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From Central Asia to Mongolia 2014
From 2009 to 2012 all my summer trips departed from Ancona Port, to catch the ferry to Igoumenitsa.
Since last year they are departing from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, after a few hours flight. 27/7/2014 Bishkek, with Francesco and Ludovico: the next day we will separate from them, as they are going south, in the Pamir. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...2002.11.09.jpg Memo and Chinara's house is a bit like being home for us, so breakfast and some relax with our friends Sambor and Ola, and with their group, just back from a ride on the afghan side of the Wakhan valley and more. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...2004.07.30.jpg The other two already working on one of their bikes, even before starting https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9...2/DSCF3524.JPG Mine is a few years old, but it looks still good https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCF3529.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...2/DSCF3531.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCF3535.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...2/DSCF3542.JPG |
28/7/2014
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCN0240.JPG We said goodbye to all our friends and the real trip started, under the rain, through the kazakh border and on to Almaty https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...2009.43.10.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSCN0244.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-v...2/DSCN0245.JPG 29/7/2014 A short visit to Almaty https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...2/DSC_0002.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c...2/DSC_0004.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y...2/DSC_0010.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSC_0013.JPG |
It's not easy to see it from the picture, but behind the city there are the mountains on the border to Kyrgyzstan
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSCN0252.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-L...2/DSCN0256.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...2/DSCN0263.JPG Charyn canyon https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSCN0266.JPG The slope is very steep and tricky, for the first hundred meters, but we want to camp down in the canyon https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...2/DSCN0269.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCN0274.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J...2/DSCN0276.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCN0278.JPG |
So down into it...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n...2/DSCN0280.JPG From pictures it's always hard to understand how steep a slope is, but this is very steep https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-I...2/DSCN0290.JPG Into the canyon https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g...2/DSCN0307.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSCN0323.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN0332.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/DSCN0341.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...2/DSCF3590.JPG 30/7/2014 https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...2002.43.32.jpg |
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSCF3651.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCF3659.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSCF3661.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCF3663.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L...2/DSCF3667.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSCF3675.JPG I knew it was steep...ooohhhhh https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCF3676.JPG |
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCF3678.JPG I'm ok, and this is good, the rest is a problem: I broke the clutch lever, and the bike is in the middle of the slope. I have a top case full of spare parts but obviously I don't have a few euros worth spare lever. We can't be able to push the bike up by ourselves, so Sabrina went searching for help. First she went to the national park entrance (1 km), but the guard was alone and he told her their jeep was not supposed to arrive before evening, then she walked all the canyon (3 km) to the coffe, where the previous evening I saw a van, but nobody was allowed to use it. The guys there told her that a truck was coming at 12.00, so she came back to me with at least some water. In the previous three hours I didn't saw any human being. Dismantled the top case, we manage to have the bike standing on the side stand, but pushing it up was impossible for us. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-T...2/DSCF3679.JPG |
We can only wait for someone, at least to move the bike from that position, where we cannot leave it, in the meanwhile we try to think about how to solve the problem: finding a van and transport the bike to Almaty (200 km) seems to be the best thing.
