Hi all,

after Xinjiang 05, Tibet 06 and Kirg/Tadjikistan 07

I am working on our 2009 sidecar trip.

The plan is this year to drive from Urumqi to Ulanbaataar and then Beijing.
We want to do it the traditional way, sleeping with the locals and or under tent.

Does any of you knows a good support (travel agency) in Urumuqi ?
The same for a good support team in Mongolia ?
What is the best (nicest - genuine) way from western Mongolia (Bulgan) to Ulanbaatar ?

Thanks in advance

Antoine

I am planning a very similar trip on 2 wheels.
CHN: Urumqi - Chinese Altay
KAZ: Zaysan - Semipalatinsk (Semey) - Krasnyy Aul
RUS: Rubsovsk - Barnaul - Bysk - Gorno Altaysk - Tashanta
MON: Tsagaannuur - Olgiy - Khovd - Bulgan - Altay - Bayankhongor - Arvaykheer - Lun - Ulaan Bataar - Zamyn Uud
CHN: Erenhot - Beijing

The Mongolian stretch of the route (up to UB ) is pretty much a copy of this one.
They have some good descriptions, map extracts and took a picture about every 10 kms.


I think other choices are a little limited anyway


Although we are going without support, I was given the following contacts through a third party.
Nomads Tours and Expeditions - Adventure travel, cultural travel and expeditions in Mongolia
Steppenfuchs Reisen

Bulgan? To the best of my knowledge there is only one land border open to foreigners (non Mongolians, non Chinese) between China and Mongolia, which is Zamyd Udd - Erenhot.

Andy

P.S. What is your experience with the paperwork of bringing a Chinese registered bike (to a foreigner) out of China and back in?

Hi Andy,

Bulgan sounded doable last time i asked the guys in Mongolia.

The major problem as you raised it is IN and OUT from China with China Bike...
We did it twice already and every time we had guys "arranging" it at the border. On the paper it is impossible. But THIS IS CHINA...
Anyway the problem is that it is easier when you do IN and OUT at the same place, when you do it from 2 different border in 2 different provinces it is more difficult...
Do you have anybody to assist you ? Good people to advise in Mongolias ?
For China you can try with Taher from Newlandtravel Kashgar New Land Travel, they did it for us in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

+1 re Taher. He took care of my ride in China coming from Kyrgyzstan and leaving to Pakistan via the KKH. Taher is >100% reliable (unlike the Chinese officials )

www.boskoop2nepal.nl

G'Day,

Some mates used Steppenfuchs Reisen for this years 10 day Mongolia bike trip and were very satisfied with the service provided. Steppenfuchs Reisen provided the bikes and arrange the entire Mongolia trip.

Best regards, Butch

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Thats correct.

There are 6 border crossings open to non locals. One is a train only crossing (Sukhbaatar - Naushki) and another is Genghis Khan Airport in UB.

The 4 road crossings open to non-locals are at the 4 points of the compass (3 to Russia and 1 to China). TsaaganNuur / Tashanta in the west, Zaamin Uud / Erenhot in the South, Altanbulag / Kyakhta in the North and the very very rarely used EreenTsav / Solovyevsk in the East.

My experience is the Mongols dont really care so much, but the Russians and Chinese will simply not let anyone cross at any other point.

__________________

Hi guys, thanks for the answers.

I identified few other border cross between China and Mongolia, the one i am very interested in is CEKE (West of inner Mongolia) we contacted them and they said this border might open after march....Sure...:confused1:

Anyway Bulgan border said OK to let foreigner go through but no motorbikes...

Again the issue is go in and out from China with our Motorbike... It should be done at the same border or at least in the same province...a mess

My back-up plan is to do a trip around the Chinese part of the Gobi...it looks nice.

Butch, do you remember a group of German who did it years ago on CJs ? they had a website but i cannot find it anymore ( or maybe i dreamt)

Merry Christmas

Antoine

Antoine!

I am hoping to do a sidecar trip in the future.

(I have the sidecar, but its not ready for travel yet)

If you have a website or blog I would be interested to see how you get on, and what trick to learn from practical long-distance sidecar riding.

Merci!

__________________
Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Sidecar is indeed a great way to travel.

Check the website of Hubert, our master !
The Timeless Ride Hubert Kriegel BMW Motorcycle Raid World Travel Sidecar Adventure Gespann

Although I didn't use their motorbikes...their Yamahas...I can vouch for this organization and Vait...100% reliable and inexpensive compared to other local agencies.

They know the land very well!

__________________
edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

G'Day,

Paolo Petronio was the organizer out of Changchun (met him once in old Hongqiao Harley's Bar Shanghai some years ago), their website doesn't work anymore.

Extreme Motorbike Tours China Welcome to EXTREME MOTORBIKE TOURS CHINA

Seasons Greetings! Best Regards, BUTCH

ps: will send you the Paolo contact details I still have via PM today.

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Dear Butch,

sadly, it seems Paolo is not among us anymore.

DRAGIN RUN RTW by Motorcycle Guest Book for our Visitors

G'Day Andy,

sorry, didn't know. Paolo RIP!

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

In July 2006 my wife and I left Changchun, China on the start of our RTW trip on a Chang Jiang and we got hung up trying to cross from Erenhot into Zamin Uud, Mongolia. While other Changers had easily passed across the border prior to us ("the Germans", Gerald and others) it seemed that there was a new ruling requiring a customs form that had to be gotten in Beijing allowing us to "export" our bike. We were hung up in Erenhot for about two weeks while we waited for friends to arrange the form. Once in Mongolia, we were required to have a guide (we shook hands at the border and that was the last we saw of him) to sign some paperwork presented to us by Mongolian customs.

This was all detailed on our website the Draginrun.com. which I just cancelled. However, if any of you need information, please do not hesitate to contact me at flashy_bmw@yahoo.com. I will be happy to provide whatever info I can.

The eastern border crossing is definitely closed to all except Chinese and Mongolian nationals, the other three are open if you have the right paperwork.

Finally, Paolo passed away in July 2006 while meeting a tour group that had signed up for one of his Extreme Motorbike Tours in Inner Mongolia but his wife Lilly and Chinese partner James are still running the tours.

Hope this was helpful.

Jack Murray
Draginrun Completed
No job, no home, no phone, no bullshit

Hi Jack,
i follow part of your journey on your website. I am sorry to hear about Paolo, never met him, but we lost a grat CJ lover.

I am starting the paper work trying to cross the Bulgan border (2nd Choice)... 1st choice is still the Ceke border, but i cannot get any information until March regarding its possible opening to foreigners.

Anyway it is the usual T.I.C... Impossible ! Why ? Because nobody did it... So lets do it ! Impossible ! Why ? Because it is expensive... So lets pay for it ! Impossible ! Why ? Because it takes a lot of time... So work on it day and night ... So T.I.C. impossible is possible with a lot of patience (nice way to say being very very stubborn)... This is why we love China.

I will keep you posted