Across the Mongolian/Russian Border. June 11, 2014

Wednesday, June 11th

We set off from Ölgii around 9:30 and headed towards the Mongolian/Russian border.
Most of the road was sealed but we did have our last stretch of unsealed Mongolian road as well. In a strange way we will miss the 'roads' in Mongolia: slow going yes, but where else can you drive just about anywhere you like?

Last bit of driving in Mongolia.

Mongolian border 'town'.

We got to the bordertown at 12:30.
The entire process lasted four hours, with most of the time spent waiting at a locked gate at the Mongolian border post, as the officials decided to take a long lunch. But everything went about as smoothly as it could.
The Russians were very polite, correct and efficient. Neither side really inspected Sterlin, just a cursory look and a check of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
We were glad to be in Russia and continued our journey West.

Ölgii (Өлгий). June 8-11, 2014

Sunday, June 8th

On arrival we rushed around and picked a hotel. The one we liked was full. Ended up making a poor choice of room in a good hotel, which was fixed the next day with a room swap. After a spending a year searching for hotel rooms, one would think that we would not be making such rookie mistakes. Oh well. The supermarkets and items available within them are getting better as we get closer to Russia. We even found a passable bottle of red wine. First wine in quite some time. Dinner was at Pamukkale Restaurant, and we had two very nice kebabs and chips. The chips were wonderful.

Monday, June 9th

Lazy day was had. A little relaxing, a little window shopping and a little cleaning of the very dusty Sterlin. Tried to catch-up on email and internet, but the internet gods were not helping. Maybe tomorrow. And as the photo suggests, we did find some drinks.

Life is good in Mongolia!

Tuesday, June 10th

Another lazy day today. Spent most of the morning on the more reliable Internet sorting out our trip to Japan and our Uzbekistan visa/LOI. The hotel kept having power outages so we relocated to a nearby restaurant with both electricity and Internet. Unfortunately there coffee was bad and the milky tea was worse. The salad however was wonderful.

As we headed back to the hotel we saw a couple of over-landers from Western Australia in their mighty fine converted Nissan Patrol. Justin and Jennifer started in Vladivostok and were heading west to Europe before heading south to Africa. It was nice to talk to them, get their perspective on things and have a tour of their home. We are still designing our ideal next expedition vehicle in our heads.

Sterlin got a much needed car wash. The dust gets everywhere and there is now less of it inside the car. We know this won't last and will all change back on the very next dirt road. Dinner was in a new dining establishment and we celebrated our last or second last night with several all-to-familiar meat dishes. The meal was washed down with a passable bottle of red wine. After dinner we frequented the local nightclub, now that was a and and interesting experience.

Vodka anyone?

Justin and Jennifer overlanding from Western Australia.

Sterlin getting washed.

Wednesday, June 11th

Headed to the Mongolian/Russian border. Not sure of the state on the Internet for the next few days, so updates might be a little lacking. Hard to believe we will be in Kazakhstan in 6 days. Not sure if we will cross the border later today or camp at the border and cross tomorrow. Maybe one more stay in a Ger before we say goodbye to the wilds of Mongolia.

To Ölgii (Өлгий). June 8th.

Sunday, June 8th

We had a leisurely 6 hour drive to Ölgii. The roads started out dusty and bumpy but ended with near prefect sealed road (there was one very large pothole to be avoided). The scenery was wonderful and we took our time enjoying these last driving days in Mongolia. Along the way we stopped and chatted to two Norwegians driving a Land Rover Discovery (around 2010 model year). Very nice to see other over-landers in such a classy vehicle. A few water crossings to be negotiated, otherwise the trip was uneventful.

The following photos are dedicated Sterlin who has performed wonderfully during his time in Mongolia.

The last dirt road in Mongolia.

Snow capped mountains.

Occasional easy water crossing

Lunch on the road, literally.

Sterlin's younger cousin.

Khovd (Ховд). June 5-8, 2014

Thursday, June 5th

Our hotel had the usual challenge, ie.:lacking hot water. But we setup our camping shower and used the kettle to boil the water. It was good to get cleaned up and wash away the dust and dirt.

We caught up on internet during the afternoon before heading to 'Altai Restaurant' for a pretty fine dinner and a beer.

