Heavy Metal around Mongolia and Central Asia

Excellent report and pictures. I'm hooked.:thumb
 
Check out these cool bikers:cool:
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Way cooler than a BMW corporate twat suit:thumb
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All fixed up and we head south again.
Sand begins to become more common, I love it, some people hate it, more of that soon:D
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Two and a half days after leaving Ulaanbaatar we arrive in Dalandzadgad, on the outskirts we find scrap vehicles carefully placed....perhaps by an artist, proclaiming that motor vehicle may come and go but the desert always remains.....I wondered what the dinosaurs of that region would have thought.
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It seems' Jarvo hurt his ankle during a fall in the sand and the others are not keen on taking GS's to the big sand dunes, because it's not like there's a road to them where you can take photos of your bike half buried in sand then ride out again.

Our route now is NNW on 'minor routes':augie

Baz displays his Dorset flag:rolleyes:
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Pete enjoying this track which wound it's way through small hills.
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Pick a spot anywhere, ride to it and contemplate.
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Stop and soak it up. :)
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The open flatland was a joy to ride on, no need to stay on the track just pick a direction and ride as fast as you dare.
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Then stop for a smoke.
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Sometimes there was so much traffic we just had to sit and wait:mad:
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These are Bactrian Camels with two humps as opposed to Dromedary Camels with only one, lovely looking animals....if you're that way inclined.
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Trust you Tim to find the best looking camel, a big improvement on the truckers.
Fantastic scenery, looking forward to more pics.
 
Sand

The Gobi region of Mongolia is a vast forbidding place to take a heavy motorcycle but contrary to popular myth, sand covers only 3%......so we'd better look carefully:green gri
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Hmmm, can't seem to find any sand here lads, I say to myself.... the others follow unwittingly:D
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Aha, here it is and 'unfortunately' our route goes right through it :comfort
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Chaos ensues.

Anyone who's ridden a fully laden GS in sand will fully appreciate the situation, mix that with being in the heat of the Gobi and you'll also appreciate how easy it is to get outside of your own personal 'comfort zone'.

I can't write all the expletives used....this is f*****ng stupid, too dangerous, the wrong bike to be here, what if one of us breaks a leg, bike's too heavy, legs too short, it'll burn the clutch out, why have we come here?

All perfectly understandable concerns and there's nothing like a good situation to raise stress levels and dummies to be spat.

Of course much of this outburst is aimed at me, like it's my fault there's sand in the Gobi desert, why did you bring us here etc.

Perhaps too sharply I reply, if I wanted comfort I'd ride to the Ace Cafe, and if I knew exactly what was ahead I'd go somewhere else.

I was loving it, why weren't they? :D
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Possibly the fall that broke the camels back.

Jarvo was hating every moment in Mongolia and it was clearly not for him. Now this is not a criticism at all, anyone planning such trips should ask that deep question of themselves, is this really for you, do you have that passion to revel in all moments no matter how hard they are at the time.
I'm sure it's the question we did all ask ourselves at times over the three months, Jarvo's answer was different to ours and he left for home once out of Mongolia.
I just hope he does eventually have some great memories of his considerable achievment.
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If looks could kill, I'd be a dead man:D
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Pete who's a very good rider also hated the sand but soon came to grips with it:clap
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Looks like trouble back there:blast
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And eventually the sand caught me out:blast:D
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Pete has borrowed Rick's bike for this trip, I think it was at this point Pete who's generally the perfectly mannered Englishman exploded because the bike was too tall for his legs.
There's only one way to ride in sand and that's stood up, weight back and fairly fast, as time went on in the trip we again encountered sand in the west and most of us had mastered this teqhnique.... in fact I'd go as far as saying, Pete and Baz were really enjoying it:eek:
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Fantastic report Tim:clap

Full credit to you and all the group for undertaking such an epic adventure, wish I had the time and funds to take on a trip like that...

Can't wait for the next installment.....:thumb
 
I suppose I should just say at this point, this account is taken from my own perspective and don't neccesarily hold the same view as the others, but you'd probably already guessed that!
Also I've tried to use my own photos wherever possible but have nabbed some off the others to tell my story:beerjug:
 
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Baz was now revelling in it:thumb A novice offroader to start with, he employed the 'feck it, I'll nail the throttle technique', on most occasions it worked although it did result in a few big crashes throughout the trip:clap:clap

Many was the time he'd come to me and say "fecking awesome mate, thanks for bringing me here". Well I didn't bring him, he got himself here, and I chose him because of this positive attitude...top bloke...despite being a copper:D
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The sand trap eventually spits us out..... but there'll be more waiting.
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It's just a matter of finding them....
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Following an incredible fast ride across the smooth and vast flatland just north of the Gobi we encountered a violent storm sweeping across our path.
No photos sorry.

A big black twister reaches from the dark forbidding sky down to the ground off to our side but cutting across our track. Baz chases off after it. Why? I don't know ....or perhaps I do. He returns defeated, it had changed it's course and we were free to move on.

We press on in a northerly direction looking for somewhere to stay out of the wind.
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We roll into a tiny windswept village, there's a small shop and I buy some more 'Choco Pi's, I loved these and bought them wherever I could.

A woman takes us back to the family compound and we can stay there. The whole family moves out of their home and into a shed next door, they continue preparing the food which must have been their own meal.
They have a TV!!!

We sit and drink hot sweet chi and can all sleep on their floor after eating.
It's been a long day.
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Fatty mutton and homemade pasta is soon ready to be eaten. Yummy.
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I chat with the elder man who proudly shows me his meager vegetable patch, I give him a miniture bottle of brandy as thanks for their hospitalty, I do hope he enjoyed it.
In the morning we're given a great breakfast which didn't include any mutton.
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Bypassing their savage dog, morning ablusions are completed without mishap.
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And we head out once more into the vast landscape.
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And on it goes.
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love the trip report, I have one question having never been to that part of the world; exactly how easy is it to find fuel ? I love the photos but the overwhelming impression is of miles and miles of not a lot and obviously there is not a BP or Shell station every 10 miles.
 
love the trip report, I have one question having never been to that part of the world; exactly how easy is it to find fuel ? I love the photos but the overwhelming impression is of miles and miles of not a lot and obviously there is not a BP or Shell station every 10 miles.

you're right:aidan
but I can't give too much away else it'll spoil someone else's adventure and we'll end up with an overload of information just as we seem to have done with Morocco, all I can say is, if you want it bad enough you'll find it:thumb.........................................................................................................unless you've already run out in the middle of nowhere, in which case you're fecked:D

Bear in mind though, you can ride all day in Mongolia and not see another vehicle.
 
Tim, you've spent the last three days sat infront of your pc.

Do you never get out and ride your bike?


:pullface
 
Tim, you've spent the last three days sat infront of your pc.

Do you never get out and ride your bike?


:pullface

I know, sad isn't it but did get out last night for a few hours trail riding with 'H' in the hills on my 640 to blow the cobwebs out, it felt so tiny!
 


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