China, Takishant Border - UlaanBaatar Tracks
 

Hi all

We are being forced to ride from China into Mongolia via the Takishant border crossing and from there to UB

Has anyone done this using the southern road? I have the OSM maps but there is nothing there

Anyone have any tracks I can use as a guide, and or info about fuel etc?

I have all the Asia waypoints as supplied by Colebatch(thanks) but these are more the middle route, which we may end up on, but if I had some user tracks I could start calculating the time it will take us to transit

Cheers from Almaty
TravellingStrom

Richard,

Do you mean the Tashanta border crossing?

Last year I went down S. Gobi using the route shown on the map at:

https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?m...008,153.984375

and it is described at:

awayonmybike.adventureriders.com.au/

I was coming from UB and the route and km readings were:

07/09/11 Wednesday Ulan Bator
08/09/11 Thursday Near Hadatuul 38,870
09/09/11 Friday Near Togrod 39,113
10/09/11 Saturday Near Mandal Ovoo 39,322
11/09/11 Sunday NearBayandalay 39,517
12/09/11 Monday Khongor 39,619
13/09/11 Tuesday Khongor
14/09/11 Wednesday Gurvantes 39,790
15/09/11 Thursday Near AlagDund bulag 39,920
16/09/11 Friday Bayantsagaan 40,120
17/09/11 Saturday Burgus Oasis 40,293
18/09/11 Sunday Altay 40,450
19/09/11 Monday Altay
20/09/11 Tuesday Near Darvi 40,700
21/09/11 Wednesday Khovd 40,900
22/09/11 Thursday Olgii 41,130


So 16 days and about 3000kms. Where it says "near..." we were camping the rest were small hotels or ger camps. The middle bit (between about the 10th and the 16th) was, by my standards, fairly tough going on a KLR650 but I made it. I don't think I would have coped on a VStrom (assume thats what you are riding) but a good rider in reasonable weather might. I did it with two other riders and myself would not do it on my own there is some empty country down there - but the scenery and people were fantastic.

If you want the way points for the places I camped at night I can probably get those off my GPS tomorrow night (out of town at the moment)- let me know by replying or a PM. I didn't really use my GPS, except in compass mode, so don't have my full route recorded but I found the OSM when I checked seemed to have a lot of the tracks I used marked. We navigated the old fashioned way with maps and asking the locals - however of the five maps we had of Mongolia none agreed exactly on which places were linked to which by track, so there was a lot was suck it and see. The great thing in Mongolia is when you find a track is not heading where you want you can often correct yourself by riding a compass bearing until you pick up a track that seems to be going the right way. Fuel was usually available every 150km or less - but we did have one place where the station was dry and we had to wait around for a day. Water availability was the same in the furthest south regions. Many of the local maps have fuel stops marked on them (but with varying accuracy) - its a case of fill up regularly the problems only come when you decide you can push on pass this one and stop at the next. By the way outside the town it is all 76 octane only - although many fuel stops seem to sell octane booster.


Enjoy your trip - I'm envious. One year later I'm stuck back in the office saving for my next one.

Hi and thanks for your reply

I could not get that first link to work, it just opens a generic google map of OZ, but I did manage to look at the map on your blog page. From what I can see you are up north and taking the north and middle route, so it will not help me much at all.

We will be entering Mongolia from China at this border point

Takeshikenzhen, Altay, Xinjiang, China


The one you mention is way up north.

Cheers for the info though :)

TS

The route marked on the OSM that you are calling 'middle route' is the 'South Route'.

I can't find that border crossing you are talking about, but there is a road that runs from China, though to the village of Mankhan (about 100ks from Khovd) that joins the route marked on OSM, It is marked kinda on OSM but you will only see it at higher zoom levels. It is a actually becoming a major road as the Chinese are build a new road through here. You mention Altay which is the west of Mongolia so this may the road you need so I think you will need to ride up to this road from China border crossing.

Maybe PM Walter Colebatch, he may know.

Tashanta is not the one you want, this the crossing from Russia.

Worse case follow the tire tracks that head in right direction and ask the locals, if this is a multilateral border traffic to major towns (for want of a better word) will go this way.

BTW make sure you bike is happy on 80 octane petrol. It might all you can get in smaller villages.

How are you riding through China? I've heard that it's impossible to be licensed/registered to do that without an escort?

Apologies to those who tried the map link on my first post and found it didn't work - should have checked it. I think it works correctly now. Route was to the south but exited up North.

