Traveling in Mongolia
I was able to travel a lot through much of Mongolia. Here are some of the impressions and obstacles we encountered along the way.
Typical countryside hand-operated fuel station in Zalaa, Northern Gobi, Bayankhongor Aimag
Getting fuel to the countryside is not easy. All fuel is imported and then distributed by truck over very poor roads. As a result, fuel shortages are common. In many areas the only fuel is low-grade 76 octane gasoline, which is unsuitable for most modern jeeps. Therefore one is pretty much forced to use Russian jeeps in the most remote parts of the country.
Fixing a tire in the western Gobi, Gobi-Altai Aimag
Travel in the countryside is difficult at the best of times; many of the roads are no more than dirt tracks. Flat tires (fixed on the spot with a couple of tire irons and a bicycle pump) are all too common, and it is not unusual to see a crew of locals lifting an entire transmission or even an engine block out of a truck somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The ubiquitous Russian vehicles are simple and not luxurious, but at least everyone here can fix them. Important when you just tried to use one as a boat...
Encounter with the Tuy River in the Gobi desert, Bayankhongor Aimag
Our jeep lost... Finding water in the Gobi is hard enough, let alone
getting stuck in it. Luckily we were close to a town, but when we tried
to run for help a bull yak promptly chased us back! The weather wasn't
great either, 10 degrees, 100 km/hr wind and about to get dark. After
three hours a tractor finally pulled us out. It took a day to dry out
jeep and contents.
Peace Corps and Protected Area Staff using map, compass, binoculars
and GPS
to search for Uvs Lake, Uvs Aimag
Even if you do manage to stay on the road and the jeep doesn't break down, you may not necessarily get to your destination. Roads are far and few in between, and in the endless steppe it is all too easy to get lost. Even a GPS (Global Positioning System) won't always do much good, as there are few good maps of the country to put your location on. When we ran out of fuel in the middle of the Gobi once, we spent long hours in the one ger in the area debating our predicament. We knew exactly where we were with our GPS, but had little idea where we were going, as the town we had to get to wasn't on the map... (We did finally find the town, by the way).
Mongolians, however, are strong advocates of Mongolian GPS - the Ger Positioning System. They locate the nearest ger, ask where the next ger is in the general direction in which they are travelling, and there they ask again. Works most of the time, and one tends to get fed as a bonus!
Warming a truck in February. Zavkhan Aimag
It is not easy to get engines going in winter. At -30°C the engine oil has the consistency of yogurt. The fact that they don't use thinner winter grade oil doesn't help matters. No electrical engine block heaters either. So a small wood fire on the front axle (yes those are flames you see on the axle!) is the Mongolian way to get going in the morning. Meanwhile you add some water to radiator. The fact that the fire could get out of hand and engulf the fuel line didn't seem to face the driver...
In fact, many Mongolains like to drive at night, so
then they don't have to start the engine in the cold morning hours.
Highway to Western Mongolia, Zavkhan Aimag
Once you are up and going, you have to deal with the roads...
The roads are bad enough in summer, but absence of any markings, let alone
snow clearing equipment, turns winter travel into a true adventure. The
only advantage is that everything is frozen, so at least no big potholes
or mud to get stuck in.
End of the Road, Bayan-Olgii Aimag
Eight o'clock at night, -20°C, snowing, and 50 km from a town. Jeff McCusker, Demninsuren and Bayarjargal looking for shovels. We were lucky this time, only took two hours to dig ourselves out. After that we walked in front of the jeep to make sure we stayed on the road.
Well deserved meal. Hangai Soum, Arkhangai Aimag
In summer we camp, but in winter we frequent the local Soum hotels. Especially in the smaller towns service is often good, with simple but filling meals (provided you like mutton and salty milk tea) and basic accommodation. We never travel without an electric water heater, and take a camping stove, in case local food is not forthcoming and there is no electricity. Demninsuren, Bum-Yalach and Jeff McCusker at supper in the Hangai Hotel.
Next: the Trans Mongolia railway