Two days before, Sambor gave me the number of Marat, a friend who lives in Almaty and organize bike trips, but our phones are not working where we are, so, when we will have moved the bike, we will have to walk to find a spot where there is signal and call him, or walk to the main road, 10 kms out, and stop vans, hoping they will be ok with coming to pick up the bike and bring us to Almaty. "Mine is working!", Sabrina says I dial the number of Marat, it rings: "hello?" "hello Marat, I'm Cristiano, a friend of Sambor, we met last year in Bishkek" "hello, tell me?" "I am in Charyn Canyon and I have a problem with my bike" "what problem? which kind of bike?" "I broke the clutch lever, it's a Dominator" "ok, my group will be there this evening, there will also be a mechanic, we will bring levers" "But...I mean...I understood you correctly? Are you coming HERE tonight? If I could find a van that brings me and the bike to Almaty you think I should come there?" "I think it's better for you to wait where you are, if it's too hot go down in the canyon to seek shade, see you later" I told Sabrina how the conversation went and she almost did not believe me. It's Asia: nothing is easy but everything is possible, like Sambor likes to say. Shortly after the first human beings arrived: they were an english guy with his bike and two swiss in a jeep; with their help we managed to push the bike out of the slope, and then they descended into the canyon to visit it, after giving us some more water. The english jumped on their jeep and leaved his bike out there with us (yes, I thinked about dismantling his lever while he was down and go, but I did not). https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C...2/DSCF3681.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...2/DSCF3693.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...2/DSCF3699.JPG We began a long day of waiting, during which we thinked and thinked-back to our plans for the next few days, because our program was pretty tight and we were already losing time https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...2/DSCF3701.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCF3707.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCF3708.JPG |
We set the tent on the side of the bike, to guarantee us a little shadow
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCF3716.JPG Around 15.30 a big orange Kamaz with trailer arrives: probably is the truck that was supposed to arrive at noon. One of the two occupants greets us and starts to turn around the bike, while the other dismounts the trailer hitch, and suggests me to put the brake lever in place of the clutch lever: pointing out that they are different is quite easy and I say him that however a mechanic will come from Almaty to help us in the evening. He laughs, probably because he thinks that we called some sort of local europeassistance, then the two of them go down into the canyon on the Kamaz. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSCF3713.JPG Shortly after repass the swiss and the english guys, which in the meantime have also loaded up a polish cyclist: some talk, many good wishes, and see you the next few days, since the programs they all seem pretty similar. They ask us if we are hungry, but we decline, as in the case we would be self-sufficient, and do not want them to lose their time. Then from the canyon comes the van I did saw the night before: the Kamaz passenger is its owner and driver and the vehicle is used to carry material up and down the canyon. Igor, this is his name, almost adopt us, and every time he arrives up from the canyon he holds something different for us: water, fanta, coca cola and warm bread. He is a nice person, Igor. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...2/DSCF3718.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCF3719.JPG Towards evening comes also the guard with his jeep, while Igor leads out of the canyon the girl who runs the cafe, to allow her to use the phone https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCF3720.JPG We begin to worry about the non-arrival of Marat and his group: maybe something happened and they are not coming and they can't communicate it to us because our phone is not working? We try to put ourselves at the point where it works and call him again, but this time it's his phone to be silent. Igor tells us that in the city sixty kilometers after we could weld the lever and that if we want, after sleeping in the canyon, the next morning he could bring us, loading the bike on his truck: if Marat does not arrive, the plan B is ready. Soon after, however, appears a little ktm, followed by two quad and a jeep, from which Marat and the mechanic descends. In 10 minutes, my bike has a clutch lever fully functional, albeit broken in half, and with some hammering we give also a partial resettled even to the gear lever, which for four years was standing with a makeshift repair, coincidentally made in Kazakhstan in 2010. It's dark now, so we decide to leave the bike out there and go down into the canyon to eat, drink and sleep with the jeep of Marat. I am not able to make the idea, but let's say that the driver of the jeep, in the canyon, in the dark, drives in a bit joyful way. Mounted the tent, we have dinner and spend the evening at the coffee with Igor, then joined by the group of Marat. I obviously pay a good part of the rounds of beer, and I'm happy with that: these are the people who, without asking anything in return, have supported us and helped us in many ways on a day which could have become truly critical https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-U...2/DSCN0343.JPG |
31/7/2014
Anton "the mechanic", me, Marat and the girl from the coffe https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSCN0344.JPG Another problem is on the horizon: it is now clear that we will not leave Kazakhstan in the expected 4 days, and by the fifth we must register our visas. In the past I've read terrible stories about the procedure, but I have never studied them: we know that the majority of people does it in Almaty. This and the need for a stronger repair of the gear lever, lead us to decide to go back to the big city, but first we have to get out of the canyon and arrive to our bike, parked just outside. Igor helps us one more time... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCN0345.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCN0347.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCN0349.JPG Greeted him, towards Almaty https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCN0351.JPG |
Simply awesome!! :thumbup1:
