Road conditions in Mongolia and Kazakhstan - Leaving in two weeks
 

Hi everyone!

I'm setting off in a couple of weeks and plan to get to Ulaanbaatar in a month and a half. I'll be entering Kazakhstan on the 2nd week of July and Mongolia at the end of the month. Can anyone give me fresh info on the current state of the roads for the following route? (and on river crossings in Mongolia)

KAZAKHSTAN:

Atyrau (from Astrakhan)
Aktobe
Aralsk
Kyzlorda
Shymkent
Almaty
Shonzhy (Charyn Canyon)
Sarkand
Ayagoz
Semey

MONGOLIA

Olgii (from Tashanta)
Khovd
Altai
Bayankhongor
Ulaanbaatar
Sukhbaatar

Thanks very much!!

It seems that i go this direction ( at least in Mongolia ) maybe a week or 1 1/2 before you.

So i can post the conditions here in the HUBB then

I decided to cancel Kazakstan and take more time in Mongolia
( and i think that Russia is also beautiful, if you dont take the main roads )
I stay in Ulanbataar till the 5th of august and then return to Austria via the Baltic countries

Thanks!

My best case scenario would be to get to UB on Saturday the 4th of August, if I do, I'll buy you a beer bier
How are travelling back? I'll ride to Isrkutsk and try to get the bike on the train, then ride to Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, France and home.

I thought about Irkutsk and train too..

But it seemed to be a hassle, so i planed ( or didn't plan ) that i go to Irkutsk, ask at the train station and then either go by train to Moscow or ride to Moscow, then Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republik and Austria

Astrakhan to border, road is fine. There is a bridge washed out but there is a temp floating pontoon. From memory it was about 150Rb so make sure you keep some before the border.

From Russia into Kaz the road is in poor condition for about 100km. It then gets better and is fine around Atyrau. we went to UZB so cant comment any further.

G

In General.

Kazakhstan is all asphalt - sometimes good, sometimes bad sometimes sections under repair.

Mongolia has almost no roads. At least as far as Altai its just paths across the earth. From Altai City to UB they are building a road. Within about 400 - 500 km of UB its asphalted.


But in general there is no comparison between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. One has roads in various states of repair, the other has no roads (except within 400-500 km of UB).

After Bayankhongor, to UB snd to Sukhbaatar, you will be fine. The border to Bayanhongor will be the rough section

We made the road from atrakhan to atyrau today. The pontoon bridge is still there 100rb for two bikes. the road was fine, but not perfect. Many big pot holes, and wrinkeled asfalt. Just keep the speed above 80km/h and you dont feel it so much.

Thanks for the info guys!

Walter, I downloaded, trimmed and copied your waypoints into my Garmin, great job, I bet they have been very useful for a lot of people here!
Have you stayed in some of the hotels you've included for Kazakhstan and Mongolia? I was wondering what the prices are on average... see if I can afford a proper rest from time to time!

For those of you who have travelled this route before: I have calculated about two weeks for Kazakhstan and then a week from Tashanta to UB, is this realistic?

We just went from ataray to aktobe. On the A27 . The road is in very bad state. 70 % of the asfalt isnt there anymore. Is is not a problem to pass , but with low speed <60kmh. It is better to go on the dirt tracks along the road.

How long did it take you? And are you caming or staying at hotels? Any recommendations? Thanks!

It took us two days, we when to a hotel in ataray. It cost around 100 dollar for a good room. But you get others alot cheaper. Then we camped yesterday. It is was fantastic.

Calculate 300 km a day.

I have stayed in many / most of tge hotels on the map. Kazakhstan is not a cheap country. In the cities the hotels in KZ are typically 100 bux a night for a double or more. In small towns they are more like 40-60 bux a night per double room.

In Mongolia they are typically 10 -15 bux a night

That also the prices we find here. We found a cheaper hotel 20dollars a night for a double room, but that was old run down soviet style hotel where the upper floors a closed because of water damage. Fungus on the walls and no working toilet and paper thin matresses. We used our camping gear inside the room to sleep nicely. 42*54'46"N 71*22'21"E in Taraz if anybody is interested.

