July 28th-29th (Day 16-17): We reach Tosontsengel

On day 16 we left what we really (really, this time!) think is our last tourist ger camp until we reach Olgii in about three weeks. After crossing an interesting bridge, we followed the north side of Idre gol (river) towards Ih-Uul. The going got pretty sandy and we had to push our bikes through many sections. We covered 44km before the storm clouds gave us an excuse to quit for the day.

From Tsetserleg to ...

On day 17 we continued 10km to Ih-Uul where we rejoined the main road and onward for a total of 55km to Tosontsengel. Tosontsengel is a transportation hub for western Mongolia and is of decent size (4000 inhabitants). We're staying at a friendly hotel which we feel lucky we found. We were planning on staying at a hotel recommended by cyclists who had gone through here last year, but it was closed. This is our first non foreign-tourist oriented accommodation (other than camping) in Mongolia. There's no plumbing (squat toilet outhouse in the back) but otherwise it's a pretty reasonable place. We went to use the showers in the town's public bathhouse. We did some major food shopping to stock up for the more remote sections of our trip. We even found some fresh fruit.

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Photos from days 16-17 have been added to this album.

Map of route for day 16 and 17 (google earth version).


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July 25th-27th (Day 13-15): Off the main road

Day 13 was our second rest day at the Kongor camp. In the morning we walked over to check out Tsagaan Nuur (lake). In the evening we chatted a bit with the guide and driver of a German group that was staying at the camp about the possibility of staying on the north side of the lake and going through Jagarlant rather than going back to the main road on the south side of the lake. They agreed this was possible and that the pass we would have to go over might even be a bit lower than the one on the main road. The other advantage is that we would have one more tourist ger camp at Jargalant.

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On day 14, Chris wasn't feeling too good so we only made it 24km along the lake and made an early camp in a beautiful and quiet spot on the lake shore.

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On day 15, we went over a 2350m pass on the route to Jagarlant (the lake was at 2070m). This was much lower than the 2600m pass we would have to go over on the main road. From there it was a speedy descent down to Jagarlant (at about 1650m). The scenery was beautiful (reminded us of Switzerland) and there was even less traffic than on the "main" road. After a great 67km ride that day, we were really glad we made this route choice. Along the way we stopped to chat with a well off Mongolian family (they were driving an Xterra). They offered us some meat from a bucket (marmot and sheep), airag (fermented mare's milk), and some solid version of the latter.

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Photos from days 13-15 have been added to this album.

Map of route for day 14 and 15 (google earth version).


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July 21st-24th (Day 9-12): Still on the tourist track

In lieu of a rest day, on day 9 we had a short 25km bike ride over a pass to a tourist ger camp near the town of Ikh-Tamir. There were 3 tourist ger camps in this spot as it's next to a famous rock (Taikhar Chuluu). Unfortunately the rock is riddled with graffiti and surrounded by pushy touts (you can get a photo of yourself on a horse in front of the rock). However it looks like there would be some good short climbing routes on it, but you'd have to watch out for the loose candy in the pocket holds (offerings)! An organized (supported) group of German mountain bikers stayed at the camp as well. The tour leaders had clearly brought food for the group as they had much fancier meals than we did in the camp's restaurant.

The next day we pushed on another 70km and set up our tent on a ridge somewhat hidden from the gers in the valley bellow. A couple boys (early teens) on horses came by and chatted with us and just hung around playing. Only later, when their big brother came around looking for them, did it become apparent to us that they had been sent to herd the goats and sheep back to the ger and were slacking off.

On day 11, we stopped in on a great guanz (small roadside restaurant) for a second breakfast of noodles, onion and meat. This fuelled us for a long 80km day in the hot sun. We got to the town of Tariat and went looking for an English teacher who opens up her home as a guesthouse. Since she wasn't home (though her mother indicated we could stay there) we continued on to the national park by the lake known as Tsagaan Nuur. The English teacher found us on the road and invited us to her basic ger camp on the south side of the lake. She also told us our Spanish friends were staying there. Though this was appealing, the alure of a full-fledged tourist ger camp 5km away on the north side of the lake was too much temptation. We therefore declined the offer and found our way to the Kongor camp. We haven't regretted the decision. This place has the best food we've had since (at least) Ulaanbaatar, very friendly staff, and great hot showers.

