Hi guys,

We will get to Mongolia via the M52 highway in Russia, some time in July.

Then, undecided which road to take: northern or southern/central?

I met yesterday with a colleague of my husband who did the Mongol Rally in 2008. It took them 4 weeks driving in shifts…. Anyway, he said the southern was best as the northern had an impassable river….. really? Also they were on a car, so it’s a different perspective.


I may crisscross a bit to visit some lakes etc… but I was thinking the northern route ( via Ulangom, Murum, …) would be more beautiful and less busy with trucks? We will be on little bikes (a couple of Honda XR125) if this matters…

Any thoughts or advice about which route to pick and level of difficulty? Ideally I would like to spend 3 or 4 weeks before we get to UB, so plenty of time to explore a bit.
Cheers,

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Maria,

We went last year and we wanted to do the northern one, which was "closed" due to high rainfall and thus the river being impassable. Yes it happens. This was the part from Tsagaannuur to North side.

So we had to take the southern one, until Khovd it was ok, and then you could either go North again to go to the northern route (we had no info if we could pass or not) or Eastward staying on the southern one which is uttermost CRAP with 400km of washboard and no view and boring. Until the point where we seriously thought what the hell we were doing there after the Russian Altay and Kazakhstan that were both +++ for us.

Anyway in Altai city go North to take the middle route which was great and have a rest in Tsetserleg in the Fairfield guesthouse that is a lot better than oasis in UB in our opinion.

Check everyday all the nuts and bolts on the bikes and you'll be fine, but be sure to be able to do 300km range with your fuel.

All the trucks????? Where did you read/see this?
Maybe we were lucky but we only saw like ten or so in the 3 weeks we were there... ?!

A few 100kliks out of UB the tarmac starts...

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Thanks Seb, that's the sort of specific info I was after! I took some notes and will check and mark my maps.

I read your website few months ago in preparation for my trip. Awesome trip and nice report! I will check it again, now that we are closer to departure.
I wanted to go via Ukraine like you, but it seems less and less likely.....

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

I Also did it lat year, and on the route seb recommended.

Down throu the Republic of Altai ( very beautiful) and in Mongolia to Altai city and north to the Center route.

He said everything you need......

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Yeah, UA is a bit dodgy nowadays, just for the UA-RUS border, depending on how the situation will 'evolve'...
One of the many reasons we decided to change our plans for our next big trip that will start in 3 months... ;-)

If you need anything specific, don't hesitate to mail me, en français tout comme en anglais, c'est bon, pero en español es un poquito dificil...

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I've driven most of the Northern, Central and Southern routes, though none of them in its entirety. Each has its perks.

The Northern Route takes in nice scenery in Uvs Province, but the highlight is probably Khuvsgul Lake. If you've spent a lot of time in Siberia / Baikal, it might not be that special, but I still liked it (camped on the eastern shore). The track conditions are 'OK' After Bulgan there is asphalt to UB, passing Amabarsagalant Monastery, and some pleasant, if not spectacular scenery.



The Central Route starts off really beautiful, as it leaves Khovd Province and enters Zavkhan Province, which I thought was the most beautiful in the country. If I had my time again, I would drive down to Khovd, then just head east through flat plains with some sand dunes (no ergs, you can drive round them!!) following tracks to Khar Nuur (Black Lake), which is one of the most beautiful places I have seen in the country, dividing the dunes and the green steppe.



After Uliastai the road goes through rolling grassy plains with wildflowers, then at Tosontsengel there are some lovely hills. After this, the central route becomes a little 'touristy', passing White Lake and Tsetserleg. Somewhere around here the asphalt starts, and the scenery after is pretty boring. Erdene Monastery is worth seeing though.



The Southern Route is the most boring, and least adventurous. In some ways it is the 'best' road, as it is difficult to lose the track, which is always an annoyance in Mongolia, though rarely a problem. Yes, there is washboard, but if you are scared of bad roads, don't come to Mongolia. Seriously. However, if you have the time and the interest, the Southern Route is the one to choose to go off and explore the Gobi. There are some amazing things to be found...



You could also head to the far south, and see some picture-postcard desert at Khongoryn Els, then continue east to Dalandzadgad and reach UB on decent roads, which are paved once you get to Choir or nearby.



So if you want to see greenery, hills and lakes, I would go down to Khovd, head east off-piste to Khar Nuur, then Uliastai, then join the northern route and see Khuvsgul Lake.

If you want to see the desert, follow the southern route to Bayankhongor, then head south along any track and make a desert crossing. You could even go down to the far south-west, to Bulgan... but I would not want to take a bike on that route!!!

Oh, and don't forget to explore Bayan Olgi Province, it also has some of the best scenery in the country.



