Ulaangom – Olgii

2nd July 2014      21-30’C       287km  dirt, rocks, gravel & sand
Ulaangom – Uureg Nuur – Ulgii

I left Ulaangom after a lazy start. The staff in the hotel have been playing the same song over and over for two days, at full volume.  When it reached 11:45pm last night, I’d had enough and pulled on some shorts, grabbing my phone, and walked out to reception to show the girl a translation in Russian that said “can you please turn the music down! it’s late!”
She looked at me like I’d asked her to get undressed.

But a few minutes later the music was off and I headed to sleep. I then had to contend with slamming doors until 1am.

I rode out of town and traveled on probably the best dirt road I’ve ridden on in Mongolia. 70km of nice smooth dirt, no potholes, no mud, no sand. It was a bit strange actually!

 

As I reached the top of the first pass, the valley opened up to reveal a magnificent view, green valleys dotted with gers, and snow capped peaks in the distance.  I rode down into the valley, I passed a few gers.  I usually try to wave to the residents if they are outside. 90% of the time they wave back, the other 10% just stare.

This time, there was a family outside the ger, they waved and smiled, gesturing to me to come over.   I rode over and stopped outside the cluster of three gers, and said “sain baa nu”
There was a lot of interest in the bike from the guy and the boy.  Especially in the water cooling system (bikes in Mongolia are all air cooled) along with the chain.   The ladies were interested in what I had inside the panniers, and were impressed with the tent and cooking items.
After checking out the bike for a while, they gestured for me to come inside the ger.
Inside the ger there was a small boy, sleeping on one of the beds, and another man sleeping on the floor.  They indicated he’d been drinking last night and was still crashed out, to much laughter from the everyone.

I was handed a bowl of warm fermented mares milk, and some home made cheese to enjoy, while one of the ladies continued her work making the next batch of cheese. She showed me how she boiled the milk on the stove and strained the solids in a bag that hung on the wall of the ger.  There was more cheese and meats hanging, drying on the walls too.

We spent some time looking through my photos on the camera.  Mongolians love to look at the screen and especially love to see their own photo on the screen. We took a few photos and had some laughs.
It appeared that two couples (maybe two brothers and their wives?) shared this large ger, together with their children.  A total of six people living & cooking together in the space we would consider a comfortable living room size for a family of 4 in Australia. They had a really nice ger, very clean and with photos of their ancestors collected together in one place.  It was obvious they took good care of the space they have.
I’d nearly finished my bowl of mares milk, when a 4L engine oil container appeared along with a glass.  I was poured a glass of something clear from the container, the guy indicating that they made it on the stove also.  It was surprisingly good!  Definitely alcoholic, but not firewater.   This homemade alcohol is made from airag, mares milk, and is called Mongol Arkhi.  It was very pleasant to drink.
These two couples were some of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve ever met.  No pretensions at all, they made me feel completely at home in their home, just like visiting a good friend at home.  They didn’t wait on me, but went about their chores while still chatting (in gestures) and making me feel very comfortable. They really are the nicest people.

I would have liked to have stayed, but drinking any more and riding wouldn’t be sensible, so we all went outside for more photos and another look at the bike.  I had some colour pencils and paper that I gave to the kids, and a packet of cigarettes for the man of the house.
They were all very appreciative, and it was obvious that they had not expected me to give them anything at all.  The guy was really happy with the cigarettes, I think I must have bought a good brand. They had cost a bit more than the last packet I’d bought.
We said goodbye and they waved me off over the hills.

I rode down to Uureg Nuur, and hunted for a campsite, but it was still very early and there were no trees and hence no shade. The sun in Mongolia, especially at altitude, is blistering hot. I can feel it biting even through my jacket, so much so, that even when the air is cool it feels like a burn.  To top it off, there were literally millions of mosquitoes, so I decided to push on and look for a campsite on the other side of the mountain.

I was riding along standing, and started looking at the GPS, fiddling with it with my left hand, when I hit a patch of gravel on a ridge and down I went. Fortunately no damage, other than some dirt up my shirt. But it was a silly mistake, and I committed not to do that again.

I’d stopped for a drink of water when a 4WD pulled up next to me and a Mongolian family got out.  The mother and daughter spoke English and were very warm and friendly.  I can’t say all that much for that Dad.  He immediately came over and said “cigarette!”. I told him I didn’t have any.  Which was true, as I’d just given the whole pack to the nice people 40km away.  He was insistent “you cigarette!”. I told his daughter to tell him I didn’t have any, but he started digging through my tank bag looking for them.  He eventually gave up and then his brother showed up and he became all friendly.  They told me which direction to travel, said goodbye and I headed off.  20km later, I was in a dead end valley, and had to turn around and ride back another 20km to find the correct road.  He’d sent me up a road that he knew was a dead end, just because I didn’t have a fag for him.
Anyway, after the false start I found the correct road myself and rode past many ancient burial sites, collections of stones in concentric circles, with carvings, I’m told these are the burial sites of long since departed ancient warriors or leaders.

Climbing up to the Bayram pass, the road was so steep I stayed in first gear for 20 minutes, scrambling up the loose rocks, and finally passing over the 2600M Bayram range, where I met a jeep at the peak, with 4 seats, but when it stopped, 12 friendly people climbed out!   They all gathered rocks, placing them on the oovo and walking around it clockwise.  I joined them.

Back down the other side of the mountain where I made a quick stop in the coal mining town of Hatgal, a dismal place with a black hole in the earth right next to the village. Everything covered in dust.

I rode on and looked for a campsite, but didn’t see anything suitable, so continued on, and the landscape changed dramatically. The mountains now bare rock, in darker colours, the road pebbles and stones, sometimes deep and treacherous. Eventually I reached Achit Nuur lake, and could see heavy rain in the distance so again decided to continue on towards Olgiy. The environment now is very much Kazakh, fewer gers, they have been replaced with mud brick houses. Those Kazakh gers that are here, are much larger and taller than the Mongolian style. The language spoken here is also Kazakh, so the few words of Mongolian I’ve learnt are now less useful and should be replaced with Kazakh.

I had a quick feed and headed to my ger for the night when it started to rain heavily. I’m knackered and ready for bed.  I’d covered what I had originally planned to do in two days, in a single days riding.

Fortunately the ger is cheap at about $8 a night, including wifi, hot shower and breakfast. Bargain!