Again, apologies for the late instalment of Brighty’s capers out east. Welcome to Mongolia.

Here’s the forcast: The weather was mainly Shiite with some Sunni intervals. This was allegedly the worst summer in terms of rain for many years. For us it was changeable. Everything from sun to cloud, rain storms, hail, sleet, snow, me and Moritz had it all.

I ended up riding with Moritz, whom I had already hung out with in Barnaul after it turned out that that Germans get on even less with les escargot –munchers than the Pommies. We got on well, I think.

I crossed the border from Tashanta to Tsagaannuur. Or rather, I tried to. I nearly never made it into Mongolia. I had a visa, but it wasn’t valid! Why? The Mongol matie in London forgot to sign it. So 6 hours at the border, with the head of the local immigration office uttering the words: “It is not the problem of the immigration service of Mongolia if the consular service of London is incompetent”. I was very lucky to be able to buy a new visa at the border.

Mongol “rally” cars at the border. They’d each be at the border for about 36 hours. The time it took to process their import papers.


In Olgi we saw this ridiculous shed. He made it to Ulan Bataar via the southern route. His mates had to do a lot of pushing.



Another pic of this monstrous beast. Not only did he buy the entire bling catalogue, but he could carry about a 1000 catalogues.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhzZkiJVgWY
Mongolian bike with sound system - YouTube
Mongolian bike stereo
A local biker with “attitude”

Myself and Moritz rode to Olgi then cut north to Ulangom.


Dried out river bed


There’s lots of horses in Mongolia. And horse men. They were friendly enough.


Personality goes a long way


Walter Colebatch woz ere.


Near Walter’s sign, while taking a picture of this eagle I totally missed the pretty, not begging, polite girl looking at me:





Changeable weather


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Sots5TRV4
Mongolians drunk on moped DSCN7449 - YouTube
Mongolian drunks on moped


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYKwr0CfQUg
mongolia moritz gopro079 - YouTube
A lot of the roads were like this. Some were worse, not many better


Here we still had some Russian food. It tasted great. Mongolian food varies between sh!te and non-existent. Just as sh!te as the Korean H!te .


Crossing a mountain pass in the snow


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9YVK2x5_e0
mongolia moritz crossing stream dscn7458 - YouTube
Moritz crossing stream



At a junction from the dirt road and the pavement, not that far from Ulangom we stop for comfort break. There I spot Ernie and he joins the trip.


We end up leaving Ulangom late because Moritz’s tent was stolen off the back of his parked bike. The hotel had CCTV. This is the moment they spotted the thief. Somebody recognised him. He was later brought to the hotel by the police with the missing tent. I can’t explain why, but the left side of his face looked rather mashed in. Police brutality? Of course not… I suppose he won’t be thieving stuff again in a hurry, nor meeting any women, with his now, Neanderthal looks.

We left at lunchtime, far too late, but…

There was this little river across the main road…


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6maYFQEnokk
How To Not Cross A River In Mongolia - YouTube
How not to cross a river… and when you’ve really messed up, how to sort it.

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

G'day Brighty

Awesome story mate, I have read it before but your adventures are worth reading again!
Question mate, how do you go for fuel on your Bike? Ive just bought a transalp 600 1999 model and am about to ride London to aktau, st Petersburg via Kazan and back to London. I'm guessing I've got similar amount of luggage as you and almost identical bike set up.

I'm paranoid about running out of fuel, especially east turkey, Kazakhstan etc because I'm bloody hopeless when it comes to thy kind of stuff.

Cheers mate

Tom

Hi Tom
I was getting about 5.5 or 6 litres for 100km riding at about 90km on easy gravel or pavement. My German buddy got 8 on his 650 Transalp, but I think that's because it needed a tune up. My African Queens tank holds 30 litres, so I was good for a lot of miles.

You can always carry a spare plastic jerry can (or old oil can) or a couple of cola bottles (nozzle at pump smaller than hole, just), but make sure you put 2 in a plastic bag and knot it, before tying them on the bike. Single bottles will fall off (I know, I've tried!).

Can't comment about availabilty of fuel where you're going (haven't been there on a bike), but Colebatch's waypoints in the N Asia section are a good guide.

Fuel in 2012 in E Kaz was about £0.75/litre. In Turkey it's the most expensive in the world (?: £1.80/litre). Russia was £0.60

cheers
Chris

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

After the little river incident (the Wet Place…) from the previous episode I checked the engine oil the following morning at the hotel. Well above max and that lovely milky colour we all dread. We managed to cobble together 2 ½ litres of oil and I was carrying a spare oil filter. I debated asking the hotel reception whether I was allowed to do an oil change at the hotel. As I wouldn’t necessarily like the answer, I did it anyway without asking! There was an old kettle around the back and I hid behind the laundry room.

Overnight I dried stuff including gaffer taping my gloves to the spotlight in the bathroom, narrowly avoiding burning the hotel down.

Some video footage filmed and edited by Moritz that give you a flavour of what we encountered.


Wild Mongolia - YouTube

Funny camels at 2min... The post at 2.45 mins isn't a fencepost. We stuck it there to guide us after recceing the best place to cross the stream/terrain




The (S)Hite mentioned in the previous episode.




Tracklog from Mapsource after spending a fun day trying to rejoin the Northern route from the Middle route because the Reiseknow paper map said there was one. We couldn't find it. All tracks lead to sheer drop-offs or dead ends.





What a view!





Lake Khyargas in the distance





No way through!




A moment of contemplation?




I got the impression this was a knocking shop... The only building for 10s of miles around




Beer oclock?



Easy does it. Don't spill any!



Duff ?




A bike without a front wheel (nor forks) is only half a bike



Funny local man who even spoke a few words of German




:-)



Another great campsite, although (yet another) storm blew up over night. My Vango tent held firm




Ernie catching some rays




Mongolians do like their horses

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Looks like you've found some of the more scenic roads in Mongolia,look forward to more posts.

A quick jolly over Easter last week in the southern Balkans on the Parts Donor bike

See post #13 at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...420#post417997

More Mongolian capers coming soon...

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Right guys
This is it. Finally, the final chapter. I need to get this out and get outta here. Too many nice Brit roads to ride, fun to have and this summer's trip to Siberia to plan, without having this ancient RR hanging over me any longer.

Hope you've enjoyed it. It's good to get feedback. I now appreciate how hard people work to produce a good RR.

These pics appear to be in no particular order and some are indeed a bit random, but the weather was very very changeable, although consistently shiite.


Chilling by the fire





Creep crawley




Young girls (stunned by Moritz's good looks? )




Mongolia is one big campsite... My fav pic of the trip



What's with the Telly Tubbies?




A happy Mongolian drunk




Barkin'



The car that Russ Malkin, E and C's prat friend rolled?



It must be: Their names are on the door!



A friendly, curious dog



Come in guys...



Sleeping beauty sheltering from yet another rain storm



After the rain



4 seasons in a day



Tourist eagle



Arriving in Ulan Baatar: Mmmmm, nice definition



The second bloke has just stolen the copper's trunchion!



Before and after: but still ugly!



Jeffrey Polnaja from Indonesia on a charity RTW ride at the Oasis GH



Shagged MT21 and new K69



Striking a pose




At Customs convincing them my bike is worth only 600 bucks



Stored in the Oasis cellar for the winter in advance of a 2013 Siberian ride

Safe travels!

See you on the road
Brighty

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective