Road condition from Novosibirsk to Ölgi?

[spakur]

Hi

I was looking at driving my van loaded with my motorbike to Ulan Bator via Irkutsk, where I would park the van and start riding the bike, but after counting the distance to about 7000km one way. I have started to think about just driving from Sweden to western mongolia and park the van in Ölgii near the borde crossing to/from Russia. That way I'll save 1500km or so.

I have sent an email to a tour operator there to see if they can help me out with safe parking, but I guess that shouldn't be a problem in such a place.

However I am wondering what the road condition is from novosibirsk to Ölgii. Just want to be sure my 2WD van can make it...

[arunp]

We just passed this route other way around. we travelled in small car from Vladivostok to Sochis. we are in Sochi now and tomorrow we will go to Turkey.
the road to Novosibirsk is real bad. some part is scary. the tarmac is blow and upside down. there are mounds of mud on whole road. we drove for about an hour or so almost 2-3 MPH. it was scary but you should be Ok. the KAMAZ and other big trucks are making it worst. all the way to Ulan-Ude some part of the roads are rocks, pot holes and uneven surface. even if you get a decent smooth looking tarmac, please be careful. its so uneven that if you speed your Van will bounce on road. watch ccarefully and keep yu eyes on road. But most parts are good. you should be fine. Avoid driving at late evening and defenately at night.

Hope this helps.

[spakur]

Thanks!

Just what I wanted to know!

[MotoEdde]

Spakur,
I don't think Arun went through the route you're talking about taking...

I believe he went from Vlad to Ulan Ude then went south to Ulaan Batur. He drove back up from Ulaan Batur to Ulan Ude and then went towards Novosibirsk via Russia, NOT Western Mongolia.

The route you'd like to take has you coming South from Novosibirsk trhough Barnaul and the Altai, to Olgi...in Western Mongolia

Once you leave Russia, the road will become a track(at best) and you will be able to get to Olgi in a 2wd van, but you better not be fully loaded. You don't need 4wd...what you need is really strong suspension. Make sure you have have that, your steering system is in good shape and all you wheel bearings are in good shape.

Once in Olgi, Blue Wolf tours is the company that's reputable...there's also a new ger camp, next to the radio tower...you can't miss it. They may let you park your van there...but I can't vouch for security. Mongolia is a very poor country and people may take things out of necessity, not out of greed.

In order to do what you're attempting to do, you might be better off riding to UB from Olgi via the Southern loop, and then taking the Northern route back to Olgi...OR a flight back to Olg(you can sell your bike to Rene at Oasis). The road from Ulan Ude to Novosibirsk isnt' as interesting as the Northern route back...

HTH

[spakur]

Hi MotoEdde.

Once again you give me plenty of useful information :-)

The van is in decent condition and will only be loaded with me, my bike and bike luggage, so I guess that should be fine if I drive slowly.

I sent Blue Wolf Tour an email 2-3 days ago asking about parking, but haven't got an answer yet. I thought that the van would be more safe in Ölgi than UB, since it's such a small place... (I do plan to remove some small, but crucial parts from the van so that atleast it can't be stolen easily. The van is cheaper than my bike, so if it gets stolen I can live with it.)

Also if I park the van in Ölgi I can spend more time riding the bike :-). Don't want to sell the bike though. This bike will go on many more trips I Hope :-)

From Ölgi I have loose plans to do the northern route to UB in 8-10 days. Spend a few days in UB for the Naadam festival and then do Gobi and the southern route for about 12-14 days before returning back to Ölgi where I'll load the bike in the van again and go to Altai to see the Total Solar Eclipse.

If I don't get a possitive response from Blue Wolf Tour and don't find any other place I trust when I get to Ölgi. Will I be able to do the southern or northern route to UB with my van? How many days would that take? Is that road much worse than the road from Novosibisk via Ulan Ude and UB? I wanna spend as little time in the van and as much as possible in the saddle :-)

[MotoEdde]

Spakur,

Re: parking in Olgi

I would contact Rene at Oasis and ask him if he has contacts in Olgi about secure parking. I would do the same with Vait from Extra Tours...their websites are in the "Helpful Links" section of my website...
If you don't succeed with contact before you get there, no worries...I'm sure you'll find a place if you ask the local ger camp owner, police, etc.

Re: route


Both the northern route and souther route are equally bad for different reasons-but they're equally amazing for different reasons too!

re: Naadam

Get your tickets early as they do sell out...you can pick them up at a bank next to Sukhbaatar square...if you're staying at Oasis...you can catch a bus to the stadium in front of the campement...

[spakur]

Thanks.

I hade some time to spare so I had a look at your pictures from russia and mongolia. Great pictures! Now I know what to expect :-)

Thanks for the tip about the tickets. Hadn't thought of that. I'll try to stay at the Oasis, so I'll check with them about the tickets and if they have some recommendations about parking in Ölgi.

[spakur]

I just got a positive reply from Blue Wolf Travel about parking in Ulgii. So Ulgii will be the place where I park the van :-)

[MotoEdde]

Good...glad to hear they responded. I believe the reason they might not have gotten to your message earlier is that right now is the busy season...right before the Naadam festival.

Speaking of which...make sure you make your lodging reservations ahead of time in UB as it's near impossible to find a guesthouse/campement/hotel with open rooms during the weekend of the festival.

[spakur]

I have been in contact with Oasis f0or a couple of days and yesterday I sent an email to reserv a bed for the festival and ask about tickets...I thought that perhaps they can help me out with the tickets...

[arunp]

Sorry Guys,
I didn't even read the last part of his email. My internet is extermely choppy here. you can tell by my writing. One hour card lasts only 20 minutes. tried to type as fast as I can to squeez other stuff. Please ignore my response.
Thanks Edde for correcting it. I could have scared this poor block. I will be posting some pictures of the road on my site as soon as I get better internet connection.
Sorry.
Best of the Luck.
arun

[spakur]

Hi Arun.

Thanks for trying atleast :-)

/spakur