Friday, June 6th

We completed a few chores today. Stephen dismantled the battery tray and went in search of a man to weld it back together. Although a welder was found, he struggled with the aluminum and quickly gave up. Instead Stephen found a woman with a machinery shop and used the grinder and drill press there to fashion a brace. Ok, it might not be the strongest and best job possible, but should last until the good roads of Europe. Caroline got the washing done and searched for flights to Japan, our trip planned in a few months from now. Finding a good flight was proving to be a little more complicated than we thought, as the departure and arrival times are not really working out. But we got a few choices that would work.

There were quite a few tourist on motorbikes in this town. We saw a group from England, two guys from Norway, another group from Switzerland joined by some guys from France. Mongolia is apparently the place to come and ride.

We went for an evening stroll around this dusty little town before searching out dinner. Turns out Friday night is 'dry' in this little town. Apparently alcohol is not sold on Friday in respect for the Muslim majority. Talking about cash machines, we also rang our bank in Australia to find out why our cash card was not working and hadn't worked for the last few weeks. Turned out there is a known problem with our ATM card and some foreign cash machines. We switched over to another cash card to get money, but it was good to know the Australian one "should" work.

Predicting Dust today

No hot water - no way, we can fix that!

The repair

The yellow/red brick house is where Stephen
fixed the battery tray.

Saturday, June 7th

Yes, still here. When we applied for our Kazakhstan visa, we thought we would enter around the 21st of June so asked for our visa to start on the 17th of June, in case we move faster than expected. We did move faster than expected, so needed to slow our progress down a little resulting in another day in Khovd. The Kazakhstan visa does not permit us to enter early.

We found out that there is not much to see and do in Khovd. But we were glad that we stayed the extra day. We just relaxed and as the sun was out, we spent time strolling around town, almost literally around the town. They have gone to quite a bit of effort to beautify the place. There are mature tress lining the streets, the footpaths don't have too many gaping holes and the sealed roads help keep down the dust. They do have a long way to go and each winter must cause quite a few setbacks.

We tried a different restaurant for dinner, but still Goulash. Afterwards we had a pleasant chat and beer with the Swiss/French bikers back at the hotel. Got a good tip about a Roll-On-Roll-Off car ferry leaving Novorossiysk in Russia to Samsun in Turkey across the Black Sea. This is another way to avoid Ukraine, and so we planned to look into this route option further.

The northern extent of town.

Gers on the outskirts of town.

Tire Art (or not).

Tree lined streets. Very nice.

Life in a Northern Town.

Hard to see, but those are eagles in the sky.
Lots of them.

The backstreets of Khovd

Sunday, June 8th

We heard the road north was unpaved, so we tried for an early start. We failed and finally got on the road around 10am. It is nice to take it slowly in the morning.

Day: 376
Date: Thursday, June 5th, 2014.
From: Near Darvi (Дарви)
To: Khovd (Ховд) 
Distance Travelled: 245 kms (152 miles)

Stayed at: Tsambagarav Hotel
Located at: 48.001786º N, 91.634301º E
Hotel Notes: Nice large rooms. Hit and miss hot water. No breakfast. Freindly enough staff. Clean. Good wifi. No secured parking. TUG 60,000 ($35 USD).

Map of Mongolia

Traveling to Khovd (Ховд). June 4-5, 2014

Wednesday, June 4th

We woke up to find a dusting of snow on Sterlin as well as on the northern slopes of the surrounding hills. In our cozy hotel room we were completely oblivious to the weather outside, so seeing the snow surprised us a little.

Khovd was 450kms away, a distance we completed in 2 days. The roads on day 1 were bad, some of the worst we have had in Mongolia. Although the road has clearly been constructed and is relatively straight and level, there were sizable corrugations pretty much the entire day. This caused the entire car to shake and rattle. The side tracks have been formed by eager motorists and generally were a little smoother but had dips and patches of sand that would sneak up on us. We spent as much time as possible on side tracks to avoid the considerable shaking.

At one point Caroline could hear a rattle coming from the engine bay. Turned out one of the bracing points on the metal bracket we installed to hold the extra battery had failed, and the batteries were shaking around a little. We added a little protective foam around them and continued on. The bracket could hopefully be welded in Khovd.