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Lunch break halfway, based on one of those shashlik that only Central Asia can offer
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...2/DSCN0357.JPG We meet an English guy who has bought a chinese bike in Kyrgyzstan and is riding it around the area: it's nice to see these young guys in this type of travel. We started much later than them, but the important thing is we started:-) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...2/DSCN0359.JPG And then back to Almaty. Luck helps us: the whole process of registration, which for many was a nightmare, take us only half an hour, thanks to the fact that in the police station Sabrina meets a man who speaks English and helps her filling out the necessary forms. In the same street where we just registered ourselves we find a hotel that provides the formula "half time half price." Yes, because in Kazakhstan many hotels offer the chance to get a room for 12 hours, instead of through the night with the usual check in and out, at half price. The problem is that now it's 18.30 and we have no intention to leave at dawn the following morning. The hotel has a beautiful outdoor arbor that serves as a bar and restaurant with free wifi, so the solution is really easy: we stay at the bar until 21, then we take our room and the next morning we can leave at a decent time. 1/8/2014 We ask the hotel for directions to a motorcycle mechanic, but they don't know how to help, and advise us to go and ask the motorcycle club of the city, which is not very far away. It's 10 in the morning and there is nobody, but the lady in the shop next to the club call someone on the phone explaining why we are there, and in two minutes we have the directions we need. At MyTownMoto we weld the gear lever, so we are finally ready to leave for the north, albeit two days late than originally planned https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/DSCN0364.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...2/DSCN0367.JPG Leaving the city, we stop to ask for directions, the driver of the car tells us to follow him because he is going in the same direction and so do we. When we are on the right road, he asks us to wait a minute as he enters the shop of a gas station: he comes out with a map of Kazakhstan in Cyrillic, on which he write his wife's number, who speaks good English, and his, and tells us to call in case we have any problem. Also asks us if we have a Kazakh number and when we answer no, jumps out even a brand-new sim. Thanks Roman! Meeting hospitable and caring people like you is why we like to travel these countries, even before the beauty of the places. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/DSCN0368.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCN0369.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCN0377.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSCN0379.JPG |
I switch to reserve, too early according to my calculations, but perhaps the last supply was not exactly full.
At the first village, not far, I ask for directions to a gas station: "here there is not, 40 km back or 60 km forward" Strange, usually in Kazakhstan in every village there's a gas station. Shortly before leaving I putted on the bike a big fuel tank from Acerbis and I think that if with the normal one I usually do 45 km on reserve, with this one 60 should not be a problem. After 45 km we are stopped completely dry. Sabrina looks at me in disbelief: it is the first time this happens to me in all my life. With the last drops of gasoline I go back a few hundred meters, where there are two trucks and their drivers, repairing one of the two: in general, I know that truck drivers are among the most willing to help in case of need. They travel to diesel and they don't have gasoline, but at least they give us a straw with which we could pull out a couple of liters from some passing cars. We do not need it: at the fourth car that I stopped in the middle of the street, a super luxury mercedes, they tell me that the distributor is there after 2 kilometers and they are willing to take me and bring me back then. Canistra? I throw on a couple of bottles from the side of the road and I go with them. The distributor is closed but the guy is there: the passenger explains him that we are a little behind with the bike dry, the gas station opens and he gives me a 5-liter can, then they bring me back to the bike. Thanks to you too guys!! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCN0382.JPG As soon as we depart, I see an old VW golf at the road side. Driver, wife and child are trying to fix the hood, which opened while going, marking also part of the windshield. I can't not stop to help, so I help them in restoring a bit the whole thing and I give them a couple of straps to attach the hood, to prevent it from happening again. The sun begins to drop, so we decide to stop at Sarkand. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCN0387.JPG 2/8/2014 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCN0399.JPG Kazakhstan is big, very big ... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...2/DSCN0406.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p...2/DSCN0408.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...2/DSCN0409.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCN0410.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCN0416.JPG |
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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/DSCN0423.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSCN0427.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCN0431.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCN0434.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSCN0441.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...2/DSCN0442.JPG I had planned to enter Russia from the border of Shemonaika / Zmeinogorsk, which I know to be less busy, and after which it would be possible to cut a few hundred miles of flatness through the mountains. But we know that there would be several miles of dirt road and we do not know the conditions, given also the recent floodings in the region. At Georgiyevka we must decide, and we decide to take the longer way, through Barnaul, but more certain, so we turn to the northwest in the direction of Semey. We are always two days late on our plan and through the asphalt we think we could recover at least one. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...2/DSCN0447.JPG |
Semey
