mongolia in november?
 

hi all,
i am a new member, and sorry, i am a bicyclist. i want to cross the stan countries and then, mongolia, but i think i will not able to reach the country before october or november, what temperature can i expect during day and night?:confused1:
i was cycling in mongolia some years ago, but summer, and i remember some roads very lightly tracked, could be a problem if it snows?
and, the last, i have just read the info about the new borders, but i can not remember the provinces, can i cross from china coming from kirguistan or i have to cross kazasthan and then russia?
thanks a lot, from cairo

Hi,

Coooold, and not recomended. It's possible but I can't imagine that it would be much fun at all, unless you like snowmobiling:) You should be able to do a google search on the average temps for at least UB as an indicator. You are correct in your assessment that many roads are lightly travelled, so any breakdown would be even more of a pain to receive assistance on.

Cheers.

In Mongolia the first snows usually come by mid-September and there is often snow on the ground permanently by early October. By mid-October nighttime temperatures are often below freezing, with daytime temps 5-10 C depending on where you are in the country.

In November it is often below 0 during the day also, and -5 to -10 at night.

Generally the west and north are colder and the south (Gobi) and east a bit less cold, but the difference is usually only a few degrees.

If you have the right camping equipment and love cold weather you might be OK on the (few) main sealed roads, but I would strongly recommend against cycling on the unmarked dirt tracks (most roads) because as soon as they are covered up by snow they become very hard to follow and of course also physically very hard to cycle on. Make sure you have a good GPS and can trust it with your life.

Short answer: Not a good idea. You would probably survive but I don't think it would be much fun.

Scott

thanks
 

oh, i was afraid about that,:(
thanks a lot for the answer, i think if i can reach mongolian border at beggining of october, i will try, otherwise, i will change my plans. i will see in taskent. thanks, again.

The Mongolian Embassy official I spoke to in Paris said that she thought the western border crossings etc are closed in winter, she should e-mail me back to confirm this sometime this week.

You might want to try and find out if you get anywhere near an embassy.

Hi from UB
 

Hi,
I agree with Scott. It will be freezing cold and snow. But with the right equipment it will be okay.
Sabina from UB