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4 Aug 2015
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Steppe to the left, steppe to the right; a trip through Mongolia
Two years after our Iceland trip, Daniel (aka Modman) and I have just returned from three weeks riding from Irkutsk to Bishkek.
For those of you who don't know me, I'm Paul (aka Wildman). The Wildman moniker comes from my mothers side of the family and is just a name that I use. In fact, if any of you Canucks knew Cariboo Motorcycles in Port Moody, BC a few years back, you may know my uncle Dave Wildman or my cousins, John and Ashley.
This is Daniel sorting out his bike when we dropped them in Warsaw at the end of May to be shipped to Irkutsk.
Here's our story.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
Last edited by Wildman; 6 Aug 2015 at 08:33.
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4 Aug 2015
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Irkutsk
We arrived in Irkutsk early on Saturday morning. Not the best planning ever done since Russian Customs don't work at the weekend but it meant the chance to acclimatise and prepare.
Dancing in Irkutsk:
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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Russian Customs (Day One)
Check in 11:40 with our "fixer", Pavel. Go to another office to have passports and V5s photocopied. Return to first office. Sent to third office where we must make a written request to have our bikes inspected. Wait for inspector.
Inspector comes and we walk to the wharehouse. Unpack everything from Daniel's bike. Everything is photographed twice. Oddometer, VIN and regustration plate photographed. Repack Daniel's bike and start on mine. Return to first office. It's now 14:45.
First guy then proceeds to marry up every photograph to each item on our inventory. Finally gets it done by 16:25.
Told to come back tomorrow at 09:00.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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My bike:
Daniel's:
The inspection:
The warehouse:
The office:
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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Russian Customs (Day Two)
Day two started at 09:10 with the news that the boss man wasn't happy with the inventories and we'd have to return and rephotograph everything! Not only that, they now had a list of what they thought we should have rather than what we actually had: tent, sleeping bag, mat, pillow, camp stove, 12 items of clothing, boots, one can of oil, stool, puncture repair kit and tools.
Problem was that my clothes weren't on the bike so we ended up with taking photographs of the fixer's shirt and pullover. I'd worn my boots so those came off and were photographed too. Return to office; 11:35. Lunch!
Some positivity as we started on the "Carnet TIR"; the customs document, after lunch. Problem was that it required everything to be listed by hand showing material and a nominal weight. My bike and kit ended up weighing 904.5Kgs! Yeah, right.
Next problem? Two hand written copies! Then the issue that everything about us was listed as being from the "UK" and everything on e bike from "GB".
Finally, at 16:50, we got the customs form stamped and headed out to set up the bikes. We left at 18:00. Two full days; our fixer, Pavel, has the patience of a Saint.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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283 miles from Irkutsk to Ulan Ude
Lake Baikal is impressive but there are not many views from the road.
After negotiating a few sporty sections of roadworks, we arrived in Ulan Ude to an impromptu Horizons Unlimited gathering.
Ken and Carol from Australia, Sam I Am and a couple from New Zealand. Brigid (Mrs Roynie), who we'd dined with in Irkutsk, also arrived. Great to meet up with everyone.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
Last edited by Wildman; 6 Aug 2015 at 08:35.
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4 Aug 2015
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328 miles from Ulan Ude to Erdenet
Long day. The border crossing was relatively painless but we found nowhere obvious to pitch camp after Darkhan so decided to press on to Erdenet and checked in to a hotel. We arrived too late for dinner as we hadn't realised that the clocks changed at the border.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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I can't remember what we had for dinner that night, it wasn't Kimchi was it?
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4 Aug 2015
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250 miles from Erdenet to Morun
The next morning was wet.
It had rained for five of the previous six days so perhaps not a surprise. We filled up with supplies.
And fuelled up alongside these guys.
The road from Erdenet to Morun is freshly paved but we had agreed to deliver some photographs to a Mongolian family 109kms south of the road and soon turned off.
Twenty seconds on to our route and I dropped the bike. The rain had left a thin layer of slimy mud sitting on top of hard-packed dirt leaving it treacherous. After 2kms, both Daniel and decided that another 107kms would be too challenging and, after a photo opportunity, we returned to the Morun road.
Eventually arrived at the 50'100' Hotel in Morun and a dinner of fried beef.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Modman
I can't remember what we had for dinner that night, it wasn't Kimchi was it?
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We raided the minibar!
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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95 miles from Morun towards Tsetserleg
The paved road finishes at Morun.
I led out a little too confidently and only twenty minutes into the day found myself taking a left hand bend in fifth gear, drifted to the outside and tried to use the sand berm to ease round the turn.
Nope.
My second fall in two days! I was fortunate that I was standing and despite the speed, managed to avoid serious injury. A passing Mongolian helped Daniel and I to get the bike upright.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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We eventually decided to set up camp and, taking the advice of others, got well off the road and concealed ourselves, high up in the hills.
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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4 Aug 2015
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91 miles from Tsetserleg towards Bayantes
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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
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Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.
Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
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helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Show your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Motorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
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