Day 12 is a rest day at Kongor. We hiked up the nearby volcano and came back for a large lunch. We will probably take another rest day tomorrow as this is (and this time we're serious!) the last bit of luxury we expect to have until we hit Olgii in 4 weeks.

Pictures from days 9-12 are in a new album. Sorry, no inline images today as this camp only gets power from a generator for 2 hours a day.

Map of route for day 9-11 (google earth version).


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July 19th-20th (Day 7-8): The end of the (paved) road

On day 7, after spending a rest day in Kharkhorin, we left Dreamland and rode what was left of the mostly-continuous pavement and onward on the dirt road. A dirt road in Mongolia is usually not a single road but rather a maze of tracks as everyone tries to pick the least bumpy route from point A to point B.

From Ulaanbaatar to ...

Soon after the pavement ended we had our first roadside vodka shot with a group of Mongolians and Russians. Later in the day a Mongolian family approached us to take our photo and we had our second roadside vodka of the day. This helped ease the pain on our sore behinds and we managed to bike about 82km that day despite the fierce headwind.

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On day 8 we continued on to Tsetserleg. We're staying at the Fairfield guesthouse which is run by a British couple. It's a real oasis of cleanliness and all things familiar on the road that is otherwise become a wilder and more foreign place for us. We were hoping to have a rest day here tomorrow, but some mining company has booked the entire guesthouse and the other hotels are not particularly inviting. In the evening we headed up to a temple perched above the town.

From Ulaanbaatar to ...

We've updated the pictures in the "Ulaanbaatar to ..." album (we'll start a new album after this but can't rename the album "UB to Tsetserleg" otherwise it causes problems with existing links). Here's the map for day 7 and 8 (view it in google earth)


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July 17th-18th (Day 5-6): Clinging to luxury

After sending off our last blog post we went to hang out with a couple from Montreal we had met at lunch time in the ger camp's restaurant. They had recently purchased a set of 99 sheep ankle bones and showed us some ankle bone games. We played with them and their Mongolian driver for a bit before one of the camp employees (who spoke English well) corrected all the mistakes we were making. The driver had probably tolerated them ''cheating'' at the games the whole time as he didn't want to overcome the linguistic challenges needed to explain the detailed rules.

From Ulaanbaatar to ...

On day 5, we cycled 85 km to Kharkhorin. About midway, when we had stopped for a break, we saw a couple cycle tourers coming from the other direction. It was a middle aged French couple that greeted us like we were long lost family. Over the last 8 months they have cycled from France to Mongolia and are blogging about it.

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In Kharkhorin we decided to splurge on accommodation by staying in Dreamland: a Japanese themed lodge and ger camp. At first we had a look at a luxury air conditioned ger, but after suffocating on the bug poison we sprayed to calm down the resident flies, we decided to switch to a room in the lodge.

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By western standards Dreamland is a bit run down. Most depressing is the fact that there are virtually no other guests staying here. Due to low volume, the restaurant, listed as the best in town in the Lonely Planet, has reduced its menu to basic Mongolian food. In a twist of irony, we're hoping to find something better in the neighbouring lower priced ger camp's restaurant. Nevertheless, we are enjoying our spoiled days while we can.

We spent day 6 exploring town and replenishing our fat reserves. We found a great restaurant in town for breakfast. We had the largest meal of the trip, and the staff didn't know we were biking. They must have thought we were total pigs as we ate a loaf of bread with butter and jam, two small omelettes, a large plate of fries, three cups of coffee, and five cups of tea. We then returned within four hours for lunch!

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Kharkhorin was the capital of Mongolia for a short time around Chinggis Kaan's rule. After about 40 years the capital moved to Beijing. The main attraction in town is the Erdene Zuu Khiid monastery. Although far from its glory days, it remains Mongolia's most important monastery. We enjoyed visiting it and ran into the spanish cyclists there.