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8...2/DSCN0448.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSCN0451.JPG 3/8/2014 The house/museum where Dostoevsky lived https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/DSCN0463.JPG The ladies of the museum are very happy of us being there https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSCN0471.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSCN0472.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...2/DSCN0473.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8...2/DSCN0479.JPG Russia! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I...2/DSCN0488.JPG |
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z...2/DSCN0501.JPG Barnaul https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCN0502.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCN0505.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g...2/DSCN0508.JPG Moto Bar https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...2/DSCN0514.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I...2/DSCN0518.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCN0520.JPG |
4/8/2014
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Entering into the heart of Altai Mountains https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSCN0571.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCN0575.JPG Coffee break https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...2/DSCN0584.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN0588.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...2/DSCN0590.JPG The coffee probably saved us from a downpour https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...2/DSCN0598.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCN0600.JPG |
Altai Mountains.
Let me give some advice to anyone planning to travel this road to enter Mongolia from the west: try to plan your trip by calculating short distances in this area. Not because it is difficult to cross it quickly, but because by doing so you will regret not having had more time to stop to explore it. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCN0603.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...2/DSCN0605.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...2/DSCN0613.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCN0621.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN0623.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCN0624.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCN0631.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...2/DSCN0633.JPG |
In Onguday we find a hotel/resort with every comfort, where we stop with two English guys from the Mongol Rally known just before
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...2/DSCF3818.JPG Just outside Kosh Agach there are Russian military antennas pointing towards the border https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSCN0828.JPG And then the first camels https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...2/DSCF3821.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCF3825.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...2/DSCF3827.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...2/DSCF3829.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCN0830.JPG |
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We arrive at the border at 15.00 and move ourselves pretty well between the various offices, but everything is pretty slow and we go out from the Russian side just after 17.00: the border closes shortly after, and today we are the last to pass. This is the no man's land between Russia and Mongolia, 20 km long. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCN0835.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...2/DSCN0837.JPG And finally, we are in Mongolia! https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J...2/DSCN0838.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...2/DSCN0840.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O...2/DSCN0841.JPG |
From the border to Olgii is about 100 kms, so, although it is already quite late, we decide to try to reach it, which would allow us to recover an entire day of the two lost in Kazakhstan in our original plan
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSCN0842.JPG After a few tens of km starts even the asphalt https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z...2/DSCN0844.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN0847.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...2/DSCN0850.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-d...2/DSCN0854.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCN0865.JPG Olgii https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCN0872.JPG We receive a worm welcome... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSCN0873.JPG |
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We find a place to sleep at the excellent Blue Wolf Ger Camp, equipped with showers and a beautiful adjacent room where breakfast is served https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...2015.21.58.jpg 6/8/2014 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B...2/DSCF3830.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCF3834.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...2/DSCN0880.JPG Mongolia is not only vast landscapes, gers and nomads. When there are, the cities looks a bit like this: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...2/DSCN0879.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7...2/DSCN0889.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/DSCN0892.JPG |
The first 60-80 kms to Khovd are paved
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Very nice photos :thumbup1:
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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCN0945.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCN0946.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSCN0947.JPG In 10 minutes everything happens: we are in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains, it starts raining (it stops shortly after, fortunately), we get lost in a stony track, and the odometer/speedometer breaks. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B...2/DSCF3896.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I...2/DSCN0948.JPG We go back on our feet, taking a different track from the one we had entered before, and we find a man on a horse who we ask for directions. Making a gesture with his hand, he tells us that we have to cross the mountain in front of us and then get off, but it's not easy to understand even if it is better to do this by passing on the right or on the left: there are tracks in both directions https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSCN0949.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSCN0950.JPG |
