Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
We did it!! Arrived in Ulaanbaatar tonight. Convoyed with Gobi Bros again. Their Micra had engine problems but they rallied and drove hard. We left them after the first couple of hundred KM's. Drove through muddy plains in driving rain and bitumen that was more pot hole than road. Finally got to the capital, took a wrong turn and wasted an hour. Then got a flat when I drive into a massive pot hole and changed it in torrential rain. Gobi Bros ended up beating us here and glad they made it. Thanks to my team mate David. Brilliant adventure.
Govi-Altai, Mongolia
Travelled with team Gobi Bros until lunchtime when we stopped at a small village cafe and had coffee with bread and jam. Renee of team Gobi asked for eggs at the cafe by clucking and waving his arms like a chicken. No eggs but was good for a laugh. Had 30 or so KM's of perfect bitumen highway about the same distance out of Khovd but didn't last. Roads after that varied to different shades of shite but much better than going over the mountains yesterday. Had our first flat just outside of Altai and got hit by a dust storm as we were changing it. Found a small basic hotel in Altai which a taxi driver lead us to. Much better than a tent.
Khovd, Mongolia
made it through Ulgii and tried to push on to Khovd. I can't believe they call these roads. Averaged only 20kmh. Went up into and over the mountains . No major obstacles just very hard terrain. Pretty stunning too though. 50km from Khovd came to first river crossing. Towed team Gobi Bros out who we stumbled across there. Camped for the night amid. 100,000 mosquitos. Found another road 2km or so back from the river which had a bridge and eventually this re-joined the main road. Much better! Onwards to Altai.
Khuvsgul, Mongolia
Ended up staying overnight at the border. No problems except the border guards work slow and when they're closed that's it. Thanks to team Audacious Gracious for the good company. Coldest night of my life though. We all froze but got through the border before 10 am and now we're in Mongolia!!
Altai Republic, Russia
Arrived in a small town 500km's from the Russia Mongolia border. Had quite an adventure finding our hotel. GPS co-ordinates were wrong but eventually found it at the end of a 200m muddy dirt road surrounded by shacks. Oddly the hotel is brand new and quite nice and looks out of place but happy to have a bed for the night. Leaving early tomorrow and hopefully will cross into Mongolia in the afternoon. We heard the border is closed on weekends so keen to get through ASAP.
Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia
Arrived in Novosibirsk. David turned 60 today so happy birthday. we celebrated by driving all day but splashed out on a nice hotel and decent food. we're planning to get supplies tomorrow to take us through Mongolia. Hope to be at the border Thursday afternoon. Met up with another team on the road today. Swapped some stories. Hope to catch up with them again at the border.
Omsk Oblast, Russia
Arrived in Omsk. Checked into very odd hotel in the middle of nowhere. Very friendly and chatty man at reception with broken English. Nearly midnight though and all I want to do is sleep. He was trying very hard though and David and i were nice to him. Looks like it's a B&B but only one room in the whole place and 4 Russian dudes lounging around in a kitchen you have to walk through where the reception is also. Hope we're safe here! Room's not too bad. Spent 13 hrs on the road today and covered over 900 KM's. tomorrow we'll get to Novosibirsk and be in the home stretch to the Mongolian border. Probably Thursday night we'll get there. Great roads today mostly and light traffic. The car, like everything else in Russia has some kind of greasy black and brown dirt all over it (at least we're blending in) and literally hundreds of bug splatters. Not much else to report. The countryside looks pretty much the same, the cities and towns are dirty, unkempt and bleak. Ufa was easily the nicest and most modern place we've been through. Have to say that all the people we've come across have been very nice though and always helpful.
Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia
7 hrs to get 420 KM's to Chelyabinska. Few more days in Russia yet but long day planned for tomorrow. Called it a day early and had first decent meal in 2 days. Good sleep and then back on the road tomorrow.
Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia
Took 16 hrs to go 850 KM's to get to Ufa yesterday. Got lost for nearly 3 hrs getting through and out of Samara and back on the Hwy. Big city with NO signs and the hwy's don't usually have bypasses so going through them with no map and no sat nav is interesting. We arrived late and couldn't find our hotel so paid a taxi driver to lead us there again. Had to call my mate back home to get their phone number so they could explain to the driver where they were. (Thanks Greg) Lost 2 hrs because of changing time zones so had a few hrs sleep, checked out late and heading for Cheylabinsk. Slow going through a huge national park. Single lane and many trucks. We're packing it in early today in favour of a hot meal and good sleep.
Penza Oblast, Russia
Made it to Penza in Russia last night. Was a real mission with bad weather and miles of trucks almost all done on single lane hwy. Took 13 hrs to do 760km but much better roads than Ukraine. Finally got there anyway but could not find our hotel despite driving around the whole town looking. Eventually paid a taxi to go there and we followed, down some tiny crappy side streets. David and I were convinced he was leading us to be robbed for ages but all was good. Turned out I picked the most hard to find hotel with the smallest hobbit sized rooms. (Pic to follow) On our way to Ufa today. Got pulled over this morning by the cops and paid first bribe. Like any first time was awkward and uncomfortable but ultimately ended well. 3 more days of this before we get to Novosibirsk and striking distance of Mongolia.
