Mongolia, the Adventure of your Lifetime AMO2601
Even as we look out the airplane window, we realize that this country we see below us is different from anything we’ve been used to so far. We look in vain for big cities and complex intersections. Instead, there’s open land, deserts, steppes, and mountains as far as the eye can see. It takes a while before we finally catch sight of Ulaanbaatar. And this city is not only the starting point of our journey but also the country’s vibrant capital. On the way from the airport to the city, however, we don’t yet get a good sense of rural Mongolia; instead, we very quickly find ourselves in an incredibly bustling and chaotic metropolis where tradition and modernity are very… very close to one another. A fascinating place to be anyhow. And while we’re recovering from our journey or chasing after our luggage, elsewhere motorcycles are being prepped and trucks loaded for our adventure. In the afternoon, we meet for a short briefing, hunting for some riding gear;-) and having dinner together. We can't wait to put hands on our bikes tomorrow. Wildernes we are coming.
Our first day of riding starts early. And that’s a good thing, because every kilometer we don’t have to cover by bike in Ulaanbaatar is a welcome relief. The traffic in this city is unbelievable. The long lines at the gas stations, caused by the fuel shortage, only add to the chaos. Don’t worry—there’s still plenty of city traffic left for us to practice our way through. Once we’ve finally left the city behind, we head out into rural Mongolia. We start by covering some kilometers on straight and reasonably well-paved roads. After a coffee stop or two, we fill up our bikes at a gas station that seems to have been waiting just for us😉—it helps when you know someone who knows someone. And then the moment finally arrives: we leave the paved road and head cross-country toward our lunch. This is our first encounter with our kitchen team…and what can we say? It was fantastic. We also have plenty of time to explore the surroundings, true to the motto…“Oh, that hill looks cool—can we ride up there?” “Yeah, sure, no problem.” Back on the road, we continue toward today’s destination: a GER camp in the foothills of the Gobi Desert. The narrow sandy track at the end of the day demands our full attention once again. The reward is a place of tranquility where we wind down the evening in a cozy gathering.
Since our first day yesterday turned out to be quite exhausting, we’re starting the day a little later today at a more relaxed pace. And to warm up, after a bit of morning exercise, we do a few laps in the sand dunes right behind our camp. There’s no better way to start a day in Mongolia. Once we’re back on paved roads, we spend some time exploring Mongolian culture. A small temple by the roadside is just the beginning. After many kilometers on the road, we reach Karakorum. Not much remains of the former capital of the Mongol Empire—that’s nomadic culture for you—but we’re able to visit the Buddhist temples built a few centuries later. There’s also plenty to see along the road. Small herds of animals—horses, cattle, goats—and the yurts so typical of the region provide the perfect backdrop. There are almost no larger villages left here. After another fantastic lunch in the wilderness and one last ice cream stop, we leave the road again and drive through one of the most diverse landscapes we’ve seen since our arrival. The yaks and horses are quite amazed by our off-road riding skills😉. In the middle of nowhere lies today’s destination: a surprisingly large GER resort that’s very popular thanks to its hot springs. What a day.
A new day is dawning, and it looks like we’ll be spared some of the heat we’ve experienced over the last few days. The kitchen team has prepared a fantastic breakfast for us. So we’re setting out as early as possible, because today is going to be a loooong day. But before we really get the day started, we’re accepting an invitation from a Mongolian family. You can’t get much closer to the local culture than this. Today, our route takes us along paved and unpaved roads, further and further west. The landscape becomes rockier and hillier than it has been in recent days. Herds of yaks and goats dominate the scene. During the day, we finally catch up with our fuel truck—unfortunately, not as we’d expected. The truck is parked on the side of the road with engine trouble, phone lines are buzzing, bikes are being refueled… and off we go. After a fantastic lunch and many—sometimes dusty— kilometers, we reach our camp. We are now officially in the part of Mongolia that’s barely developed for tourism. A real adventure, indeed.
Good morning, Mongolia. The landscape around our camp is shrouded in an almost mystical fog. It’s quiet and peaceful—what a way to start the day. Today we’re continuing our journey westward, drawing ever closer to the Altai Mountains. We’re trying to avoid last night’s bumpy gravel road as much as possible and decide to take the path through the meadows instead. And since we’ll be spending the rest of the day mainly on paved roads, this gives us a chance to recharge our off-road batteries. Right on time for lunchtime, we reach the shore of Lake Telmen. We won’t be meeting the kitchen team today, but they prepared a takeout lunch for us early this morning. It’s not exactly beach weather, but that doesn’t bother true adventurers. And the freeride along the beach is just too tempting… Who needs a restaurant anyway? In the early afternoon, we reach Airag Lake, where our support team is setting up camp for tonight. Yes, you read that right—we’re camping. And the area around the lake is perfect for enjoying the freedom and vastness of Mongolia in exactly this way. This evening will remain in our memories forever.
