Cycling in Mongolia!!!

Mongolia makes us dream… The steppe, thousands of wild horses, and the legendary hospitality of its people… But Mongolia is also a harsh land, where weather conditions, the rarity of water, and the food diet could transform the adventure into a nightmare.

We thought it would be useful to share our experience in order to give some advices to those who would like to cycle this land.

When to go?

The wind! The wind blows and blows in the steppe. We now understand why some people came to adulate this element! From the end of April to mid-June, the wind blows east. This is a factor that cannot be ignored while choosing an itinerary.

From mid-June to the end of August, it is the rain season in Mongolia. It seems that the rain is limited to a few storms, once or twice a day, which can sometimes be quite violent. From time to time, we had to stop and take shelter or we simply continued our way in the rain.

Apparently, the weather can be very cold in September and the roads dangerous because of the snow…

What to eat and what to drink…

In most of the villages, you will be able to buy dry biscuits, ramen (little bags of dry noodles), Mongol wafers (for breakfast), and sometimes chocolate. Indeed, this is not a large variety and you need to plan reserves for few days, some villages don’t have any food supplies. Fruits and vegetables are rare.

It is also possible to eat in a “guanz”, which are in most of the cases, yurts transformed in little restaurants. You would eat Mongolian traditional dishes (noodles and mutton, rice and mutton, mutton and mutton… basically, mutton!) and of course, a bowl of Mongolian tea. The hardships in food supplying will depend upon the itinerary you choose. It is vital not to underestimate this difficulty.

Of course, we have also eaten with locals, who had the kindness to invite us in their homes. It is definitely the best way to discover Mongolia, and also a wonderful experience. Nobody we met seemed to want money for inviting us, hospitality being a true tradition for Mongols. Hence, we have respected this reality. When we lived with a family for few days, we “went shopping” to contribute to the family meals.

General costs (2005):

-         Generally, a meal costs between 1000 and 1500 tughrik.

-         For ramen, you will pay between 150 and 300 tughrik.

-         A pack of biscuits costs between 500 and 800 tughrik, but it costs less if you buy it not packed.

-         1.5 L. of soft drink (no juice available…) costs between 500 and 800 tughrik.

In June 2005, $1 US was worth 1100 tughrik.

Concerning water, it all depends on the chosen itinerary. The road we took was in the desert and not very busy; we carried with us 22L. of water and would get more every time we could. Despite all this, often, we were thirsty. On the other hand, the picture is different in the center and in the north of Mongolia. We always filtered the water we consumed.

Where to sleep?

Nothing is easier in Mongolia then finding a camping site! Often, Mongols will invite you to put your tent next to their yurt and share a meal with them. If not, you just need to find a spot protected from the wind, and from curious eyes if you want some quiet time…

So, which way is the right one?

Left, right, straight ahead??? Even drivers get lost in Mongolia. Some regions are better than others, but in the steppe, as soon as a path starts to be bad, they create another one; which makes it easier to get lost in this country.

First advice: always ask your way to more than one person. We have often overestimated our understanding of the local language and of the body language… It is vital to make sure the road you are going to take still exists and that it is more than a path for horses!!!

Secondly, it is possible to get a “road atlas” in Ulaan Baatar, notably at the information center. Make sure you have the names of the towns in English as well as in Mongol. A detailed topographic map (made in Russia) is essential for those traveling off the main roads. Often, we have cycled for more than 300 kilometers without seeing any sigh of human life! For this reason, you need to be able to find your way on your own. This also changes depending on the itinerary you choose.

How to communicate?

Sain Bainuu! Of course, you want to say more than the usual salutations. To know more than few words of this language will allow you to not only buy your food and ask your way, but also to share for an instant your interest for the Mongol culture.

We regret that we didn’t spent more time prior our departure to learn the local language… We knew 150, maybe 200 words... Hence we strongly recommend you to do so! We had with us the Lonely Planet Phrasebook, in which we could find useful sentences to communicate. We also had an English-Mongol pocket dictionary that we bought in Ulaan Baatar. This was an essential complement to the phrasebook.

Money matters

Ulaan Baatar is definitely the place where you can get devices, Visa and MasterCard accepted! After that, the only towns where you will be able to get devices are the capitals of the aimags (Mongol provinces), but even there, power cuts and other technical difficulties occur often, so it is always safer to have money with you. Personally, we never had any problems withdrawing money with our Visa card; we were even impressed with the efficiency of the Mongol bank system. In the summer of 2005, there were no ATMs in Mongolia.

Warning!

Alcohol is a major problem in Mongolia. More than once, we were harassed, even abused by men under the influence of alcohol. Every time, we were in villages, mostly capitals of aimags. We felt that alcohol brought out bad memories towards foreigners (from the Russian communist era), and that our presence was not always appreciated. Of course, these situations never occurred in the steppe, but "towns" are definitely places to avoid (except to get food supplies), especially at night. You will figure it out when you will be there anyways!

Finally…

Leave with no worries, with a free mind! With time, we soon understood that the best way to discover a country is to do it with fewer illusions as possible. This is what we hope for you.

So far, Mongolia has not yet experienced “tourism pollution” and it’s everyone’s duty to make sure it stays like this. It is now your time to play your part!

P.S.:  Bring with you all the necessary gear to repair your bikes (screws included), because it is very hard to find what you need,  event though Mongols are brilliant handymen.