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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCF3912.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCF3913.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCF3916.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCF3919.JPG Tole ondulee, corrugations, washboard: call it as you want but it is never enjoyable https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-n...2/DSCN0994.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0...2/DSCN0998.JPG We don't know how many kms we have done and the day was pretty tiring, Sabrina is tired and so I am, so I tell her to get off the bike and ask how far we are from Khovd to some people standing on the roadside. They indicate the pass a little more forward, smiling; it seems they are saying that we will see the city from up there. Not yet convinced, we ask "how many kms?" They look at each other, smile, and indicate "5" with their hand; now sure to be close, we smile too ... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCN1004.JPG Khovd, at the end of this descent https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCN1005.JPG |
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSCF3926.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSCF3928.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSCF3932.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...2/DSCF3936.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN1007.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCN1009.JPG A guy on a bike stops to greet us at the entrance of the city: he also rides two up https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCN1010.JPG |
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https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X...2/DSCN1021.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCN1023.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN1024.JPG We try to find a Ger camp to sleep in, we don't find it, it's pretty late and we are tired, so we go to a hotel, dinner in the room ... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSCF3950.JPG 7/8/2014 https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B...2/DSCF3954.JPG There is also a monastery in Khovd, not ancient but always fascinating https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/DSCN1033.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCN1035.JPG |
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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSCN1047.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...2/DSCN1050.JPG The first 176 kms from Khovd to Altai City are paved ... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSCN1054.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCN1056.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCN1059.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCN1063.JPG ... then suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, the asphalt ends, as if they had begun to pave starting from the city and stopped at random, when the material was finished, wherever it was https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCN1066.JPG |
...and this starts...
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I've never used a gps in my life, not because I have some aversion towards the object, but much more simply because I never needed one. After we lost ouselves the day before in search of Khovd, and having the odometer/speedometer broken, in the evening I verified if the app that I had downloaded on my media player would work: yes, we have a gps. Not having anything to hold it on the bike, I keep it in my pocket and start to check the position during photo/cigarette breaks. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...2/DSCF3969.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...2/DSCF3971.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCF3972.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCF3973.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L...2/DSCF3977.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCF3978.JPG |
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We are on a side track, the one to the left, the GPS says we are a bit more north than the track marked on the OSM map I had downloaded in Italy, but I don't care because I think it's normal it is not perfectly accurate. The tracks in Mongolia are generally composed of many parallel tracks, which all go in the same direction; usually the outer ones are the ones with less tole ondulee. Checking the GPS ... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSCF3980.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSCF3981.JPG It's a long time since we met anyone, so check again... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCF3983.JPG We are still further to the north, too much. It's a long time since we saw the last car. I compare the gps track with the map and look through the binocular toward the south: the error is evident, we are 10-13 kms north of the main track. We managed to lose ourselves even using the gps, good. We have 2 choices: go back or ride through the steppe. The ground is hard, let'go for the steppe. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSCF3984.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...2/DSCF3985.JPG We reach what appears to be the main road and we verify: the gps says it is the right one, and he's right https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCF3992.JPG Also buses pass here ... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSCF3995.JPG |
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It begins to be late afternoon when we see a few small buildings and some gers. We decide that the day has been long enough and stop here. We ask permission and they show us to mount our tent next to the first building. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0...2/DSCF4008.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g...2/DSCF4009.JPG Mongols are curious... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCF4010.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCF4011.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCF4013.JPG In the truck parked nearby travels a french girl, by herself, hitchhiking, we talk a bit before they left https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...2/DSCF4016.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCF4019.JPG |
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Its impossible to get lost in Mongolia, just follow the empty wodka bottles!!