@navalarchitect - no worries, it works now thanks


@Chinggis - We have a guide and tour company and 10pax, 8 bikes, one 4x4

@Craig I think you are correct, the border area is paved according to the information gleaned from the following link:

To Mongolia: The Bulgan Border Crossing

As for the route to take, I was given some tracks by a chap called Alex, he rode his Vstrom 650 along the green route in the following map with the following information:

"the southern route is the easiest to UU, and the western part is very scenic from Altai region in Russia
the road is basically a gravel road with its fair share of corrugations, no deep sand. got a bit problematic when it rained but was able to ride around the puddles. I did not go to the gobi desert where there is sand.
so southern route to Ulan bator is ok.
i did the mid route which was more scenic, more mountains/passes, so travelling east you would take a left at Altai and head up towards Ulastai and onto to Tseterleg. the road is more challenging but vstrom made it! there is new bitumen road from about Tariat eastwards to UU.
i am glad i did that route as there was probably some of the best riding of my trip.
I stayed at the Oasis which a great meeting place for riders, 4wd guys.
Cheers Alex"

So, his track is green and if there is no deep sand I should be fine. Our actual route in China to the Bulgan border crossing is in purple, this is paved roads and is routable. The part we are unsure about is the actual road to get from there to join up with that green track, but I know now that the border road to Bulgan itself is paved, then we would need to take whatever north for an intersection, hope all that makes sense


http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...r_Mongolia.png


I have found most of this since my original post but this may be of use to others in the future. Of course once I have crashed and burned through there I can update again with real time conditions

Cheers
TS

Hey TS ... yes there are a number of minor border crossings in Mongolia that are normally only open to locals, but can be used by foreigners as part of organised tour groups. Another one is the border to Russia just north of Hovsgul.

I have never heard of non locals using this one before. The road on the Mongolia side will not be asphalt (unless the CHinese have just built a mine on the Mongolian side of the border in which case its an asphalt road with a double track railway next to it). And in fact I doubt it will be graded. Your two main choices on crossing the border will be to go to Khovd (marked on the left of your map) or Altai City near where the green line turns northwards on the right of your map) and rejoin the southern route at either of those points. The southern route is not sandy but may have a few smaller sand patches. If you stick on the southern route all the way it also will not be particulalrly scenic. I would do what your friend in green did and turn north at Altai City, via Uliastay and take a middle route to UB via Tosontsengel, Tsetserleg (note both those town names appear dozens of times in Mongolia so do pick the right ones), Karakorum (Kharkhorin), and then UB. Its asphalt from Karakorum to UB.

Its not paved yet, though parts maybe, the Chinese are building a new road from their border to Khovd and on to the Russian border. The locals said it will be finished next year. It parts you can ride along the road base and it quite good.

I woils take colbatch's suggestion, thief is a bridge out on the southern route that cars were being towed across, you will nEed to put you bike in a truck to cross.

@Colebatch The link I provided specifically says it is now fully manned international, but open during working hours only.

I guess the more scenic route is the better route then, but we are limited in time. We enter Mongolia on the 6th Oct, then enter China again on 20th to pick up tour guide.

So that leaves us 14 days to ride to UB and wait 5 days to get new visas and then ride 700km south to Erenhot

I need to find the fastest safest route that can let us do that.

I have a China City Nav map so that part is fine.

I guess we can backtrack using Alex's tracks and see what roads we can find to match up
Thanks for your inputs fellas

Cheers
TS

We ran into a guy on 1200gsa. Who by his own admission wasnt that quick and hated sand he did this way easy. I think by the time you muck about getting over the river on the south crossing if wont make much difference. This was our intended route until our truck ride from Mankhan.

It is still under consideration, because 8 other people have to agree, sort of, but it looks like head north to Khova on whatevr road we can find and then head east.

Cheers Craig

TS

Tracks Takashiken (China) Bulgan (Mongolia) to Khovd
 

Hi TravellingStrom

The border crossing is named Takashiken (China) Bulgan (Mongolia).

Download the KML from this map http://goo.gl/maps/hgPBY , it has the detailed tracks from the border crossing to Khoved.
Once you hit the main southern route connecting Khuvd to UB, it is easy to follow as this is the main route.

Road condition - it is paved from the border crossing up to Bulgan. From there it is desert dirt road.

Petrol - In Bulgan, and than several stations along the main route between Khuvd and UB.

Water - In Bulgan and a few wells on the way up to the main route. On the main route, there are several shops all along the way.

More details on the Takashiken Bulgan border crossing.

Dan ToMongolia

Hi Dan, thanks for that info that is great

That route was the one I had pretty much decided on, for me anyway. When you say desert road, you ar enot talking sand are you?

My bike and sand are a happy couple, they spend a lot of time lying together, but if it is just hard road, then that will not be an issue

I downloaded that KML file but when I import to Basecamp I see nothing, any ideas?