The road from aktobe to almaty is all new asfalt. But several section are not finnished yet. Especialy around baikonur spacestation. There you have to drive on dirt tracks along the construction sites, around 200km in all. But they seem to be almost finnished, they should open the new sections this year.

Thanks for the info!

I'm setting off tomorrow at 7am, first stop, Grenoble. Travel safe and I'll keep in touch from the road!

Mongolia
 

Hello
5 of July we will start to Mongolia from central Poland
LR 110 and Toyota LC.

see you on road.

Bartosz

Enjoy, I will also be on the road, riding from Moscow to Vladivostok, via Mongolia. I'm aiming to be in Ulaanbataar mid to end of July if you're about?

I'm riding a sportsbike, a Suzuki GSXR1000, so should be easy to spot! I'll be the one pushing a broken bike ;-))

Cheers

Bruce


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Riding the world on 2 wheels

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Mongolia by van...
 

Hi all,

I might be traveling to Mongolia by van from London. The van is not my first choice... actually it's no choice at all due to financial reasons. I have to travel to Mongolia and this is the only vehicle I've got: an LDV Convoy with four wheels at the back, which might help off road. I have seen several videos and it looks like it's possible to make it to UB with a non off road vehicle. My only concern is river crossings, due to the fact that the van is not a 4x4.
Can anyone (who has been there) tell me which is the best time of the summer to find rivers at their lowest level? I have to enter Mongolia from the North-West and I have to go through Altai city. I am planning to spend a couple of months there and then return to London.

Thanks!

There are not rivers as such on main roads in Mongolia. A major "route" will have bridges where necessary.

What there is there, is watercourses that can run or flood after recent rain - for an hour or two or for a few days sometimes.

Thats not a "seasonal river" issue. Its a "luck of recent weather" issue.

River seasonality is for places like BAM and old summer road in Siberia

Thanks Walter!:thumbup1:

I'll be entering Mongolia by the first week of August and try to be in Ulaanbaatar at the end of that week, beginning of the newxt, will you still be around? Which route are you taking before Mongolia? I'm in Budapest at the moment.

I'll be crossing into Mongolia from Ulan Ude tomorrow, I hope. I plan on heading south into the Gobi, and then West towards Altai.

May see some of you en route. Keen to hear how the "roads" are!

Northern Route
 

I just finished the Northern route from UB to Altai. (sorry I can't post a link right now, Google maps is not working correct for me)

"It is to muddy" they said. "you won't make it" they said. I had dry,dusty,rocky, desert like riding the whole way. With the exception of of a few small river crossings and this one just south of Moron. N49.5844 E100.1513 The bridge is down. Not bad.. maybe 30cm deep.

There is no place to cross the Boh Moron River here. N49.7369 E90.2087
I went north until I was 20km from the russian border. There were some place where it looked like people in 4x4 crossed but I was not about to try on the KTM.. alone.
You have to go south of Achit Nuur Lake. There is a small river crossing on the east side of the lake also.

How long did it take you?

Thanks, i will be at the border in 3 days, and the get slowly to Ulanbataar

Hope to meet someone around

We are in Olgi at the moment and there are some problems, first there is quarantaine in the moment, so they wont people get up the northern route, but this might change in a few days.

But:
We met people, they are traveling here in Mongolia since mire then 10 Years and realy know the country ( know them personally)
They are around with a big Unimog 4x4 and they dont do the northern route at the moment, because the weather this year iss unusual, there was a lot of rain the last days, and the snow is melting ( prety long unusual snow season this year ) so itn is hard to pass northern route at the moment.

We decided to go a little bit the southern route and then go up to the center route to Tsertseleg ond on....

We just arived in UB after taking the northern route.
We meet Snoah for grilling at Blue wolf in olgie and followed his advise. The route was no problem at all. It was very dry, and we only had a small river crossing. The water barrely reach the axels of the wheels.

I'm back in Astrakhan with a broken rear rim, the bad road between Dossor and Aktobe is to blame... :(

I have a replacement in Barcelona that will ship out on Monday, and then depending on how much time and money I have left, I'll weigh my options.

