Day 38: Mongolia, Day 2

Miles driven: 487 miles 

Time in Car:10 hours 

Borders crossed: 0

Since we were still in the mountainous region of western Mongolia, our morning was a cold one. Still the sunrise over the clear skies made for incredible views in the morning. After a quick dip and shower in the freezing Tolbo Nuur lake, we were on our way. 

Two-humped camels

The driving for the greater part of the day was actually quite nice and easy. Nearly 430 miles of paved highway allowed us to sail across the steppe. Gradually, we descended in elevation and the Altai rocky peaks rounded into smaller mountains further in the distance; the steppe stretched on in all directions. While the drive was scenic, there weren’t too many highlights. More packs of camels and yaks and we stopped to snap some photos. We had a lunch of instant ramen on the side of the road. We finished our third audiobook, Michael Crichton’s The Lost World. Past 6 pm, we reached a stretch of unpaved road. Our route through southern and central Mongolia had been paved to this point. Apparently, the road had been put in by the government in the prior years. Previous ralliers had it much worse. Still, there were going to be treacherous sections of road, or lack thereof. 

We were handling the road particularly well, with the normal bottoming out we had been accustomed to. However, about an hour into our journey, we forcefully grounded into a rut and immediately we knew our sump guard was busted again. We all hopped out of the car and just as we had expected the sump metal guard had been sheared off, again. However, there was one part of rear right flange that had been welded on in Murghab that was still hanging on. Either we had to remove the sump guard completely (which we wanted to do) or we had to somehow secure the sump to the bottom of the car still allowing us enough ground clearance to continue onwards. We tried he former first. We tried banging on it with hammer - no good. We then hitched our tow rope to it and played tug-of-war with the stubborn sump attachment - no good either. It was getting dark so we decided the best thing we could do was ratchet strap the sump guard to our car, anchoring our ratchets on our roof box. While a hack job, it worked. The driver and front passenger had to enter the car from the backseat since the ratchet straps held tight over the front doors. Still, it allowed us to continue on. Our plan was to drive about 20 miles to the small town in hope there was a mechanic or at least someone who owned an angle grinder, welder, or hack saw so we could just cut the sump off. 

Trying to remove our sump guard

We camped right off the road where our sump ripped off and ate more instant noodles for dinner. Thankfully, darkness did not bring a biting cold like it had previous nights and we went to sleep as sporadic Mongol truck drivers lit up our tent with their headlights as they passed by. Hopefully tomorrow, we can get our sump situated quickly and continue onwards. -FWY

We camped in the middle of nowhere

Fixed it…

Day 37: Enter Mongolia

Miles driven: 248

Time in Car: 6.5

Borders crossed: 1

Day 37, seven weeks since we set out from Oxford on our maiden voyage, we entered Mongolia. The push to the finish line. Only in between us now are a thousand miles, one more border crossing into Russia, some off-roading, river fording, and long driving days before reaching the finish line at Ulan Ude. Our time in Turkmenistan seems ages ago, Western Europe seems inconceivable. Our trusty Stevie has conquered all terrain thrown at her thus far. Apart from cosmetic injuries to the sump, roof rack, exhaust chassis frame, I have full confidence that Stevie can tackle whatever Mongolia has to offer. 

Our day driving into Mongolia was ho-hum. We awoke early at our Altai wild camping spot to a cold, heavily dew-laden morning. After breaking down camp, we set off in a hurry. It was about three hours to the Mongolian border and the 9 am to 6 pm border crossing was known for taking a long time to get through. We arrived around 10:30 am and set-up in the queue that seemed unmoving based on the number of passengers lingering outside around their vehicles. To our surprise, the Norwegian team we had convoyed with in the Pamirs and on that dreadful Murghab day was a few cars ahead of us in line. We exchanged stories about the past few countries we’d been in. We seemed to have fared better than the friendly Norwegian team. The Nordes caught Hell in Kazakhstan with daily breakdowns on the terrible roads to go along with a bout of “Tajikistan Two-step” that had been following them since the Pamirs. While Kazakhstan is known to take a beating to most cars, our suspension is still in good shape, we think. We chatted with a few other rally teams in line and took advantage of the good cell reception to clear up logistics about our travel home, a haunting thought. 