The east of the country is nice too!



Many more pics in the Picasa link below...

Good luck

Daniel

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Huge amounts has already been written on this topic. You won't need telling how to find these other threads.

If you're on little light bikes, I'd stear clear of the South route: Many bikers have described it as boring, corrugated and full of construction and freight traffic. I strongly suggest to go central and north. Me and a mate did on big sheds like Transalps in 9 days at a very leasurely pace.

Pics and videos linked in my signature.

It is possible to avoid the big river mentioned by riding Tsagaannuur to Olgi and the heading north east skirting the eastern shore of Achit Nuur lake and then turning east again.

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Northern route was not impassible last summer. I found it very dry and dusty. I did both northern and southern route on a KTM 690. Southern route is boring with lots of construction. Soon it will be paved 100%. Perfect for those with overloaded "adventure" barges.

There is an un-crossable river north of Achit lake on the northern route. If you ride south of this lake, the rest of the rivers are cake. You don't have to go all the way south to Kvold. you can go east from Oilgii.

I was going to try a "very southern" route along the chines border. From Kvold to Altai city I had 3 flat tires and no more spare tubes/running out of patches. I decided to stay on the main "southern route" and not get stranded in the Gobi. It was a very boring ride back to UB.

Recommendation: Stay north or bounce around in the middle. There are not only 2 routes and in Mongolia its easy to make your own. A little preplanning will help you find fuel stations. The last 2 or 300 km into UB will suck no matter what direction you come in. Pavement and traffic.

As others have suggested the central/north would be preferred. We went south in our 4x4 last year and dropped off main south route into the Gobi around Altay (?) With another truck. we went for 2 weeks off route, picking up dry river beds as we went. I wouldn't recommend it on a bike though as we both had 1200km fuel and 70L of water each! which was stretched. we ended up coming into the National Park from the west to the sand dunes before heading north to UB.

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Seb, does this route you recommend go via Uliastai and around the Tarvagatai Nuruu NP?

You could (but probably shouldn't) make your own route from any place to any other place. We did this after Tsetserleg but it's definitely not faster! We drove purely on coordinates but it took us the whole day to cover 80km of pure offroading. It would have been faster to take the normal "road". And you would probably don't get bogged on the normal "road"... ;-)

If you are in a hurry, then you should just stay on the southern route. If not:

Yes we did the 'loop': Altai - Uliastai - Tosontsengel - Tsetserleg
I can recommend it as a few highlights are on the way there.
The route we took is not even in google maps, if you are interested, send me a mail and I'll send you the GPX file of that part.
This part of Mongolia was for us the most interesting as the scenery is beautiful and most 'tourist' stay either on the southern or northern route... ;-)

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OK thanks. Indeed not really planning on cross country, subject to conditions but might be interesting to do here and there. Bike is maybe a bit heavy for that (AT) Yes, im interested in the GPX file. You could attach it to your next post or mail it via my PM email address! Thanks in advance.

Yeah this uncrossable river

Totally crossable went through it with a KTM990 and Tenere Xt660Z

Was a swine to find the route which meant zig zagging over various little islands and we were shown the way by the locals of whom a couple lent a hand


helpers


Gaz jeep marks the far shore

But we didn't think it was crossable, we would have found the way eventually by ourselves if we had gone knowing that it was, if coming in from the Altai, walk across if you get really stuck and then go find a local to show you the way.

Post crossing shot

Loved the stretch between that river and Ulangom in particular, though there was nothing technically difficult in any of the riding along tracks and we actually took to heading off piste to amp things up a little

Would have struggled to cross there on some bikes with a low intake maybe and you do need to walk it first and carry your luggage across separately

enjoy

I'll return just for that most beautiful corner of Mongolia

Of course it's totally crossable, it all depends on when you are there and if it has rained a lot just before or not.
What is one day may not be the other.
If the local 6x6 doesn't run across the river anymore because the water is too high, then I suggest you don't go in with the bike.
If the water is "only" kneedeep, then of course there's absolutely no problem.
You can't say yes or no before you are actually there.
All the riders that were there when we were turned around as it was not doable that week when we were there. And I ride a 140kg bike, so if that is a no go, anything bigger is in my opinion certainly a no go...
I'm talking about the route from Tsagaannuur to Ulaangom. There are a few rivercrossings (not on google maps) and those can be a problem as said if it rained a lot the days/weeks before you arrive.
Plan both ways, try the N route, if you are in bad luck (like we were) then you'll have to divert to the S one... if not then go for it!

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Hi Seb, I'm planning to be in Mongolia next august.
Do you think starting on the southern route and then switching to the central route as you did and you are referring here, is easily doable two up on a Dominator or there are any particularly technical parts or some deep sand?
Thanks