To allow us to enjoy last night as much as we did, the Mongolian steppe had granted us a reprieve from the bad weather. Nice of it, but early in the morning, the Mongolian weather returns with even greater force. A storm sweeps powerfully over our camp. The tents hold up, but for many of us, the night is over. Luckily, we have a relaxing day ahead of us. After some fun and plenty of photos in the hills behind the camp, we continue our journey westward on the paved and, in places, dead-straight road. The landscape offers plenty of variety with changing vegetation, lakes, and majestic mountain ranges. Our destination today is a small resort on Lake Khyargas. It works out perfectly that we arrive there early. We spend a relaxing afternoon catching up on some sleep, swimming in the lake, or giving our upset stomachs a chance to recover. Get well soon, you two. The next few days will be more exiting I promise 😉
Since, as if by magic, our motorcycles had been waiting there with full tanks every morning over the past few days, we were quite surprised this morning when all our bikes had suddenly disappeared. While we’re having breakfast, the team takes care of refueling. Our morning route first takes us along the road to a small town called Ulaangom. On the way there, of course, we can’t pass up a freeride through the hills of the steppe. An unplanned encounter with the locals is the highlight of our morning. In town, we fill up our tanks once more before continuing on toward the Altai Mountains. The route to our camp is so different from anything we’ve seen so far. An unpaved, winding track leads us deep into the foothills of the Altai Mountains—with a few surprises along the way. We enjoy this landscape, which is new to us, and finally reach our camp at Lake Uureg, where we spend the afternoon and enjoy another excellent dinner.
Good morning, Mongolia. The sunrise over Lake Uureg is beautiful, and the day ahead of us has a lot to offer. Today we’re heading south. And from where we are, there aren’t really many paved roads… in fact, none that are actually paved all the way through. But who needs paved roads anyway? Our route today takes us first through the mountains; the road winds up and down, sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy. Once we’ve left the mountains behind for the time being, we ride through a seemingly endless landscape of steppes and deserts—the sandy tracks demand our full attention. Lunch on the shore of Lake Atschit comes at just the right time. Along the way, we learn how the Mongolians protect themselves and their camps from mosquitoes. We spend the rest of the day on dusty trails; the landscape becomes more mountainous and greener as we get closer to today’s destination. Ölgii is the capital of the region; it’s mostly populated by Kazakhs, and things work a little differently here. This day was a challenge, but we made it. And we won’t forget this incredible day full of variety anytime soon.
Today we start the day a little later; our night is over when the diesel generator at our hotel complex starts running to prepare breakfast. The region is currently dealing with power outages during the day. After a relaxed breakfast and a visit to a replica of a Kazakh ger, we set off. Just past the town, we head off-road again; our local guide leaves us, and we take the time to examine the tracks the Mongolian steppe has left on our bikes over time. When we continue on a short while later, we’re quite amazed when, once again, a family welcomes us into their ger. The eagle hunters proudly present their majestic birds, and we, too, are allowed to get very close to the animals for a brief moment. An incredible feeling. A few kilometers of on- and off-road riding, plus a police checkpoint, later, we finally reach our camp at Lake Tolbo, where we spend the afternoon eating, swimming, and soaking up some culture. A Perseid meteor shower is expected tonight—hopefully the clouds will have cleared by then.
Our tour isn’t over yet, but today is our last chance to experience this incredible country on a motorcycle. So we set off as early as possible so as not to waste any time. The Altai Mountains are the grand finale of our tour; the diversity and colors of this landscape are unparalleled. Our photos can’t even begin to capture this beauty. Our local guide takes us along what are probably the most varied routes of the entire tour. From dust-dry stone deserts to green plateaus to oasis-like riverbanks—it has it all. And even though it’s very dusty at times, this day is probably the best possible final day of riding for our adventure. Back in Olgii, we’ll still have enough time to explore the city a bit and, of course, to pack our bags, because tomorrow we’ll be flying back to Ulaanbaatar.
The alarm is going off very early today…. Unfortunately, because we all actually really like our hotel. After we all went on a hunt for the “Golden Room Card” together with the “friendly” hotel employee, we’ll head to the local airport. We’ll then spend a very relaxing afternoon in Ulaanbaatar. In the evening, we’ll have our last dinner together, where we’ll look back on the past few days. What a trip, what an adventure. You guys are incredible. A big thank you also goes out to the TotalAdventure team in Ulaanbaatar. We wouldn’t have gotten very far without you ;-). Thank you so much for everything.