Altai Mountains...

Today we got into the Altai Mountains of Russia - beautiful snow capped peaks and a white/blue river that we followed along the road.  It was a very enjoyable ride with twisty turns, bluebird skies and incredible views of the snow capped peaks.  We dropped about 5,000 ft. in less than 200 km.  At about 2100 ft. The road turned north as the river turned west and we started climbing again whil following a bubbling creek flowing down towards us.  It was only about 3pm but we saw a nice spot on the creek and decided this would be our camp for the night.  A small village up the road provided had a shop with beer we kept cool in the stream.  Plenty of firewood around ensures us of a campfire tonight.  

Not sure how cold it will get as we are at 2600 ft. here at camp.  Last night in Kosh-Agats it was pretty cold, but at a much higher elevation.  Tonight we will enjoy the campfire and soothing sounds of the creek while we sleep.

Our lunch stop.

Nice spot for the tent by the creek.

Starting a fire early - could get cold.

These guys fed us too much vodka!

Altai Mountains.

Back in Russia...

Today we crossed back into Russia - about 4 hours to get through the Mongolian exit process and the Russian entry process.  I took a little longer than Ken and Mark because I checked the wrong box on one of the Russian forms.  There is no correcting allowed in Russia - when handed the forms the boarder agent said "no mistakes".  I made a mistake so had to redo the entire form - twice because you have to fill out two identical forms with the same info.  The whole boarder crossing process is kind of mind numbing.

The 100 km road to the boarder started out Tarmac and turned to dirt for a stretch to go over a 8,000 ft. pass.  The last 30 km or so was all dirt and shirty washboard with gravel piles outside the tire tracks.  Again no relaxing behind the bars because going outside the tracks would probably result in a crash.  The no mans land between the Mongolia customs and immigration and the Russian customs and immigration was a beautiful smooth and twisty road that was much longer than expected - probable about 10 km. - the no mans land when entering Mongolia from Russia was only a few hundred meters.  We again had to pay to have our tires decontaminated - this time a quick spray from a hose.  The price for the service was 50 rubles.  I should have paid him extra to spray all the Mongolian dirt, mud and dust off my bike.  The bike and riding gear are both pretty grimy.  

We rolled into the first decent sized town about 50 km past the boarder and stopped at a guesthouse to inquire about a room.  The place was booked but we met several Russians that were staying there socializing and having beers just outside the guesthouse.  Our Russian rockstar status was back - we chatted a bit and exchanged gifts.  We all got cool handmade Russian beanie hats and Ken and I gave out the Colorado and Virginia state flag pins that we had brought to give as gifts.  I like my hat a lot!

We found out there was another guesthouse down the road so we said our goodbyes and secured a room with private bath/shower and WiFi.  It would have been fun to stay at the first place as we would have liked to join their party and socialize a bit more.  They seemed like really fun people.

Tomorrow we head up into the mountains for some more camping - but tonight we get a bed and a hot shower.  

With our new hats and friends at the guesthouse that was booked solid.

Goodbye Mongolia...

Today is Friday and this morning we will ride the 100 km to the boarder and back into Russia.  The mountain in this section of Russia are supposed to be spectacular so I am very much looking forward to finding a nice camp tonight.  We are all also a little sick of the Mongolian food so it will be nice to get back into Russia for a few days.

Last night we walked into Olgii to find a cold beer.  We hadn't had a cold beer since UB - there is just no refrigeration through most of Mongolia.  We stopped at two places and struck out - warm beer on the back shelf only.  The third place we hit was the Duman hotel where Malcolm and Sara had stayed an they mentioned there was a pub and nightclub.  We walked into the pub and saw all the warm beers lined op on the back bar - shit, strike three.  While Mark and I waited for the bartender Ken peeked into the nightclub and jackpot - they had a cooler with cold beer.  So we bought cold beers and took them into the pub as the nightclub was super cheesy and we already had a couple of locals ask us to buy them beers.  We had heard this part of Mongolia was the Khazak region of the country and you had to watch for scammers, aggressive drunks and people constantly asking you to give them your stuff.  We had already been flagged down earlier that day with people asking for food, booze, etc.

We finished our first beer and I walked next door to get us another round.  There were several drunk locals up at the bar when I put the three beers up to pay.  One of the drunks grabbed on of my beers and said mine.  I told him no, that they were mine and took it back.  He grabbed it again so I again took it back.  He then proceeded to full on punch me in the chest.  It surprised me more than it hurt as I was still making the transaction with the bartender.  But this SOB just sucker punches me because I won't give him a beer - so re-actively I make a move to defend myself and say loudly the next person to touch me is going to get hurt.  Luckily his friend pulls him back and the security guard came over and restrained him.  I took the beers back to the pub and while telling the story to Ken and Mark the SOB's friend comes over, sits down at the table and starts asking us to buy him beers.  At this point we are all getting sick of the harassment.  The security guard comes over and pulls him out of our booth and two minutes later he is back - with a ripped up shirt.  Apparently the guard roughed him up a bit.  Again the guard grabs him out of or booth and pulls him out of the pub.  We slipped the security guy 30,000 Tugrig (about $13) and he made sure no one bothered us again.  

