Mongolian roads - West to East
 

Has anyone entered Mongolia on the West side on the M52 near Tashanta then down riden threw Olgiy onto Ulaanbaata.

I've heard that the road is non-existent, however it is on the map. I would love to hear from someone with recent information, is it all dirt, sand, sealed. How long did it take, etc


Ken

Ken: That's the fun (hard) way to get to Ulaanbaatar. Geoff Kingsmill did it the opposite way in a 4wd with a friend riding along on an F650. His excellent advice page is here: http://dreamers1.com/russia/Practica...ticalities.htm

For a look at the potential difficulties, check out Jim's account of his tough trip over that same route on his old BMW sidecar rig (the Mongolia stuff starts towards the bottom of page 2): http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64938

The route is all dirt track except for in the towns. You will need a good compass and map at a minimum. GPS is better. There are some stream/river crossings that are usually OK but if there has been recent rain you may need to hold up a day or so for the water to go back down.

It's not an easy route, but it's not impossible either. There was a European couple who did it last year in a tuk-tuk from Bangkok!

Let me know if you have any other questions about riding in Mongolia.

-Scott

Another source of great info is at www.xor.uk/silkroute/siberia2004/mongolia/mongoliaroute.htm. This group did it in a four wheel caravan. But the best part is that they took pics of the road every 10kms (with waypoints) so you get a good idea of what the road (track) is like.

We will be heading that way in August on a BMW powered Chang Jiang.

Jack

I rode by this road. After crossing the Russian border you should forget about a paved roads for the next 1500km. You will see there a different tracks in sand, mud and deep water fords in some places. The much depend on weather. You will have a some fuel and navigation problems. The 92 octane petrol is available every 200-250 km in townes only. There are no any traffic signs. If you will be lost you should ask a rare mongolian drivers the right way. I rode there alone with my Africa Twin. It was my hardest journey. My day run was 200-300 km.

Alex

Priviet Alex -

Sometime in the future, when I get more offroad experience, I'd really like to take the road you took. However, I'm a little concerned about rather short fuel range of my Transalp compared to for example Africa Twin. So I'd like to ask you: did your AT consume more fuel in that hard terrain than on remote but paved roads? How much more? Comments of other bikers welcomed.

BTW, the road you took was the so called "northern" or "southern"?

Thanks,
Kris

Hi Kris. The road I have taken is "southern". It looks absurdly but the fuel consuming in a hard mongolian terrain(5.5L) have been less than on a paved roads(7L)! Becaus the speed was less.
Alex