Plymouth, UK, to Mongolia, The Gobi Dessert and Lake Baikal
 

Hello all, I'm taking my sidecar outfit to Mongolia to see the statue of Chinggis Khaan near Ulaanbaatar.
I will be leaving at the beginning of May 2011 and expecting to arrive back in the UK after approx 3 months. If I can get the appropriate visa for Russia I will try to do the 'Stans' on the way back.
2 other places I want to visit are Lake Baikal and the Gobi Desert.
I appreciate there is another group heading off to Mongolia next year but they seem to have a tight schedule and I want to take time to savour the journey.
I will be 59 years old next year and I'm not taking a passenger on my outfit so I have lots of room for my kit.
To get a drift of who I am and how nuts I can be please visit this webpage
I expect my travelling speed to be approximately 40 - 50mph on normal tarmac roads.
That's all for now but if you are inclined to spend time on the road to Mongolia with a 59 year old 'teenager' then please get in touch.
Cheers
Andy

Hi Andy! Fantastic trip you're planning.

We're heading out for 12 weeks beginning of June so maybe catch you on the road.

Cheers Paul. I'll look forward to sharing information at a later date.
I forgot to mention...Ian Coates said he'd accompany me but I'll wait for his return before I can state he's catagorically coming.. He's either in Hebden Bridge getting his tooth and passport fixed or he's back in the Ukraine. He flew home to see Judith (his wife) who was rushed to hospital but is OK now.
I know of Ian through my brother Nevil as Ian spent some time at Nevil's house in Canmore last winter.

http://www.smiley-faces.org/smiley-f...ce-popcorn.gif

Sounds good. Subscribed!

http://www.joatmoa.com/images/uralcross1.jpg
http://www.joatmoa.com/images/uralcross2.jpg
...that aint ugly, its gorgeous... :mchappy:

http://www.joatmoa.com/images/chinggiskhan.jpg
...and that is one humungous statue, not the one I thought you meant either - Wow! :o

Good luck and I look forward to the ride report.

xXx

Hi Landerstow,

Do you have any idea on what budget will be required?

Are you planning on mainly camping or doing hotels?

Wheeee!

Hope you have a great trip.

Sorry for not putting more info on the posting...
I'll be camping wherever possible but I'm not averse to the odd hotel and I'll probably stay in a hotel in Ulaanbaator.
I haven't worked out a budget but a shoestring one will be sorted out next year. I expect fuel to be the biggest expense and I plan to travel Poole to Cherbourg to get across the channel.

Good news... the outfit will be ready for collection on the 16th Dec '10 and I'll be able to run it in properly before I depart. Heard from Ian Coates but still not sure whether he'll be back in time to join me.

Looks like a fantastic trip. The statue alone should be worth the effort. The combo looks great, checked out the dealer site as well. Never been tempted by three wheels before, but see the attraction now. Anyone else joining you at any point? Anyway, hope all goes well. will check your progress.
Cheers MotoMike.beerchug

No one lined up at the moment other than Ian Coates if he gets home in time. I'm not unduly fussed as traveling alone means you get to integrate with the native population more.
It would be nice to have someone to share the experience with though.

The Stan's
 

Landerstow,

If everything goes accordingly I'll be in the Stan's for most of July- heading east from Russia into Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, and Kyrgyzstan, then doubling back for Germany- drop me a line if you do make it to the area around the same time :thumbup1:

wardj91@hotmail.com

Hi Andy
The sidecar outfit looks fantastic, I may be interested in criss crossing you as I would like to head that way at some point but I like a mixture of offroad and tarmac, the camping thing would suit me and the statue looks amazing, your speed is right up my street and it may be possible to for me to ride some offroad and still meet up during the evenings, maybe not all but it might be workable.
All the best Wozza

Sounds good I would like to come along with an outfit but I think it would be to expensive for me, but we will see, charliedoh

Hi Andy,
Great to hear your off on a great trip.

What is your basic route? I realise this can be very fluid,

'vette

Hi all
 

I'm also heading from Devon to Mongolia in the spring 2011. Given the choice I will always pick the B road and ride as much 'non tarmac' as possible. Aim to camp and cook mostly if only to make the cheep hotels seem like luxury when its time for a town stop. I haven't got an itinerary or route sorted yet. I plan to borrow largely from 'Siberky Extreme' and other travellers generous enough to post there routes. I'm not looking to cover huge miles per day and have around 3 months for the trip. I'm not looking for a full time ride companion but it would be good to cross over with other riders. Beer company in towns, or safety in numbers in some more 'technical' or challenging sections. Devon TRF member.

Hi wardj91, I cant email reply yet as I'm still to new a member. Yes, I'm also thinking about south of the Black Sea via Istanbul. I will probably leave a bit earlier than you, beginning of April, but may well hang around Romania a bit. I hope to have my route and a rough time frame organized by the end of January early February. If I pass through this area to soon there will be other opportunities to meet further down the road.

all adventure lovers are welcome to our club for friendly talks and drinks.