Thanks once again
Cheers
TS

OK, I converted the file to gpx and it shows up good. I notice your track is nowhere near any of the marked trails on Garmoin Global map in BC

Did you just follow a goat trail on that track, because it looks less than ideal for a big heavy pig of a bike?

Hard road
 

You asked: if it is just hard road, then that will not be an issue

It is mainly desert hard road used by trucks, like in this photo taken on this route.

I would appreciate if you can send me your other alternate tracks to compare, and from what source are they.
tomongolia@gmail.com

Dan

Ahh, thanks dan,yes that road is easy, I had visions of Dakar rally sand dune roads :)


https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/...m/19403410.jpg


Well, when I say easy I mean it is doable on a Vstrom, I have done worse than that here in Kaz during the road construction detours :)

Which tracks are you talking about? Those tracks on the map above are not
mine to give but were given to me by a Vstrom rider called Alex who just rode from east to west.

I can certainly ask him and see what he says, but what would you be using them for, not commercial use I assume?


Cheers
TS

Hi

You say: I notice your track is nowhere near any of the marked trails on Garmoin Global map in BC

What trails? I would like to compare.

Dan

I was in the area in mid 2010.

I did not cross the Chinese border, but I did visit the town of Bulgan. I came down from Olgi, left the 'main' road at Tolbo (beautiful lake), then cut straight down via Deluun and Bulgan (in Bayan Olgi) to Bulgan in Khovd (the town close to the border). The road was pretty stunning, but perhaps the toughest I've ever driven on - a rough 3000m pass (which must make it about the highest 'road' in Mongolia), and some really tricky, steep rock-crawling sections which would I imagine (I am not a biker) be damn dangerous if not impossible on a heavily loaded bike. There was also a section where we had to drive along (not just across) a river for 100m or so, and then tractor up a very steep, muddy riverbank. Reaching Bulgan's ASPHALT was heaven.

From Bulgan, there is a good asphalt road running east. Like many of the new roads in Mongolia, it does not necessarily follow the 'main' roads on the map, and in 2010 it was not completed. It went through Uyench, Altay (Khovd Province), then Barlag which is not marked on all maps. From here I left the road and went off-piste to the wild horses at Takhyn Tal, but the locals seemed to be saying the road turned northish from here and joined the 'main' road somewhere between Khovd and Altay (Gov Altay Province), perhaps in Dzereg, though communication with people was not easy here.

So the bottom line is, leaving Bulgan you will most likely alternate between asphalt, road-bed and diversions. I wouldn't worry too much about road conditions - in the desert the tracks are usually pretty good as the traffic is light and there are very few rivers. The region is beautiful, especially crossing the Altyn Nur mountains, though it's duller to the north. on the 'main' road. That 'main' road was rather corrugated, but doable.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1136194...61058807780130

I would always recommend going off-piste however in Mongolia - seeing wild horses in the NP was amazing. Just don't try the road straight north!

Good luck, I envy you riding through northern Xinjiang - would love to drive back there.

Daniel

OK this is the Global Map from Basecamp, where your track comes out of the border into Mongolia it follows a track to the east, but then when I expected it to follow a track to the north to Kvod, it goes instead further east and north

Obviously there is some incorrect date somewhere

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...Kvod_track.png

Cheers
TS

Hi Richard,

Were the 2 green tracks meet is where we're trucked from. There is a small village here (should show on OSM) they have petrol, a couple of shops and some of the locals rent out rooms. There is a few English speakers in the town, including the school teacher who is really good.

From here there is actually about 50ks of brand new paved road heading east. The thing with this road is beacause the Chinese are also building a new paved road all the way along the south (and way you are coming from) in many places you riding alongside and over this new road. Where this is the case the tracks are quite as nice as normal tracks where there is no road construction.

Hi mate

Nice pictures on the blog - and good to see the Mongo embassy has finally move to Astana.

You should take the above as a premonition of travelling in Mongolia. You can't really rely on any maps, as all but the biggest roads are basically ephemeral dirt tracks which twist / split / rejoin others. The new roads which are popping up are often not following the old dirt tracks, hence the discrepancies. I would be surprised if you could find a decent GPS map which covered all the out-of-the-way tracks here and there...

But, the joy is that, as long as you are following some tracks (and often even if you're not), and you're not heading for a huge mountain or deep / fast river, you will pretty much find a way to go. It may not be the smoothest or the most direct, but I don't think I ever really got very lost and had to backtrack more than a few kms. Plus there are people living pretty much everywhere, who you can ask. It's a cool country, not like anywhere else, but it takes a while to get used to the change in travelling philosphy. As long as you have enough water and fuel, you can go anywhere and stop anywhere... enjoy!