Great pictures. GRTZ, JP |
Quote:
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8/8/2014 The next morning the oldest man of what during the night we understood to be the mongolian version of one of our autogrills, makes an unmistakable sign with his hand: he wants money for allowing us to put the tent next to them. They asks 2 or 3 dollars, it is not a problem, but this surprises me and makes me realize the great difference that exists between the Mongols and the peoples of other Central Asia countries, where everybody gives you everything without being prompted, and without asking for anything in return. In Mongolia it doesn't work always this way: you can meet people hospitable and generous, that invite you to drink tea in their ger or that approach you to give you a bottle of water, but it also happens to meet people a little more attached to money. Great social changes are taking place in the country, and - we were later told - they are losing some of the old values. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-L...2/DSCN1079.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T...2/DSCN1082.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCN1086.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN1088.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J...2/DSCF4052.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p...2/DSCF4056.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z...2/DSCN1091.JPG |
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The road is flat and rather boring https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCF4066.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN1103.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...2/DSCN1104.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN1108.JPG Every once in awhile, someone stops to have a chat ... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2...2/DSCN1110.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCN1111.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSCN1112.JPG |
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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCN1143.JPG We arrive at the pass and, as usual, there is an ovoo: "An ovoo (Mongolian: овоо, heap) is a type of shamanistic or Tengriism's shire cairn found in Mongolia, usually made from rocks with wood or from wood. Ovoos are often found at the top of mountains and in high places, like mountain passes. They serve mainly as Tengriism religious sites, used in worship of the mountains and the sky as well as in Buddhist or Shamanist ceremonies, but often are also landmarks. Almost reseachers say that originally all ovoo is from holy woods so until now it consist must be with wood and holy ovoo must be includes inside wood elements. When travelling, it is custom to stop and circle an ovoo three times in clockwise direction, in order to have a safer journey. Usually, rocks are picked up from the ground and added to the pile. Also, one may leave offerings in the form of sweets, money, milk, or vodka. If one is in a hurry while travelling and does not have time to stop at an ovoo, honking of the horn while passing by the ovoo will suffice" from Ovoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...2/DSCF4089.JPG A car arrives, it seems to want to crash on my bike and I start screaming, fortunately it stops before doing damage and descends a bizarre character (maybe a monk??) dressed in yellow who begins to recite things in Mongolian and try to stop the other cars which are passing: the scene is surreal but I must say it is fun. After a few minutes, and after giving us candy, fermented milk, cheese, and having covered us with so many incomprehensible words, they leave. The scene of the arrival and the show this character gave us remains one of the most absurd and funny experience in our lives https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...2/DSCF4093.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-n...2/DSCF4094.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y...2/DSCF4100.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...2/DSCF4104.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSCN1146.JPG |
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Altai City https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN1152.JPG 9/8/2014 https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCN1156.JPG East of the city a hundred kms more of asphalt https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCN1159.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A...2/DSCN1160.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCN1165.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...2/DSCN1166.JPG During a brief stop just outside of Delger, three nice guys approach us, they give us a bottle of water and we have a short chat https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...2/DSCN1167.JPG |
This I forgot to write it: why are we east of Altai City?