Hi all, sorry I was out of the loop for a week or so only I've now got the bike and I'm having rather too much fun on it! I'm pretty sure if the Government knew how much fun it is driving a sidecar then they'd either tax it or make it illegal. I thought it was great and then it snowed....fabulous. It's even more fun!
To answer some of the questions...
I will be using tracks wherever possible and I have a Russian Atlas that shows me tracks and filling stations. If I was going to use tarmac all the time I wouldn't be going to mongolia and I wouldn't have wanted a Ural. As Devon TRF Member and a TVTR member I prefer off road.
The route hasn't been decided as yet as it depends on what Russian Visa I can get.
Nothing is cast in stone but a circumnavigation of Mongolia in an anti-clockwise direction seems apposite. So Tsagaannuur, Gobi, Ulaanbaatar, poss Lake Baikal/Ulan Ude, back into mongolia (visa permitting) and back through the Northern route to Tsagaannuur.
Andy questions please feel free to ring me on 01752 895362

Update - 28/01/11
 

The plans are coming together and I've decided to fit the outfit with a new tank under the chair. This will give me a range of approx 650 miles before it runs out of fuel.
I'm still looking for someone to share the journey with if anyone's interested?

Hi landerstow, we are travelling to Mongolia (and back) starting April 16th, taking the southern route through turkey and the stans... Might see you along the way!

All the way round
 

Hey Andi,

seeing all that storage space makes a combo look tempting, but I think I'll stick to two wheels.

Will be setting off East early June, doing a very convoluted route to include, Russia, Mongolia, the Stan's and China, then into Laos. I generally point myself in the direction of trails/tracks, and maintain a slightly higher travel speed. I will be travelling alone, but for once it might be nice to catch up with fellows travellers en route.

I'll try and keep tabs on what's going on for you and let you know when I'm off and where I am.

Cheers Les K

Update - 7th Feb '11
 

The outfit now has a Ural screen fitted. I ordered it in gloss green but apparently the new gloss green is gloss black!?
Neil at Neil Thompson - Thompson S.M.A.R.T. Repairs did a great job of matching the paint and spraying the shield so my bike looks even better now with some wind/rain/stone protection.
See Andy's Adventure to Mongolia 2011

Mongolia and the 'Stans
 

HI Andy/Landerstow
Having just read through this thread for the first time, I've realised you're Nevil's brother - I met him in Canada last year -he was the one who provided an eye-opener for the Canadians at the HU meet in British Columbia by giving a talk about How To Deal with Bears. It was very entertaining and informative, though watching the faces of the Canadians as they realised that it was a Brit giving the talk was even better.:clap:

Those of us who were travelling solo heading to the 'Stans and Mongolia in 2009 put together an email group, and I managed to meet up with quite a few of them along the way (some may say I ambushed them). Although none of us were on the same route and timings, we did cross over and it was really useful for sharing on the road information and emails about the border crossings or those bloody ferries out of Azerbaijan. It's invaluable getting info from people who are just days ahead of you. I'd recommend doing that.

As for routes to take, feel free to ask, you'll defintely have a lot of fun on your outfit.
meanwhile, I'm giving a talk at a fundraiser for the TRF next Saturday near Plymouth, the talk will include stuff about the route across the 'Stans and Mongolia, as well as pictures of course.
If you want to find out more, come along - I've posted details about the location and timings in the HU Bar. Hopefully we'll get to meet up.

Hi Andy,

I'm planning a solo trip London to Tokyo via Vladivostok; departing London May 21. Plan to return via Mongolia in September / October.

I have an office in Kiev to which I rode last year prior to riding down through Istanbul then Troy (it exists :biggrin3:) return to Kiev and London.

I am in contact with the organiser for The (Ukrainian) Iron Butt Association who happens to run the annual Ukrainian Biker Rally (last weekend in May) just east of Kiev. The rally really is great fun - drop in on your way past. I'm going to spend the weekend there before going on to Russia. Aksha did a return trip Kiev to Vladivostok last summer and did 2 Iron Butt 1000 registered runs back to back in the process.

Happy to meet anyone on the road - if I can help with things Ukrainian or Russian let me know.

Hi Tiffany

I've sent you a PM reply. Thank you

13th April 2011. I called into the offices of Bauer Media in Peterborough last week and they fell over themselves to get a look at my outfit. They then put a video of it on their website and an article on page 23 of today's MCN.

Plymouth, UK to Mongolia and back 2011
 

I had a great trip and saw many exciting things as well as experiencing many exciting things.
Read about my journey and the conclusions at www.joatmoa.com

Great read Andy, thanks very much for the write up :thumbup1:

Very funny in places and I never knew they had armed guards at Russian fuel stations.