The toughest ride of my life; Uliastai to Altai

I would say it was the toughest day but I didn’t even manage to finish the 190km in one day and had to wild camp. Keeping in mind that I’ve also ridden the high roads of the Indian Himalayas but this was still harder

Having come in from the east of Mongolia via the central route, I always knew that this leg to cut down south was going to be especially tough. I considered it the fee to pay for not taking the dull and dusty southern route across and getting beautiful scenery and asphalt (mostly) till now

In Uliastai, Yosuke, whom I had met in Ulan Bataar riding a Honda Monkey 125, had waited a day for me so that we could go together to tackle the way down to Altai.

Firstly on the way out, we decided that we should find ourselves some police and ask if the route was open! Didn’t want a surprise road closure like the previous day again



As we got that confirmation a car rolled up and who should it be but the lady that had helped me at the road closure the previous day!

Now confident that the road was at least open, we set off.

The first 20km out of Uliastai ascended up a mountain pass and were fairly decent hard pack gravel.

From the top of the pass looking back at Uliastai





And to the long road ahead to Altai



Some luggage re-adjustment on the Monkey drew a crowd even in the middle of nowhere





After the summit it started to get a little rockier and then even more rockier till we were going through single trail which was large rocks over dirt with some deeper gravel in places. At least there was minimal sand but the gravel still made for a couple of slidey moments.



One in particular stuck out where I thought, oh, its getting hard packed and started nudging 50kmh till the trail suddenly cambered leaving me in a fairly fast tank slapper which I somehow recovered by sheer luck. After that, it was strictly no quicker than 30kmh!

The rocky surfaces then gave way to long stretches of hard pack but with LARGE corrugations that we simply couldn’t go fast over.



We were struggling to get an average speed over 20kmh!

Bridges were closed to cars but we hoped the wood would bear the weight of a bike!



We had known that was no food or fuel on this stretch so lunch consisted of a biscuit with a stop every 10km (half an hour) for a sip of water







There were discarded animal hooves all over the place!



The occasionail road sign to help confirm we hadn't chosen a trail leading off to nowhere!





As the day wore on, we were still moving ever so slowly with the sun setting to the side we start talking about the prospect of, ok, what if we don’t make it there tonight

Just as we were starting to accept the idea of possibly pushing on in the dark, in front of us appeared the darkest cloud formations I’d seen in a long time.



It’s ok, maybe we are turning away from it; we weren’t. And as if to make a point, every minute or so lightning would strike down.

Ok, the sun has maybe half an hour left on it, we are facing the possibility of riding on bad roads in the dark during a storm; we HAVE to find a place to camp.

Easier said than done; we were now in the region known as the “Stone Gobi”; so, theres a lot of stone….and it’s a desert. To add to that, it was so windy!

We eventually found a small clearing beside the road that was a little lower than the area around it and with a few less rocks to dig into our back.

With the wind, Yosuke and I helped each other set our tents up and not too soon as the rain started just as we got ourselves and our gear inside



Now we hadn’t planned to camp but thankfully I had emergency food!

Unfortunately Yosuke didn’t have much water left on him and was planning for his dinner to consist of biscuits!

I didn’t exactly have a lot of food and water on me either but it would’ve been bad form not to share; so, once the rain died down, we treated ourselves to a luxurious meal of hot instant noodles!



A perfect way to end the night with a stomach full of warm food before resting up from a tough day.

We had fallen 40km short of Altai but the day had really challenged us both

The next morning we woke up and slowly set about packing up; I mean, we had the whole day to cover just 40km





As we set off, it became obvious that not pushing on the previous night had been the right choice; the road remained terribly corrugated.

We continued to stop every 10km but with just 10km to go to Altai the road appeared! Actual asphalt!

It was the southern route coming from Ulan Batar looking beautiful and smooth. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face and gave the Gixxer a quick hit up to 80; it hadn’t been over 50 in so long!







Altai!!



A simple celebration





For many years now I’ve heard people talk about the southern route being boring and dull and I can see why! The south is desert with either sand or stone! Furthermore I keep hearing about construction in the south which means detours of sand and corrugation. So it beats me why people continue to do it

We had a beautiful run up through the centre with amazing scenery with one very tough but not impossible stretch as payment for the beauty.

Would I do it again? Nope. But I don’t regret it at all

As a perfect was to wrap up this achievement, a beautiful hotel at a great price and seeing as its my birthday tomorrow, maybe a pizza for dinner!

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Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com