After a few hours, we were through the Russian exit border and entered a 20km stretch of no-man’s land to the Mongolian entry point. At the Mongolian checkpoint, we queued in another line - it seemed like the Mongolian border control were still on their lunch break. In line, we made one of the dumber mistakes of the rally. A cash exchanger was offering to change Kazakh tenge for Mongolian currency. We still had loads of Kazakh cash and given that we were only going further from that country, the prospect of getting rid of worthless money for Mongolian currency seemed ideal. We had no cell service and had no idea the exchange rate but in every other border crossing, especially in Central Asia, unofficial money changers had been spot on with their rates. Big Mistake. That guy took us hook, line, and sinker for about a profit of $100. Once we realized what fools we were, he was already speeding off on his motorbike with his killing. Oh well - shit happens I guess. We hadn’t had to bribe any official police or guards yet so we chalked this faux pas up to having too clean of a record thus far. 

The lake shoreline

Finally, after 5 hours, we were through into Mongolia - our 20th country and the namesake destination of our entire road trip. After 3 years of planning and 45+ days of driving, we were finally here. It was already late afternoon and we had formed a three team convoy with other cars that were in line around us. We all decided to stock up on cash and supplies in the nearby city of Ölgii, the capital city of the state Bayan-Ulgii, before entering the vast, barren territory that is the Great Mongolian Steppe. After stocking up with food, beer, and cash, our convoy of 2 hours already decided to split. The two other teams wanted to press on to the night as they were trying to get to the 8/31 ending party in Ulan Ude. We had time and being ahead of schedule, chose to camp at a nearby lake, cook pasta, and enjoy sunset. Driving out of Ölgii, the scenery was as advertised. Valleys of huge, dry, and yellow grassy plains stretched for miles and were lined with mountains following the natural curves of the Steppe. White yurts speckled the grasslands. Herds of cattle and goats as well as wild packs of camels (two humped), horses, and yaks were the only signs of life on the landscape. We chose a wild camping spot that was close to the shoreline of Tolbo Nuur, a giant lake in the middle of nowhere. It was a crystal clear lake with a rocky bottom surrounded by mountains on either side that had no inhabitants except for the small distant village of yurts that belonged to the herders that shepherded the land. We ate a huge meal of pasta (thanks, Joe) and beers. The sun set and the chill of night came quickly revealing again a incredible night sky with a perfect view of the Milky Way. Tomorrow we’ll do the same thing - drive until we find a cool place to camp. -FWY

Sunset at Tolbo Nuur

Milky Way and Stevie

Distant Altai peaks

Campsite

Day 36: Altai

Miles driven: 325

Time in Car: 7 hours

Borders crossed: 0

We slept in till a lovely 8:00 a.m. and started our errands. After getting groceries (taco night!) and a new mattress pad (who knew that they could develop giant bulges randomly in the middle of the night), we grabbed another excellent Russian meal for lunch. It’s kind of a shame that people don’t appreciate the Russian cuisine. After the previous night’s KFC and the Papa John’s lunch, we’re excited to see what other great culinary delights we can find in this country. All joking aside, we fully plan on trying Russian food in Ulan Ude, but after weeks eating the same three Central Asian dishes and surviving minor bouts of food poisoning, we desperately needed a quick blast of home cookin. We left Barnaul and civilization and drove into the Altai Mountains and toward Mongolia. The drive was scenic and complete with several spectacular lookouts over the green Altai Mountains in the near distance. We camped on a grassy plateau above the confluence of the Chuya and Katun rivers, feasted on our last taco meal, enjoyed some beers around a improvised fire pit, and prepared for Mongolia.

The homestretch. We still might have over a thousand miles to go, but the end is in site. One more major mountain range, one vast endless steppe, and probably two small stretches of actual roads separating us from the end (and a ton of off-roading). Can Stevie make it? Will we finally snap? Am I going to regret eating half a day old pizza for breakfast tomorrow? Only time will tell, but until then -FWY

Wild camping spot

Day 32 - Day 35: Through Kazakhstan to Barnaul, Russia

Miles driven: 1,280

Time in Car: A long time 

Borders crossed: 2

It’s been a few days since our last post - not that we miss writing about our trip but because not much has happened in those days... except driving. Here’s the abridged recap. 

