A3 to UlaanBataar 88km
Guest house $12 US
Food and drink 11 000 Togrog
Total = 25 400
Euro = 15
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