I can't risk breaking another rim on really bad roads, and I can not enter Kazakhstan again because my tourist visa only allowed one entry, so I'm considering riding to Irkutsk through Russia and then down to Ulaanbaator, but I fear that route might be too boring, any advise?

My other option is to go north to Moscow and then Saint Petesbourg and keep going to the Nordkapp.

Noes knapp mate, defo. I've just ridden across Russia, Moscow to Vladivostok, after riding around Europe - incl up to Nordkapp. Russia is an amazing country and the people are fantastic, but it is a pretty boring place to just ride through. The roads are also very bad in places so if your bike's crook already, I'd head north to Nordkapp. Norway is without doubt the most beautiful place I've ever been, hands down. The people are great too. Nordkapp's a hard slog, but great once it's done.

There's a cracking wee campsite just outside Alta, right beside a lake, that's well worth staying at either on the way up or down.

I'd also really recommend riding back along the west coast of Norway. Will take a bit of time but the views are stunning.

Enjoy


www.teapotone.com
Riding the world on 2 wheels

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Bloody phones!

Meant 'Nordkapp' in opening line above.


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Riding the world on 2 wheels

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Thanks for the advice! The rim is already repaired, it looks good, but the Russian guy who did it told me to avoid bad roads, so the decision is taken. Change of plans, I am now heading north!

In UB yesterday i met some riders, they have been 2 days behind us and they tried to take the northern route up before Olgi.

They said my information was true, they tried a whole day to find a way through the watercrossings and gave up.
Wuter was mor than 1 meter high.

So I think it really depends when youn try to do this part, a few days can make a difference

I havent made it all the way across (went from UB to Ulanagom so far) and the water was no higher than 4 inches! Rather disappointing really. So, unless there's a torrent on the way to Olgii, then it clearly changes day by day.

Hello, for info it is possible to put the bike on a train to a Shymken actobé.
I did last June with my 1200GSA (a made Bergerac/astrakan/Samarkand/khorog/osh and go back)
Tiger

You do.t need to go south so far, just to take the old track and cross here:
N49 42.409 E90 13.694

Locals sign it with wooden sticks in the water.

Groetjes,

Jeroen

Colebatch I can see from your replies that you have been riding different places in the world. I'm planning a world around trip on motorbike. I have a 1200 GSA. My plan would be from Budapest to Vladivostok through Kazachstan and Mongolia, North America then go to South America then over to Australia then Africa-India and back to Hungary. Based on your experience should I keep my 1200 GSA for this trip or should I change it to a 650 GS. The reason I'm asking is because the majority of this trip will be either on paved road or on hard surface. You made me concerned regarding Mongolia and I've read some stories about South America also. I will camp wherever I can, so I think I will be packed. I think I will have and additional 70 Kg-s of staff. The trip will start in 2015 so I still have time. I really like the comfort of the 1200 gsa, but based on your expertise whish bike would you recommend?
I appreciate your help.

Thanks

hello,
I want to do this trip with a side car in 2015 , please where have you find the waypoints ?
thanks
chris
vieux-motards-quejamais.blogspot.com

Well, I am not colebatch, but Mongolia with a 1200GSA is sporty, I would strongly recommend your 650

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...aypoints-50860

Choose a 650, decrease your staff under 30 kgs and you will enjoy everything :)

I recommend a G650 (X Challenge) or DRZ-400S.

I am pretty much looking at entering Kazakhstan at the border near Ozinki and then staying in the north and leaving at the Shemonaikha/Zmeinogorsk border to head off to Mongolia
Can any one give me a rough guesstimate on how long it will take me to transit Kazakhstan on that route, as I will be leaving he UK with the Kazakhstan and Mongolia visas and only have about 25/28 days to get through Kazakhstan?
Thanks :D

Rode Astrakhan to cross into Kazakhstan, Ponton Bridge 50r. Ferry free and more fun. Stayed at Riverside Inn/hotel in Atyrau. If you book inadvance it's $32 a night. Secure parking and ex pats in Bar.
Atyrau to Aqtobe starts ok, then 200 km of no road. Returning to bad roads. I did it ok in 12 hrs on a CRF250L. Fell off in some soft wet sand. It's been raining a lot.