Mongolia with motorcycle end of june to beginning of august

[Tirpse]

We are planning to drive through Mongolia next summer between middle of june-early of august entering from western border crossing and then to east though Mongolia and then up to Baikal lake. We have been planning to use so called southern route.

It seems most popular times to visit Mongolia are summer months but i have got message saying it starts to rain in Mongolia in June which makes river crossings and driving in grassland very hard or impossible as its muddy.

Anyone been in Mongolia in that time who has some experience of possible routes though country or how bad or impossible road conditions can be for motorcycles (average bikers with average enduro bikes)

[scottw]

Yes, the tracks in Mongolia get very slippery/muddy after a rain, but it dries out fairly quickly. Same thing with river crossings. The water will rise quickly but will also come back down pretty fast after the rain stops. So if there is a hard rain that makes it difficult or dangerous to keep going, just settle down and wait a few hours (or after a very heavy rain maybe even a day or two) and it should be fine.

If it's really slippery/muddy you're much better off waiting. It's exhausting to struggle through deep mud and if you just wait until it firms up you can often blow through the same area at a good speed.

If you're really worried about a river crossing, wait until a Mongolian truck comes along and then see if they can put your bike on the truck, or even use a line to help tow you across. Most Mongolians are very willing to help out travelers on the road.

The "southern route" that you are planning to use is the best one if you are concerned about this issue. It is much less vulnerable to rain delays because it is mostly semi-desert and the soil is more sandy and absorbs water quickly and there are fewer water crossings. Plus it just gets less rain overall than the north (hence the desert).

You'll have a great time!

Scott

[Tirpse]

Thanks for good information and it just confirmed my belif that its under normal condition possible to bike in Mongolia during that time as most travel books advice you to go there at that time.

[sijohnston]

i too am thinking of leaving from the UK around then. I'm solo on an 800GS and am just considering this trip now. are you on a bike or driving?

[Tirpse]

Originally Posted by sijohnston

i too am thinking of leaving from the UK around then. I'm solo on an 800GS and am just considering this trip now. are you on a bike or driving?

We are group of 4 bikes (three finns and one estonian) and we start from Estonia beginning of June and drive through Russia to Kazakhstan and visit Aral sea and then spend/drive some time in Altai mountains. From there we go to Mongolia and drive it from northwest to east possibly visiting Gobi and through UB to Baikal lake where we turn back to Europe and drive back to our homes.

[Capo Sakke]

Originally Posted by sijohnston

i too am thinking of leaving from the UK around then. I'm solo on an 800GS and am just considering this trip now. are you on a bike or driving?

We will commence our journey to that way end of May trough Russia. Hope that there isn't to many floods to ruin all paths but we'll see...

[gazpachu]

Hi folks,

We are also planning to make the southern route in Mongolia in July. Do you have any blog or website where we can follow your adventure? It will be helpful to know what you will be experiencing one month before we go.

[Capo Sakke]

Just look our WEB and Blogs there will be updates when possible to do it.
FIN2PAMIR
We will start 30.5 from Finland.

[Lisa Thomas]

you will love Mongolia! its great riding- great camping- not so great food.....

Simon and I road Mongolia in Aug last year - on our website we have a full diary + photos if you want to have a read2ridetheworld.com : diary

...and GPS ref too. which you can download. The file to download is at the bottom of the main index page.

a few recommendations - you may find June quite a bit wetter than say when we went in Aug. just be prepped for those rivers. the south 'route' is meant to be less wet - but it also has some terrible sections of corrugations interspersed with lumps of soft sand. take care and be aware! take a GPS. take a couple of good maps - one in English and one in Mongolian if possible as this gives you the opportunity to be able to point to a name that they may be able to read...
know how to repair a tire. take spare inners, a hand pump and elec pump to run off your bike. as you will be deflating for some sections.
take waterproofs! a tent, stove and cookware. you can not always rely on yurt-stays. camping is so much fun anyway in Mongolia.
fuel may also be a problem - we have very large capacity tanks and so didn't run out but....it can be very long distances between places where you can pick up fuel - and sometimes even when you get to one there may be no fuel. think of how you will carry extra if you have a standard tank size.
As you can see Simon and I had a wonderful time..despite it being quite a tough 'never let up' kinda ride..we would definitely go back.
if you get a chance to ride into the Gobi then do - its a long way down from UB to Dalanzadgad and then into the Gobi but well worth it- but its best not to do this on your own!

cheers
if you need more info etc...then you can always send me an email which is on the contact page of our website: 2ridetheworld.com : diary

[Tirpse]

About two more months and our expeditition starts to Mongolia.

I have sketched rought route what we will be riding through there will come perhaps some changes on it
Google Maps

Lisa: Your site looked really nice.

We are prepared to all those things what you said, like we are carrying in group of 4 bikes set of tools to do maintenance to your bike and some basic fixing and drinking water and extra fuel.

About camping generally. When i was around 20 years old Finnish goverment was kind enough to provide me 9 month camping course in temperatures below -30 C when i did my military service in Finnish Defence Forces in recon company so i wouldnt be too worried about surving in camping.

We all will be also carrying paper version of maps, at least one compass and we have few GPS and Oziexplorer map plotters to locate us in case we get lost. When Simon who is joining our group in Volgograd saw our planning documentations he just said "Wow, your organised" and they were just preliminary versions.

[smontic]

Hi Tripse,

I leave for Mongolia between May 29. Led by Italy through Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and finally Mongolia. Here I follow the northern path, that seems less frequented by motorcyclists, but I think he has much to offer.
I put information about my trip here :[url=http://www.advrider.it/archives/2302]

[Tirpse]

Hello Smontic ! Perhaps if you see five bikers with a sticker in windshield representing Finland, Estonia, Russian, Kazakstan and Mongolia flags on our bikes please stop us and say hello like everyone else who see this treat and are travelling in same area.

[navalarchitect]

Hi ,

In one years time I plan to do a trip starting in Vladivostok, then going to Mongolia and riding roughly the reverse of the route Smontic has planned (ie Russia, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaija, Georgia,Turkey, Greece then Europe). A basic question - because I am at the early days of planning - can you confirm a Carnet is not required any of the countries on this route.

Many thanks

[sijohnston]

yes, i am fairly certain you don't require a carnet for these countries...only visas for many of them.

[danielsprague]

Hi All

I'm just due to enter (with car) Mongolia from Russia at Tashanta, and can't seem to find out if there are any extraordinary requirements for crossing this border.

If you have entered Mongolia from this border, I'd be very grateful if you could post a reply to my thread...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...mongolia-51303

Thanks!

Daniel