The original program was to go up north to Uliastai and then join the central route through Tosontsegel, Tariat and Tsetserleg before reaching Ulaanbaatar. The road conditions, the weather which continues to threaten rain since days, and the few days that remain available, they made us change the program, and we decided to continue along the southern route, on which we know from Bayankhongor will be asphalt to the capital. Shortly after we left, I see a person on the right side of the road, when he sees us he nods to stop: he is a guy from Israel who is traveling alone and on foot around Mongolia, he is there because the night before, due to the wind, he decided to put his tent BELOW the road, in a tunnel that allowed him not to fly away:-) We stop and talk for a while, then we say goodbye https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...2/DSCN1168.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...2/DSCN1169.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...2/DSCN1170.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...2/DSCN1171.JPG In addition to the tole ondulee, now we also have the sand...not constant and not always, but it's there... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSCN1177.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCN1183.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCN1187.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCF4107.JPG |
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The usual curious, who probably drank a bit too much vodka
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...2/DSCF4137.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCF4144.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B...2/DSCF4146.JPG We decide to stop here and ask if we can put our tent in a garden close to a little shop https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCF4151.JPG Evidently something get lost in translation, and we end up renting a room in a house nearby https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...2/DSCF4153.JPG So we ask where is the gas station as we need it: they show us the place but we are told not to go before 20.30 Why not? Because the pump will only work when the electricity will be reattached to the village, in the evening. Obviously there is a queue waiting for the opening ... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSCN1221.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCN1223.JPG When are now past 21:00, is starting to get dark and the electricity still is not seen, the guy from the gas station is convinced to switch on the generator and move the pump with that https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...2/DSCN1229.JPG |
10/8/2014
Throughout the day today we are lucky as the rain came before us, the sand is compact and this helps us greatly https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...2/DSCN1234.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...2/DSCN1235.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCF4166.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCN1244.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...2/DSCN1247.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSCN1253.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCF4170.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...2/DSCF4177.JPG |
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We arrive to a small river, which cars cross without problems... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCN1298.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCN1299.JPG Since there is a bridge a few meters, I prefere not to get my feet wet... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-O...2/DSCN1305.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCN1308.JPG 11/8/2014 Bayankhongor https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSCN1310.JPG We can't say it's a beautiful city https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCN1314.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...2/DSCN1320.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCN1323.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5...2/DSCN1326.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...2/DSCF4196.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSCF4198.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCF4199.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSCF4200.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-B...2/DSCF4201.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o...2/DSCN1329.JPG |
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https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCF4207.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCF4208.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...2/DSCF4209.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCF4213.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J...2/DSCF4214.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCF4215.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCF4218.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCF4219.JPG Today the road is easy, on the other hand it is pretty cold ... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/DSCF4220.JPG And we must also try to avoid these cute little creatures, who cross the road every few meters https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN1339.JPG We meet for the first time a foreign rider in Mongolia: his name is Levent, a Turkish around the world without a very precise destination https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCN1344.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...2/DSCN1346.JPG Did I wrote this guys are curious too? https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...2/DSCN1347.JPG Once in Kharkhorin we rent a ger in a camp set up for tourists (the city is one of the country's most turistic and ger camps are almost everywhere) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCF4230.JPG |
12/8/2014
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSC_0060.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSC_0047.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N...2/DSC_0052.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U...2/DSC_0061.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSC_0064.JPG Erdene Zuu monastery https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSC_0067.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSCF4234.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSC_0073.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCF4236.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...2/DSC_0080.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSC_0084.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCF4238.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f...2/DSC_0091.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSC_0092.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSC_0094.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-C...2/DSC_0096.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSC_0102.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSC_0107.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSC_0110.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSC_0113.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSC_0116.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...2/DSC_0123.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...2/DSC_0128.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...2/DSC_0129.JPG |
