Day 2 Mongolia
It was a full-on day. New bikes had been delivered, old bikes fixed, and the weather was cool but sunny.
We left at 8.00am and got back to the hotel at 7.45pm. We started by visiting the Genghis Khan statue. It was enormous – the biggest horse in the world apparently. We climbed 6 flights of stairs to reach the horse’s hooves and could get out onto the horse’s head. And they also had the biggest handmade boot. Excellent tourist attraction.
We then rode on in lovely sunshine and turned left onto the steppe. There are no real roads just lots of possible roads and you ride where you like – but must be careful to avoid potholes and gullies. It goes on forever in all directions. We had 5 accidents in the day but none affecting Dave and me. And no serious injuries. There were some water crossings too. The locals tended their goats, sheep, cattle and horses and mustered them like you would imagine it was biblical times. We stopped for lunch and had a banquet (no joke) in a ger. The storm was over by the time we had finished.
We got back stiff and sore, had a few beers and a meal and fell into bed. Such a good day.
Pete
Day 3 of the Mongolia ride
Monday was 380kms, no wonder we were tired. We were in the Tereljh National park which is renowned for its strange rock formations like this turtle.
Today was billed as 300 kms and with a really hard off-road stretch. We were excited but a little fearful. We left at 8.30 and rode into Ulaan Bataar and the joys of city traffic. This was the only way to get to our destination. At least the weather was fine even if the air was bit polluted.
At last we got out into the country again and camped on the top of a hill for a picnic lunch. A horseman and a couple of young bikies came to check us out. The bikies nonchalantly rode off to the top off a local mountain to show us how easy it was. I would have worried about walking it!
Then we were off for the off-road ride. There are 17 bikes in the group. A leader and 16 riders from Australia, NZ, USA, Canada, Sweden, Germany, UK and Hong Kong (four riders have their spouses as pillions). We viewed the track from the top of the hill – you can see the track drop down the hill and wind up the other side. This was the first of four hills and all great fun. No accidents today. The other pictures show the track winding away with puffs of dust where bikes are. It was a lovely ride ending in a wide valley with a traditional ger camp.
Then we rode onto the steel city of Darkham. Nothing is simple in Mongolia. We had 2 punctures caused by the enormous potholes n the roads, the support truck got pinged for speeding and a bike broke down. But we all reached the hotel – and drank the bar dry of the nice Mongolian beer. We did that at the last hotel too. Tomorrow is a slower and easier day.
Pete
End of Part #2,
Please keep an eye on our Blog page and Facebook for the next instalment.
If you would like to know more about our Magical Mongolia tour, please visit the the tour webpage.
We have a few remaining places available on the August 2019 departure.