I remember one section, after visiting some staggering petroglyphs at Ikh Bayan Uul in the far south, we just cut across pristine desert for 100kms or so (sometimes following some tracks, sometimes not) on a bearing, until we hit the big dunes in the south (which we skirted), then drove through. I doubt there are many places where you can travel like this, so enjoy it and try to avoid the temptation to plan everything and stick to the main roads. It was always the diversions and side trips where we saw the most interesting stuff (petroglyphs, dunes, volcanic plugs, camels, wild horses etc) and where the people were friendliest.

Daniel

@Craig I can see a small name called Mankhan, that must be the one you mean, Thanks Craig

@Dan - I am getting the feeling that will be the way of it. But, don't forget, this is not the reason we are going to Mongolia, our sole reason is to bypass Xinjiang province due to travel restrictions. This whole dtour will add two weeks to the tour and our sole reason for going here is to get to UB to apply for the 2nd set of China visas to allow us to re-enter China at Erenhot.

That is why I am trying to find information now about the conditions etc, because without knowledge, we cannot plan on ANY diversions from the primary goal, VISA, with out that, we are stuck in Mongolia.

I may be a worry wart, but I call it forward planning or being prepared and my bike os not designed for offroad, unlike the others, so I don't want MY problems to hold everyone else back.

If my mind is clear on the things ahead, I can ride with more confidence.

Cheers
TS

OK, I see... but you are entering Mongolia from Xinjiang??

In that case, just stick to the main road (follow the trucks) and join the Khovd - Altay road and just keep on it. There are a few hundred kms of asphalt to UB, so that will be the smoothest and most certain route.

Good luck

Daniel

Yep, they changed the rules a few weeks back, we can enter Xinjiang and exit, but we cannot exit into ANOTHER chinese province, stupid rule, so we had to cut new paper and replan the route.

It totally screwed our Himalayas experience, but hopefully we can salvage something, but two different tours meant the price went up

That's the one, there is also a fuel station on the hwy outside the village I have just remembered.


The main route is okay (hell we slept in the back of a truck along it) it is just the river crossing, that you will avoid if you go north from Altai City and skirt back down south after this, you still get to do most of the asphalt back into UB.

Best of luck. If you end having to go back to Russia I have some great contacts on the way to Vladisvostok. Hopefully this is not this case!

Nope, no more Russia, no visa and could not be bothered trying a transit visa. Also, Lorraine got kicked out and told not to come back for 6 months

Cheers
TS

So, this was when you got broken, I remember reading about it, but could not picture the area.

How long did it take you from that village to UB? Did the truck park up or continue 24h

Cheers
TS

Left about 10 at night drove pretty much non stop except for a couple of repairs and food. Arrived about 48 hours later at Oasis UB.

You would be quicker on a bike.

Well, maybe quicker, but we would not be riding all day and night. So, I guess we can probably factor in a 4 day ride taking it easy

Cheers
TS

Good info :thumbup1:

We came through Takesheken border into China in the reverse direction recently. Here is our route:

28-July Ulan Baataar
29-July Tsetserleg
30-July Tsahir
31-Jul Telmen
1-Aug Tayshir
2-Aug Darvi
3-Aug Manhan
4-Aug Altay
5-Aug Takesheken Border

We stayed in Ger camp in Tsetserleg, guest house in Tsahir, and then free camping for the rest of the time nearby those towns.

We were using the OSM map for Garmin. OSM map shows no track between Manhan and Takesheken border. so we were navigating through GPS positions of towns extracted from our paper map, and got through without any problem. Chinese company is building a major highway linking it to the Russian border.

There is a petrol station on the Southern route about 5 kms north of Manhan. You need to go through a creek crossing to get into Manhan. If you are heading south to the Chinese border, don't go into Manhan as there are lots of creek crossings as you leave town. A better way to head south is to ride about 2 more kms on the Southern route, and then head south next to the new highway that is being built at present. You are not allow to be on it yet.

Riding is generally not too difficult. There is one deep creek crossing near the beginning. We got through with wet gloves! A car that came after us was not so lucky and got stuck.

This is a very scenic route, got high mountain pass of 2900 metre, and temperature went down to 6 degree C. grassland, valleys, etc. you can see all the best of Mongolia there. In some part, you can ride on the new smooth still unpaved highway. Road from Altay to Bulgan is paved about halfway. Bulgan to the border is fully sealed. We managed to get 92 octane petrol all the way except in Altay where they only has 80 Octane.

We are riding BMW F800GS and KTM 990 adventure on Heidenau K60 tyres.

Thanks a million Channy, great stuff :)