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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-O...2/DSC_0131.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...2/DSC_0133.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-m...2/DSCF4248.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSC_0142.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSC_0146.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O...2/DSC_0147.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/DSC_0154.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...2/DSC_0159.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p...2/DSCF4249.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1...2/DSCF4252.JPG Also "phallic rock" is here https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCF4254.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...2/DSCF4257.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...2/DSCF4265.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCF4273.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSCF4276.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSCF4280.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/DSCF4286.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCF4289.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSCF4302.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCF4303.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...2/DSCF4307.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSCF4314.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCF4317.JPG |
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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...2/DSCF4334.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCF4336.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSCF4337.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCF4338.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...2/DSCF4339.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSCF4351.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0...2/DSCF4365.JPG 13/8/2014 https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCN1356.JPG Mongol Els https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSCN1358.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T...2/DSCN1359.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X...2/DSCN1361.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCF4367.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/DSCF4371.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9...2/DSCF4375.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/DSCN1375.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSCN1377.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...2/DSCF4387.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9...2/DSCN1379.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCN1381.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN1387.JPG Entering Ulaanbaatar: there's traffic, but I don't think it's so different from other asian cities I visited https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0...2/DSCN1393.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I...2/DSCN1403.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c...2/DSCN1405.JPG |
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We arrive at Oasis Guesthouse https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...2/DSCN1408.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-p...2/DSCN1411.JPG There are a few guests: the Swiss who helped us in Charyn Canyon, Ken and Chip, two americans round the world, who are travelling with Mark, a british going home, from Australia, Beth and Shalom, she from California, he from Israel, round the world, some other Swiss in 4WD, some Australians going to Vladivostok and Lukas, who is building his Ktm in Ulaanbaatar https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSCN1413.JPG Austrian food in mongolian capital... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A...2013.34.50.jpg My bike has run bad all day, it probably has a very dirty air filter but I carefully deceided not to touch it. The goal was to reach Ulaanbaatar and we made it. The next day I have to ship it, I'm not worried. At one point, now "safe", at the Oasis, I realize that the bike does not start anymore: aaaahhh! The next day I have to ride a few km to reach the dispatcher: not now, no! With the help of Ken, we decide that it's probably the spark plug, then, even though it is already getting dark, we put ourselves at work and change it: nothing. Mark joins us, we dismantle the filter, emptied the carburetor, it's 22.00 and the bike is not starting. At one point, Ken opens the tank, looks inside, and looks at me, "try to switch on reserve?" .... Bruuum Okay: laughter for everyone and we can go to drink and spend a pleasant evening with new friends (For the record: I had not thought about the gas because I had refilled not so many kms before, almost certainly the problem is just the dirty filter and fuel consumption had grown) 14/8/2014 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u...2/DSCF1057.JPG With Sukhe, who will organize the shipping https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...2/DSCN1419.JPG It's going to stay here for a while https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSCN1426.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...2/DSCN1435.JPG In good company https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...2/DSCN1445.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...2/DSCN1452.JPG Then we walk back at the Oasis visiting some of the city: you can't say it is nice... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...2/DSCN1454.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-j...2/DSCN1456.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E...2/DSCN1458.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...2/DSCN1472.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...2/DSCN1484.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-R...2/DSCN1489.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...2/DSCN1497.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W...2/DSCN1504.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...2/DSCN1508.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSCN1510.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o...2/DSCN1511.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...2/DSCN1512.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...2/DSCN1515.JPG 15/8/2014 After another nice evening at the Oasis, on the morning of the 15th, Ken, Chip and Mark leave to continue their trip: we'll meet two of them a few weeks later:-) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...2/DSCN1524.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCN1527.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...2/DSCN1528.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/DSCN1529.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSCN1533.JPG And then it's time to leave also for us https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...2/DSCN1537.JPG |
WOW, a picture or two from this trip of mine, will be on the Izi Meeting calendar!
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The motorcycle journey ends here, but the holiday is not yet done: in evaluating the available flights from Ulaanbaatar to Milan we noticed that most of them go through Moscow or Beijing. The Moscow stops was almost always very long, and we had to get a Russian double entry visa to go out of the airport. When we discovered that, coming from a different country (Mongolia in our case) to China into Terminal 3 of Beijing and departing on a direct flight to another country (Italy) from the same terminal, it was possible for Italians to enter China without a visa and stay for 72 hours in the Beijing region, the decision was easy. So 3 nights / 2 full days in Beijing. Only a few photos, since no bike involved https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSC_0197.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...2/DSC_0204.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...2/DSC_0308.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/DSC_0531.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...2/DSC_0556.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2/DSC_0584.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...2/DSCF4492.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4...2/DSC_0673.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...2/DSC_0717.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-e...2/DSC_0722.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSC_0731.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...2/DSC_0763.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...2/DSC_0770.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...2/DSC_0771.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-P...2/DSC_0783.JPG And this time, the holiday is really over... |
thx for bringing us along
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