This morning we had the included breakfast at the Ger camp - eggs, potatoes, cabbage and bread.  We had been eating camp oatmeal for the past 5 days so the full breakfast was nice.  We sat and chatted with a couple from Israel that had been trekking in the national park to the north and shared stories on our respective Mongolia experiences.  

Some random photos of the past 10 days in Mongolia...

More Dirt and 100,000 Miles...

The Tarmac disappeared way too soon.  We left the lake around 10:30am and were back on the dirt before noon.  Just before the Tarmac ended we had a herd of several dozen camels cross the road in front of us.  Camels are pretty funny the way they stare at you.  They look to be very curious creatures. Also towards the end of the Tarmac my GS hit a milestone - the 20 year old bike turned 100,000 miles.  It's a tough SOB.

The ride through this streach of northern Mongolia was beautiful.  We rode near several more lakes and traversed multiple passes - the highest topping around 8500 ft.  One of the climbs was super rocky and quite steep and challenging.  I prefer the golf ball size rocks to the sand any day though.  The plateau through one of the passes revealed the most livestock we had seen in a single area.  Dozens of ranchers had brought their goats, sheep, cows, horses and camels up to the lush grasslands on the plateau to graze.  It was a pretty cool sight.

We didn't camp at the top of the pass as the wind was whipping and a storm was brewing.  There were no trees for any protection - just rock and grass.  So we rode down to the valley and found a decent camp spot near a small stream.  It did start to rain just after setting up camp so dinner was a bag of pretzels and a vodka martini - I knew that can of olives I bought several days back would come in handy!  We all were in our tents and to bed by 9:00pm due to the rain - our earliest night yet.  I needed as my body was hammered from the days ride.  It rained on and off and the wind gusted strong throughout the night.  The nights are also getting cold.  It was down in the 40's by the time the sun was coming up in the morning.  I got up early to snap some photos as the light was very good with a clear blue sky.

We rode the150 km into Ulgii and arrived around 2:30pm.  The ride was mostly rocky but there was a moderate section of sand.  I'm either getting better riding sand or the sand is just getting easier - I haven't crashed at all the past two days!  We passed another huge lake and rode along side a pretty river on the way into the town.  We found a Ger camp with the big three of adventure travel  - showers, WiFi internet and laundry.  We hadn't had all three in six days.  Tonight we see what the Ulgii nightlife has to offer.  We actually saw an Irish Pub just as we entered town - I hope the have a pint of Guiness! Tomorrow we will ride the 100 km to the boarder and say goodby to Mongolia.  It was definitely some memorable and challenging riding.  My body will be happy to be back in Russia where the roads are mostly paved.

Ken getting past a camel crossing.

Turned 100,000 today!

Some local bikers on the trail.

Mark relaxing on a short break.

Camp spot last night.

Still snow up on those peaks.

The river as we came in to Olgii.

Sweet, Sweet Tarmac...

We took off Tuesday morning under dark skies and a light drizzle. The further west we went the darker it became. We decided to pull off at a Ger and small building when it really looked like it was about to come down - hoping the occupants might offer us some shelter from the storm. We did get inside after a bit showing them our route on maps and communicating through the usual sign language. After about 30 minutes the dark storm it the distance had appeared to move north so we decided to press on. Soon the skies became dark and the rain became steady. It had also appeared to have already rained hard for some time all through our path west. The mud became thicker and the puddles deeper. It was actually easier riding than the previous two days as the sand became firm from the rain. The biggest hazard this day was the sections of extreme washboards. The front end would start to vibrate violently making control difficult and fatigue the hands and arms.

Around 4:30pm we hit the Tarmac we had heard we would find before reaching the lake. We had to stop and give our thanks - Ken actually kissed the road. His rear shock had given out before we even hit the dirt so he had been been riding a pogo stick for the past three days. The road was the sweetest stretch of Tarmac any if us had ever seen. Smooth as a billiard table, no seams no curves. It was the strangest thing because there was nothing where the road started. The nearest town was 150 km back where we had started earlier that day - and a tiny town at that. Oh well, we will take it - it was nice to be able to relax a bit as the previous three days had required laser focus.

