Hi There,

We did a similar route however we went down to Turkey then took the ferry from Trabzon to Sochi (Russia), then went Astrakhan -> Kazakhstan -> Krygyzstan -> Kazakhstan -> Russia (altai) -> Mongolia -> spent three weeks in western mongolia then went the southern route to Ulaanbaatar due to heavy snow fall. We then travelled north to Ulan Ude and headed to Vladivostok and onwards to Japan. Recommendations :
- The Altai in russia is spectacular. I recommend spending some additional time here which means you will need to organise some permits in Gorno Atalsaik (maybe spelt incorrectly).
- The route from Krygyzstan following the Chinese border all the way to Russia requires some special permits in places but is really beautiful scenery. Unfortunately for us the route we took means that we missed Almaty. I'm not sure If i regret it.
- We spent the last two weeks of September and most of October in Mongolia which I think (At least in 2009) was too late in the year. The heavy snow falls on high ground made riding a real challenge. I would recommend having spare tyres available to you in Mongolia as there is a high rate of tyre failure due to 'hidden gems' in the sand which cause you problems with slashed tyres which puncture kits will be unable to fix. Local tyre suppliers didn't have the tyre sizes for my R1200GS adventure, however we did find places that had tyres for my wifes' F650GS Dakar.
- Kazakhstan and Russia were the highlights for our trip, we had an awesome experience in both countries with local hospitality. I can't say the same about Krygyzstan. Its all down to your individual experiences though so its hard to generalise as I'm sure there are people who have completely different experiences to the ones we had. I found the scenery fantastic in Mongolia, especially central and western mongolia. We didn't go into eastern mongolia as we planned to see lake Baikal (but had to change our route due to snow fall).

Transport on the transiberian is difficult with motorcycles, however its easy to get your bikes onto transport trucks for relatively good prices. The problem is that its rare to find a truck which will go the whole way you want to go. There are transport companies like Fesco which will be able to provide you with a shipping quote however you will more than likely need to negotiate hard.

Anyway good luck

The Altai Republic in Russia is indeed spectacular. If you are doing some exploration and get off the main highway, you will need a permit from the border service (pagranichny sluzhba). You can't go past Ust Kan or Korkorya without a border zone permit (unless you are on the main highway).

As for the spelling, there is no correct spelling in Latin script, since it is a Russian word. "горно алтайск" is the correct spelling, but "Gorno Altaisk" or "Gorna Altaisk" is probably the closest substitute for English speakers.

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Many thanks for your recommendations! Additional recommendations are most welcome of course!

@colebatch & Luis_HD: fantastic pics

Greetings

Bjoern

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