The drive was predominantly through featureless and dry desert. The land supports very little vegetation and we did not see much livestock. Occasionally camels were seen walking around, but usually near gers. At one point cattle, sheep and goats were being farmed, but this was only possible as the animals were drinking from the water supplied by a well and pump. This is hard land and farming here must be even harder. To the south were pretty snow capped mountains which we followed most of the afternoon.

In the distance we saw a person walking and pulling some type of trailer behind him. Clearly a Westerner. We stopped and had a good old chat to Ash, who was attempting a solo unsupported walk across Mongolia, a challenge that has been attempted before but never successfully completed. We were the first English speaking people Ash had seen in the last 4 days. He averages 40kms per day, really quite impressive, and expects to complete his challenge in 10-12 weeks. He looked in great shape and had very good spirits. When we stopped to talk to him, he was only 111kms from Altai (or 3 days). We topped up his water container, gave him a little extra food and took his trash (we made sure that these small acts are permitted under the definition of "unsupported"). Check out his website: www.ashdykes.com

Around 5pm we pulled a few kilometers off the side of the road for our night's camp. Dinner was wonderful and we completed it and the dishes just before the wind picked up too much. By 7pm the wind had disappeared and we had a wonderful night under the stars with only one visit from a curious local.

That snow wasn't there last night.

We were very lucky to see the extremely rare 'blue horned cow'.

Something rattling around in there.

The broken battery tray.

Ash. Walking across Mongolia!

Our camping spot for the night.

Thursday, June 5th

Got a pretty good night sleep. And although the sun decided to get up super early, we didn't. Before we set off, another quick inspection of the engine bay under the morning light revealed another loose bolt on the battery tray. It was quickly tightened and we set off.

The road started out just as bad as the previous day and we expected a long hard day's drive. But after a mere 7kms a beautiful sealed road appeared and stretched all the way to Khovd. That shortened the driving time by about 3 hours. 

The scenery was quite stunning with snow capped mountains to our left for most of the day's journey. The valley also returned to a greenish tinge and started to support livestock. This day we saw the most camels in a single day.

Around 80kms short of Khovd we took a side trip to see some cave paintings from prehistoric times. After 22kms on rough road and successfully crossing a few streams we were stopped by a muddy section of road. If we had deployed the sand tracks we could probably have made it without getting stuck, but we didn't want the hassle of getting unstuck if we did. So, we stopped for lunch and then headed back. The trip was not an entire bust, as the scenery in this valley was magnificent. And for that alone the trip was worthwhile. We had also heard from Slunz and Camilla that the cave was not very impressive with considerable amount of graffiti. So we didn't feel too bad.

We made good time to Khovd and quickly found a hotel with Internet.

Road to the Cave Paintings.

The wide open plains are beautiful 

More views from the day.

Khovd City nestled in the Valley

Altai (Алтай). June 2-4, 2014

Monday, June 2nd

The 'improved' road away from Uliastai headed up and over a pass and was in poor condition. But the views were wonderful and we took the driving slowly. Altai was 200kms away and we thought the road would take 5 hours to complete. Unfortunately the first 60kms of road was very slow going and meant that we would be arriving later than hoped and closer to 7pm. At some point in the journey we crossed a timezone boundary, and so we gained an hour. 60kms into the journey the road started to improve and we picked up speed and avoided most of the potholes. Bridges were provided for the various river crossings, but not all of the bridges seemed that sound. So we decided to ford the river in some cases.

The area north of Altai is part 'Khasagt Khairkhan Strictly Protected Area' and maybe this was why we had not seen livestock and herders for a long time. The area had long grass, lots and lots of eagles, field mice and other small mouse like creatures called pikas. We even saw a scrawny fellow that might have been a hare. The valleys were lush and full of green grass and some of the surrounding hills still had smatterings of snow.

We passed through a little town called Tsagaan Olom which transitioned us back into the real world of people and things. As we were driving around town taking photos, Stephen managed to 'not see and drive over' an incredibly large hole. The type of hole that eats cars for lunch. But for some strange reason the front right wheel of Sterin drove over the hole as if it was not even there. We suspected all the weight in the rear meant Sterlin stayed level and balanced on the other three wheels. A quick inspection of the under body showed no damaged. We were very lucky indeed.