Here's our route for day 5 (view it in google earth):


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July 14th-16th (Day 2-4): Enjoying the pavement (mostly)

Elbows are made for scraping. On our second day of biking Krystil fell off her bike while trying to outrun an excited dog. We were told by our travel doctor not to catch rabies. With every dog that chases us, and they love to chase, we fear it is looking for a little tourist to chew on. Our dog avoidance strategies vary. For this one we decided to outrun it since we were going downhill. This worked well until the patch of sand won against Krystil's ability to ride her bike. The good news is that we have not yet had to fight any dogs.

At a roadside ger, we ran into a spanish couple we had met in Ulaanbaatar. They had actually come on the same train from Beijing as us and had dealt with bicycle-induced customs issues with us. We rode past them in the scorching heat, only to later see them pass us in a truck.

After 117 km of biking on day 2 we set up our tent in a field beside the highway. Later in the evening we had a visit from 15 year old boy who wasn't too talkative, but seemed to enjoy sitting with us. After he left, his older brother (probably around his mid-20s) came by to visit and we had a better time 'chatting' with him. Our lonely planet phrasebook got a workout.

On day three of biking we stopped in at a Mongolian ger restaurant beside the highway for a traditional breakfast: sheep's meat with onions and noodles. This was our first real introduction to Mongolian food, and we are both relieved to find that it was delicious. However, we were not too keen on the fermented mare's milk, and the yak butter tea was mediocre. After passing the town of Rashaant, we turned off on a side road for 12 km to a stay in a ger camp at the ruins of Ovgon Khiid monastery. Since we are tourists, we love tourist ger camps. We love the food, the showers and the spacious gers. In the evening we went for a 2km hike to some other ruins.

Today has mostly been a rest day. We slept in until 7:30 and did some bike maintenance before departing. We followed a different road 12km towards the highway (as it joins the highway further west). The road was very sandy and we ended up walking our bikes most of the way. We should have expected it, since it runs right beside some sand dunes. We came upon a family with their car (2wd with bald tires) stuck in the sand. We were surprised they had made it that far. We did our best to help for a short while until a 4x4 (carrying Dutch tourists) came by and pulled them out. After three hours we were near the highway and stopped in another ger camp for lunch. Then it started raining so we decided to get a ger.

We've added some more photos to this album. The new pictures are geocoded (you can see where each photo was taken on a map on the right hand side). Here's our route for the three days (you can also see it in google earth):


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July 13th (Day 1): A good start

Ten days after leaving Vancouver, we finally started cycling! We woke up early and had a good breakfast in the guesthouse and set off on the streets of Ulaabaatar a little after 6am. Starting this early meant we avoided the traffic. Drivers have been giving us a wide berth and we've gotten countless friendly waves and hellos.

From Ulaanbaatar to ...

We got a bit off track in the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar and decided to cut across a residential (ger) area back to the main road. Unfortunately we hit a muddy patch and our bikes and shoes got soiled with some of the most tenacious mud we've ever seen (sorry, no pics).

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The rest of the road was on some of the nicest tarmac in existence. Quite the contrast with what the rest of the roads will be like in Mongolia. About 82km west of Ulaanbaatar we turned off the main road towards Hustayn Nuruu (national park). We followed this sandy side road for about 5km to Moltsog Els tourist ger camp.

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Despite getting here at the early hour of 1pm, we both promptly passed out on the comfortable beds. We never did end up going the extra 7km to the actual park. After waking up from our siesta we had dinner in the ger restaurant and then got straight to work entertaining you on this blog and uploading some photos (sorry, Chris made a mistake while geocoding them so they are not geocoded today, when we get a faster internet connection we'll re-upload them with geocoding).

From Ulaanbaatar to ...

All is not heavenly though: now that the sun has set the various bugs have invaded our ger. Hopefully they'll leave us alone when we turn the light off and crawl into bed.

Here's a map of our route today (you can also view it in google earth)

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