Blog update!
Mongolia has the nicest people on the planet but also the worst “roads” on the planet! SHIT we´re tired!! These roads are killing us! And the bikes! We left Tsetserleg and soon after we also saw tarmac for the last time. We´ve been on some decent dirt roads, off road riding with sand and mud, hill climbs that scared the living daylight out of us and pretty much everything in between. We get surrounded by locals every time we stop and everyone wants to sit on the bikes and have their pics taken. Friendliest people ever. The people we´ve met have been truly amazing. But the roads……. :o)
We went to the White Lake, as it is called in english. Spent the night in a ger camp and was invited over to the neighbors later in the evening as they had gotten very drunk. They gave me and Eva lots of vodka but we only took the bottle and held it to our lips without drinking. No one noticed. We took the northern route around the lake the next day, a road that is not even on the local maps, and that could have ended the trip on a couple of occasions. Rather technical riding at some points. Eva crashed with the bike later after the worst parts was done. A broken fog light, smashed up pannier and bruised hip and shoulder. No broken legs or arms. She got up on the bike again and didn´t complain much but I noticed she was in pain. We only drove about 60 km that day and it was the hardest motorcycle riding I´ve ever done. Rain clouds and thunder on the way and we managed to put the tent up before hell broke lose. Rained for 24 hours. We had planned to make it further that day so we didn´t have enough water with us. We had plenty of camping food but not even water enough for drinking. Some kids from a near by ger showed up and we gave them freeze dried fruit. Cutest kids ever! They hang with us for quite awhile, sharing the dried fruit between them and tried to communicate with us! I guess they must have talked to their parents about us later cause it didn´t take long before some older girls came over in the pouring rain and invited us over to their ger for some warm jak milk/tea and some sort of cheese cookies. A very nice gesture indeed and we also got water from them so we could cook food in our tent. They showed us how they make cheese, make mongolian pasta and other things. Noone spoke any english but it was a great treat for us to get a glimpse at how the nomad population live here in Mongolia. Wonderful experience.
We made it to Tsakhir the next riding day. Horrible roads. Even more horrible than usual after 24 hours of rain. We stayed at what could most accurate be described as a mongolian “truck stop”. A family lived in a ger in the back of this small “restaurant” and there was also a room were one could sleep. Two big “beds” and nothing else. Hard as stone. We took out our sleeping bags and camping mattresses and went to sleep. Soon later it knocked on the door to the “restaurant” and a bunch of people walked in and wanted to eat. After eating they all went into this little room where Eva and I was trying to sleep and laid down next to us. So all of a sudden there was about 9 people in the little room. They just laid down with their clothes on and went to sleep. Took minutes before they all snored like hell!! Loudest snoring I´ve ever heard! When we woke rather early the next morning they had left.
Next day we drove to Tosontsengel. Took forever to get here. Sand and mud roads again. Rough ride. I got stuck in the sand and needed help to get out and cars and trucks also got stuck. Everybody helping everybody else to get their vehicles moving. Mongolians are very good at helping. It´s amazing how they manage to drive their regular street cars through the water crossings and on these bad roads. We saw a Lexus drive through 50 centimeters of water. Amazing……
Some pics…..
People gather around us within minutes after we´ve arrived to small villages. They often want to sit on the bikes. Always very friendly and if they do speak english they often ask if they can help us in any way.
Eva and a yak. There are plenty of them all over Mongolia. Very hard to get close to them. We´ve tried…. They keep their distance.
We´ve stayed at a couple of ger camps on this trip. Great way to get a glimpse at how the native nomads live and rather time saving since we don´t have to set up and take down the tent every evening. And more comfortable too.
A young boy dressed in traditional clothing.
A baby yak.
This little thing came over to our tent from a nearby ger one evening after Eva´s crash. It had rained hard and continued to do so until next evening. No fun in a tent when it rains for a long time so the visit was good fun and entertaining.
Some other kids came over as well. We gave them freeze dried fruit that they liked a lot and it was great to see how they shared the fruit between them so that everyone got the same amount. They were very soft spoken and really cared for one another and it later showed that they indeed cared for us too since we were invited to their ger for some shelter from the rain, warm yak milk and some sort of yoghurt/milk/cheese candy.
Great kids indeed! We had such a good time with them, showing them maps over Sweden, Russia and Mongolia and just trying to communicate in our own different languages.
The whole family lives inside a ger. They also do all the cooking and other things necessary in the ger. Here one can see some yoghurt/milk cookies hanging from the roof. Tasty indeed. I like the warm yak milk that they often serve you. It seems like they drink it as we drink coffee or tea. Eva is lactose intolerant and goat milk doesn´t contain lactose but since it´s hard to know if it´s the same with yak milk she tried just a little. No fun to get a bad stomach when in a tent……
Here the whole family helps out in the cheese making process. They filter the milk through those bags and then hang the whatever-it´s-called that remains in the bag to dry.
Time to make some mongolian pasta…… Hand made all the way.
We stayed at this very small restaurant one night. Traditional food again and we slept in the room next to the “restaurant”. The kids here seems much more down to earth and relaxed than the kids back home in old Sweden. Not many toys but they entertain themselves anyway. They laugh a lot. Good fun to see. Can you see what huge influence the Megadeath concert in Moscow had on Eva……?
Oh yeah. They wanted to sit on the bikes too. The family had two chineese motorcycles that Eva and I tried out. None of them had working breaks and they didn´t told us about that. They loaded their kids on the bike I tried and had me ride around with their kids on the bike without any breaks. And Eva almost ran over their dog and straight into the “restaurant” building when she all over a sudden noticed that the bike she was on had no breaks either…… Eva laughed soo hard! The dog wash´t as happy. 🙂
2.600 meters above sea level. We both felt dizzy and a bit ill at that altitude.
The rain destroys the “roads” rather often and when things gets too bad people just finds other ways around the flooded area and after awhile a new “road” is constructed. If it´s not possible to drive where you drove yesterday, take another way around…..
Eva´s broken pannier. Have to fix that when we´re home again. It holds together with straps now since both locks are broken. One fog light is gone too. Eva is much better than me on off roads but this time things didn´t go her way. Shit happens. VERY glad that there were no broken bones or arms or other body parts. The nearest hospital is often far away……
Beautiful country side.
But the “roads” are tough…. Sand and mud and water crossings and yak poo all mixed together. And it gets even more slippery after rain. Our bikes are big and heavy. Not the best combination on roads like this. Good fun every once in awhile but HARD work indeed…..
Eva in my rear mirror.
Tosontsengel. Yay!!
200 meters of tarmac! Yay!! 😀 We hadn´t seem tarmac in awhile and I think I´ve used third gear twice for a very short while. No forth, fitfh or six gear at all. Mostly first and second gear. I pulled the throttle and got up to forth gear before I had to hit the breaks before the speed bump….. This is the only tarmac there is in Tosontsengel and they´ve built three or four speed bumps. That´s mean!! 😀
Next thing on the schedule is to push on towards west/Russia.
Birka Adventure Riders 