40kms later a beautiful sealed road suddenly appeared as we approached the outskirts of Altai. It was good to be on sealed road again. As we had some time we drove around town to select the best hotel we could find. Picking a hotel for the night in Mongolia presents some unique challenges. Often the outside and foyer area of a hotel bears no relationship to the quality of the rooms. So nice looking places can be awful and horrible looking places can be little gems. And this was the case here, the Tulga Altai is located in the back waters of town, in a drab Soviet Era style building with a front door that screams "this is an awful hotel, stay away". But once inside, the room we got was large, bright, very clean and had its own private hot water tank. That night we showered in comfort. Unfortunately the hotel did not have any Internet. So, Stephen went in search of an Internet Cafe and found one in town.

Dinner was at the 'Hot Pot Altai Restaurant', which was yet another little gem in this otherwise bleak town. We also noticed that people are becoming more friendly again, with greetings and smiles as we approach and a willingness to communicate with sign language. Another long day but a good one.

Leaving Uliastai, heading up the pass.

Did I just drive over that?!

Tsagaan Olom.

Beautiful sealed road as we approach Altai.

Tuesday, June 3rd


We decided to stay another day which turned out to be a good idea. After breakfast we went exploring the quite sizable markets that just happened to be located right next door to our hotel. Most of the shops were located in old shipping containers, but there were also some brick and concrete structures. The "shopping mall" (if you can call it that) had the slightly more upmarket shops. We stocked up on the essentials including bread, milk, apples, washing detergent, toilet paper and snickers bars.

We wandered into town in search of cash and the Mongol Rally Graveyard Museum. We got cash but never found the museum. It turns out our ATM cards do not seem to be working in this part of Mongolia, so instead we are dipping into our small stash of US dollars and converting them at banks. We also stopped at the Internet Cafe to update our blog and check emails. Based on an email we received, it looks like we will have no problems getting our visa for Uzbekistan. That will be the last visa before we transit back through Russia and into visa-free Europe.

We had a nice lunch of mutton soup and fried meat in pancakes.

Once back at the hotel we did a little experiment with Sterlin to try and work out how he managed to drive over that very large hole without damage. The theory that Sterlin can balance on two back and one front wheel is wrong, he can't. So it is still a mystery what happened. Stephen also did a full visual inspection of the Sterlin to see what bits had managed to rattle loose and checked the front wheel bearings to make sure they were sound. Everything checked out ok. The roads in Mongolia have been punishing, but it appeared that Sterlin has not suffered too badly.

Dinner was in and in the form of pot noodle soup. The evening was spent relaxing, reading and editing photos.

Uliastai (Улиастай). May 31 - June 2, 2014.

Saturday, May 31st

We sure must have slept well as we woke up to find it was past 8am! Not bad! Specially with the sun coming up around 5:15am. We enjoyed breakfast on this windless, warm morning, after which Stephen swapped the tires back to avoid driving on tries with uneven tread.

The night before we discussed our route and destination for this day: either turn off to Tosontsengel and stay there the night, or, keep going straight towards Uliastai and camp 3-4 hours short of the town. When we started off in the morning we were still undecided about what to do, but were lending towards the 'go straight' option. The road to the turn off was mostly smooth grassland track, with rocky patches. We stopped for lunch, and at 2:40pm we reached the turn-off, and, hence decision point. We decided to give Tosontsengel a miss and to keep going towards Uliastai. The turn-off marked the start of an immense valley (80kms it would turn out) with a mix of grassland track, 'improved track' with the usual corrugations, some very sandy patches, in short nothing we hadn't had before.

Around 4pm we started looking for a place to camp. As the wind in the valley was very strong, we veered off the main road towards the relative shelter of some hills. At 4:20pm we found a spot and set up the tent with the annex. To stop the pegs from being pulled out of the ground by the force of the wind we collected rocks that we put on all of them and then some on top of those. By then the wind had become even stronger; so strong in fact that we were afraid the annex would be blown to shreds, so we decided to fold both annex and tent away and sleep in the car. Cooking was out of the question in those conditions so dinner consisted of bread and jam, cheese and salami. So there we were, sitting in the car, with winds that made even a stroll very unpleasant and with 3-4 hours of daylight left. At 6:30pm we decided to hit the valley track again and head in the direction of Uliastai, hoping for a less windy spot. Dust clouds were overtaking us as we drove around 35kph.