We arrived at the lake around 7pm and of course had to camp on the beach. We met a couple of travelers that had started in Scotland and were going to Australia - Malcolm from Scotland and Sara from Australia. They ended up camping with us and we shared stories, talked bikes and enjoyed the spectacular sunset. They had come the way we were headed and vise versa so it was good to share info on the roads (or lack there of) ahead.

Tonight we will camp again - hopefully on top of a mountain pass - but Thursday we plan to be in Ulgii and will look for a hotel or guesthouse as we haven't had showers since Saturday or done laundry in over a week.

We also haven't had internet in three days until our lunch stop today.  I put some iPhone photos up for the last two pasts and will put the better ones on when I get to better internet tomorrow.

Muddy riding today.

Lots of camels in a Mongolia.

Malcolm and Sara.

Beach camp at the lake.

The sweet Tarmac - like billiard table!  To bad it only lasts 200 km.

The sun setting on the lake.

Bush Camp Outside Songino...

Another tough day today of off road with a few nasty deep sand sections. I only crashed once today is an improvement over my three crash day yesterday. This crash tweaked my right leg a bit - I put my foot down to try to save it and the back if my right calf slammed up against the pannier. I'll be limping for a few days from that hit. At least I'm now balanced as my left shoulder is what took the hit yesterday. I think I'm getting better in the light sand but the deep stuff is still killing me. The rough roads (dirt tracks) also take a toll on the body and mind. There is very little relaxing behind the bars as there could be a giant rock, pothole or sand pit around any corner or over any rise. Full concentration on the road is necessary. Mongolia is hard.

We got to the small of Songino around 7pm pretty beat up and exhausted. We were hoping to find a guesthouse or Ger camp to stay the night but the options were slim. The only guesthouse was locked and appeared to have gone out of business. We searched and asked but could not find the Ger camp we had heard was there. So we rode a few clicks out of town and saw a small pump house for watering livestock that could serve as a wind break. The wind was howling and we there were no trees or anything else in sight that could give protection so we set up there. Even with the wind break within minutes of setting up my tent it was filled with fine sand. We cooked dinner (more noodles) behind the shed and went to bed early. While we were cooking about a half dozen Yak came over to the watering hole so we figured we would have company in the morning. Luckily the wind had died down considerably at that point. It rained a bit overnight but nothing significant. It is a very dry climate at around 6000 ft. - even though this is the rainy season that only means 2 inches of rainfall average for August.

We were awaken by the sound of motorbikes in the early morning. The owners of the pump house had come to fire up the generator and water the Yaks. Soon cows and horses came over for a drink as well. The ranchers didn't mind us camping there and in fact we chatted (basically in sign language) and shared coffee for a few hours. They were of course interested in the bikes and our journey. Ken showed his picture book and they were excited to see he was a farmer. Was definitely an interesting morning. It may get more interesting once we head out and find out what last nights rain did to the roads.

The long dusty road ahead.

Ken and Mark during a quick stop.

Mark asking a local directions.

Three tents huddled up against the fence to brake the crazy wind last night.

Mark's crash in the sand.  This was some tough stuff to ride in!

My sand crash.

Central Mongolia...

We have had all dirt the past day and a half of riding.  Some of it fun - some if it miserable deep sand.  The deep sand is very difficult for me - I haven't figured out how to ride in it.  The shallow sand has been ok - the back end just slides around a bit.  But the deep sand grabs the front wheel and starts the bike bucking around.  I crashed three times within 30 minutes through the deep sand sections we hit this afternoon.  The going is tough as we only covered about 100 miles riding for 8 hours.  My 49 year old body is pretty beat up this evening.  Luckily I have vodka to mask the soreness.  Tonight we are in a guest house in Tosonchengel after camping in a beautiful valley in the Steppe last night.  It got pretty cold overnight - camping in Mongolia is just an awesome experience.  We would probably have camped tonight if we weren't so beat by the time we reached the town - and $12 for a bed and $2.50 for dinner is pretty hard to pass up.  We were hoping for showers and a bathroom, but this place has neither.  A bucket of water for a face wash and a hole in the ground outhouse is all we get.  

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful shaded area with a creek running through it.  We also scored a free lunch - or a Yogi as Ken called it.  There was a German group on a tour having lunch there as well and they offered to feed us. It was a delicious pasta dish.  They were touring in the super cool Russian 4wd vans.  It would have been a great spot to camp but we needed to make more miles before stopping.

Tomorrow is going to be another tough day of all dirt.  I really hope we don't see any deep sand - but I'm guessing we will.

Camping in the Steppe.

Mark clowning around with a sheep skeleton.

The road ahead.

Beautiful stop for lunch by a stream.

Lunch with the German tour group.

One of the many creek crossings.