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Northern and Central Asia Topics specific to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea
Photo by Carl Parker, Always curious Tibetans, Tibet, China

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Photo by Carl Parker,
Always curious Tibetans,
Tibet, China



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  #1  
Old 12 Apr 2014
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Of course it's totally crossable, it all depends on when you are there and if it has rained a lot just before or not.
What is one day may not be the other.
If the local 6x6 doesn't run across the river anymore because the water is too high, then I suggest you don't go in with the bike.
If the water is "only" kneedeep, then of course there's absolutely no problem.
You can't say yes or no before you are actually there.
All the riders that were there when we were turned around as it was not doable that week when we were there. And I ride a 140kg bike, so if that is a no go, anything bigger is in my opinion certainly a no go...
I'm talking about the route from Tsagaannuur to Ulaangom. There are a few rivercrossings (not on google maps) and those can be a problem as said if it rained a lot the days/weeks before you arrive.
Plan both ways, try the N route, if you are in bad luck (like we were) then you'll have to divert to the S one... if not then go for it!
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  #2  
Old 13 Apr 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oo-SEB-oO View Post
You could (but probably shouldn't) make your own route from any place to any other place. We did this after Tsetserleg but it's definitely not faster! We drove purely on coordinates but it took us the whole day to cover 80km of pure offroading. It would have been faster to take the normal "road". And you would probably don't get bogged on the normal "road"... ;-)

If you are in a hurry, then you should just stay on the southern route. If not:

Yes we did the 'loop': Altai - Uliastai - Tosontsengel - Tsetserleg
I can recommend it as a few highlights are on the way there.
The route we took is not even in google maps, if you are interested, send me a mail and I'll send you the GPX file of that part.
This part of Mongolia was for us the most interesting as the scenery is beautiful and most 'tourist' stay either on the southern or northern route... ;-)
Hi Seb, I'm planning to be in Mongolia next august.
Do you think starting on the southern route and then switching to the central route as you did and you are referring here, is easily doable two up on a Dominator or there are any particularly technical parts or some deep sand?
Thanks
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  #3  
Old 13 Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by crisidsto View Post
Hi Seb, I'm planning to be in Mongolia next august.
Do you think starting on the southern route and then switching to the central route as you did and you are referring here, is easily doable two up on a Dominator or there are any particularly technical parts or some deep sand?
Thanks
I'm not Seb...

But.. The southern route can be done on almost any bike. Last summer, south of Olgii there was quite a bit of construction. Heading East out of Olgii or north will be more enjoyable I think. You can go anywhere in Mongolia with a dominator. Like many have said before, the southern route gets most of the traffic. I found in Mongolia, the worst roads were the ones with lots of traffic. The barely used 2 tracks in B.F.M. are relatively smooth and fast because they are not beat to crap. But, no matter where you go, it will be awesome. Because its Mongolia. I had about a month in Mongolia and Altai and I wish I had more. Its a beautiful country with beautiful people.
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  #4  
Old 13 Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by Snoah View Post
I'm not Seb...

But.. The southern route can be done on almost any bike. Last summer, south of Olgii there was quite a bit of construction. Heading East out of Olgii or north will be more enjoyable I think. You can go anywhere in Mongolia with a dominator. Like many have said before, the southern route gets most of the traffic. I found in Mongolia, the worst roads were the ones with lots of traffic. The barely used 2 tracks in B.F.M. are relatively smooth and fast because they are not beat to crap. But, no matter where you go, it will be awesome. Because its Mongolia. I had about a month in Mongolia and Altai and I wish I had more. Its a beautiful country with beautiful people.
Thank you Noah,
I read many times about the southern route being full of traffic and with many roadworks, that's why I would like to take the central at least after Altai City, maybe before.

cristiano
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  #5  
Old 14 Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by Snoah View Post
I'm not Seb...

But.. The southern route can be done on almost any bike. Last summer, south of Olgii there was quite a bit of construction. Heading East out of Olgii or north will be more enjoyable I think. You can go anywhere in Mongolia with a dominator. Like many have said before, the southern route gets most of the traffic. I found in Mongolia, the worst roads were the ones with lots of traffic. The barely used 2 tracks in B.F.M. are relatively smooth and fast because they are not beat to crap. But, no matter where you go, it will be awesome. Because its Mongolia. I had about a month in Mongolia and Altai and I wish I had more. Its a beautiful country with beautiful people.
What he said...
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  #6  
Old 21 Apr 2014
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Going the northern route is much better scenery wise. Olgii - Ulaangom - Murun or Olgii - Ulaangom - Tsetserleg. If you go middle route through Tsetserleg, it's paved road now all the way to UB for 460 km, which means a lot of traffic. The river north of Achit Lake is called Yamaatiin River. It depends on how much rain the area had a few days prior to your arrival. We don't get weeks of rain in Mongolia. It also depends on how hot the weather has been as the river is fed by glaciers from Mount Kharkhiraa & Mount Turgen. If you need up to date info on the conditions, you can contact me on info@adventuresmongolia.mn From time time I'm on trips in the countryside, but I'll be able to help most of the times. Goodluck & Cheers. Gana
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  #7  
Old 14 Mar 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oo-SEB-oO View Post
You could (but probably shouldn't) make your own route from any place to any other place. We did this after Tsetserleg but it's definitely not faster! We drove purely on coordinates but it took us the whole day to cover 80km of pure offroading. It would have been faster to take the normal "road". And you would probably don't get bogged on the normal "road"... ;-)

If you are in a hurry, then you should just stay on the southern route. If not:

Yes we did the 'loop': Altai - Uliastai - Tosontsengel - Tsetserleg
I can recommend it as a few highlights are on the way there.
The route we took is not even in google maps, if you are interested, send me a mail and I'll send you the GPX file of that part.
This part of Mongolia was for us the most interesting as the scenery is beautiful and most 'tourist' stay either on the southern or northern route... ;-)
Hi Seb,
In May, we will be in Mongolia and we are looking for the best route. We are interested about your loop Altai - Uliastai - Tosontsengel - Tsetserleg. This route seem very nice. A track to follow on our GPS will be really helpful to drive over there. Can you send us your GPX file ?
Thank you for that and thanks for all informations on the Hubb.
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  #8  
Old 23 Mar 2016
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Originally Posted by dantravel View Post
Hi Seb,
In May, we will be in Mongolia and we are looking for the best route. We are interested about your loop Altai - Uliastai - Tosontsengel - Tsetserleg. This route seem very nice. A track to follow on our GPS will be really helpful to drive over there. Can you send us your GPX file ?
Thank you for that and thanks for all informations on the Hubb.
Get in touch through > info -at- wanderingsouls -dot- be < and I'll see if I can find the tracks again "somewhere" on one of the hard disks.... ;-)

And you are most welcome about the info, we try to share what we can.
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  #9  
Old 24 Mar 2016
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I can also recommend this route like Seb did.

In my opinion much nicer from the landscape than the northern route via Ulangom.

Did it also in 2013 and liked it a lot
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