Just when we got to the main road again Stephen pointed at some standing stones, and as luck would have it, we'd found some more Deer Stones. Nice bonus!

From then on the track improved considerably; the road was corrugated but there were no potholes and we were making speeds of 60/70kph at times. Then, after 80kms, we reached a bridge and the end of the valley. We had different road conditions from then on: at one stage a road was being built (which always means rough conditions). We crossed a pass with a heavily potholed road so it was slow going, but we could smell the town and kept going. Then the road improved and at 9:30pm we had reached the town limits.

The search for a hotel could begin. With the Lonely Planet in hand we went to the 'Uliastai Hotel' (bermudarover.com had also stayed there) but we must have hit them on an 'off' night, or make that 'off' weekend. First of all the room was dire to say the least: small… ok, but dirty (I even scrubbed the sink before using it) and everything was falling to pieces. Hot showers? We were lucky to have a trickle of cold water coming out of the tap - most of the time. Wifi? What?. And very unfriendly and unwelcoming staff. At least the bed linens were clean. Another group was checking-in at the same time and judging by the look on their faces they weren't too impressed either; even their Mongolian guide was pissed. But, this was still the 'best' choice in town (we did go for a quick drive around town to see what other choices we had… none it turned out), so with no other options available to us we checked in. And hit the bar for a couple of well deserved drinks.

Swapping tires, again!

No, we didn't miss the bridge. Filling up the water tank.

Decision time!

Found some Deer Stones.

Horses everywhere.

Cranes.

Sunday, June 1st

Breakfast in 'the best hotel in town' was 2 slices of stale bread with fried egg.

We then walked around town in search for an ATM (that would take our card), a bank that would change money and an internet cafe. We were unsuccessful on all counts.

We had decided to stay another day - we were used to the room by now, and, a camp shower can come in handy when the hotel one isn't working. Later that afternoon, when Stephen went out yet again in search of cash, he met Mike (a local who had lived in San Francisco for 3 years). Somehow we'd lost track of which day it was and, as Mike pointed out, being Sunday, most businesses were closed - obviously. It was also 'Children's Day', a nationwide celebration, so lots of dressed up young ones abound. Mike had met Camilla (Italian) and 'Slunz' (Czech) who are over landing in their monster MAN truck. We all started chatting and before long we were 1) invited to a bbq later that evening at friends of Mike's and 2) having drinks in the truck. The whole day I'd been checking on the hot water situation in the hotel (we figured out they had an issue with the boiler) and as at about 8:30pm I felt warm water, so into the shower I jumped. After three minutes the hot water was finished, but as I suspected that might happen, I'd moved fast and was done, including washing my hair, before the hot water ran out.

Mike picked us all up around 9pm, in his friend's Hummer, and we enjoyed skewers of marinated meat and good company. After the Mongolian bbq, we all (Camilla, Slunz, Mike, his friend and us) went to our hotel's restaurant (and when that closed we moved to the truck) to finish the evening with beer and 2 bottles of very nice Vodka.

With all that we actually enjoyed our stay in Uliastai - despite the state of the hotel. PS: after the staff noticed that we knew some well-to-do- locals their attitude towards us changed for the better: we actually got some smiles - nice.

I wish I were a camel.

Looking for cash.

Our ride to the Mongolian BBQ.

Mongolian BBQ.

Vodka Anyone?

Yes Please! Slunz, Stephen, Camilla, Mike, Caroline.

Monday, June 2nd

Breakfast in our hotel... this time: two slices of stale bread with a dollop of jam. Yum.
Camilla and I went for a look to the local markets, but since things don't really get started until 11am we didn't see much. Stephen again went in search for cash, and, it being Monday, was successful, and then picked us up at the markets around noon. We said our goodbyes to Camilla and Slunz and at 12pm set off towards Altai.