Day 32 started with a beautiful sunrise at Son-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, a great breakfast, and a bumpy 3 hour drive out of Son-Kol. Soon after reaching smooth tarmac, we cruised to the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border around 1 pm. Not long and we were upon Almaty, the former capital. Kazakhstan is the richest countries of Central Asia, thanks again to natural gas and oil reserves. Almaty showcases this wealth. It’s nestled right on the edge of the Turkestan mountains and features international business, cuisines, and hotels. We were planning to get a cheap Airbnb, but because our host never accepted the booking request, we had to audible. For a mere 25k Marriott points, we had a room for us at the Ritz-Carlton - Almaty. Some may say this is too lavish for rally standards - I say au contraire. When you’ve worked 4 years on the road accumulating hotel points and haven’t showered in 3 days, a free room at the Ritz is within the rules. We parked in the hotel garage, next to a lineup that included a few Mercedes G-Wagons, a Maybach, a Rolls-Royce, and other high-end sports cars. Stevie fit right in. Roadworn and dirty, we did not fit in at the spotless Ritz but still we were treated like royalty. For dinner, we continued our trend of breaking up the monotony of Central Asian cuisine with an excellent Indian meal - it’s amazing what spices can do. We caught a few beers before retiring to our palace of a room. We stocked up on groceries the next morning, enjoyed the best ever (really mean it when I say this) hotel breakfast at the Ritz lounge free-of-charge, and hit the road. This is where the interesting part of the blog ends.

Wild camping night one near a field off the highway

The next two days comprised of all day driving over destroyed highway northwards through the Kazakh steppe. It was quite boring and on par with Azerbaijan in terms of scenery. However, the continuous potholes, buckled pavement spots, and gravel sections, were incredibly annoying, especially to the driver. We wild camped both nights on our northern journey through Kazakhstan. The second night camping we set-up  near a lake and the clear night skies allowed for some amazing stargazing as well as some shots of the Milky Way. 

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Day 35, we made it to the Russian border, the first of two times we will be in this country. Crossing took an unpleasant 3 hours but it could have been worse. We then scooted on nice tarmac north to Barnaul, the capital of the Altai Republic. We feasted at KFC, traditional Russian cuisine. Tomorrow we head into the Altai Mountains of Russia for what should make for some great scenery. We’re almost on the homestretch. Barnaul is our last big city before before Ulanbataar so we will be stocking up before departing. -FWY

Day 31: Son-Kol, Kyrgyzstan

We woke up at 6:30 am (well Mike did) and like other camping days, the sun was already. However, the Kyrgyz highlands air temperature was below freezing. Our tent had frosted over as had the the grassy pastures, edelweiss flowers, and cow pies outside. Thankfully, our sleeping bags could handle the below freezing temps. Finally, packing my long underwear and three Toro winter beanies had paid off. 

Outside, while freezing, the views were unbelievable. Walking around the lakeside pastures among the grazing cattle and horses while the sun glistened off the morning frost against the backdrop of the Kyrgyz Alay Mountains, I constantly thought to myself - “Never thought in my life I’d be camping in the Kyrgyz mountains”. It was a special moment - solitary and silent (apart from the distant moo’s of roaming cattle). See pics below.

Camping spot at sunrise.

After a slow breakfast and gazing at more herds of cattle and horses roll through our campsite, we began our drive to the other side of the lake. The night previous we had camped on the south side. The drive to the north side took near an hour and a half over bumpy gravel before a 10 km stretch of “offroading” through dry grass. There was a “road” but it was essentially just tire tracks through grassy pasture. We chose a yurt stay near the water. Most yurt stays are licensed through the Kyrgyz government to ensure that tourists stay at yurts that are managed by local Kyrgyz people. Our yurt stay was just that - it was family-run with everyone doing a different job. The elder woman managed all the cooking while her younger boys sped around on horseback running errands and herding livestock. A teenage girl spoke a bit of English but thanks to Google Translate we were able to communicate effectively. It was back-and-forth at times, but finally we were able to arrange a horseback ride for 2 hours into the mountains to catch the sunset over the giant lake. 

We basked in the afternoon sunlight before walking down to the rocky shore of Son-Kul Lake. It was perfectly partly cloudy and with the sun higher in the sky, the water had turned a lighter blue. After a quick rinse in the cold, clear waters, we chatted with some other trekkers who were admiring the views. The Israeli group was doing a 3 week trek to other alpine lakes in eastern Kyrgyz - again a reminder of how little of this beautiful country we are seeing with our few days here. Later, closer to sunset, we embarked on a horseback ride up the rolling hills beyond our yurt for better views of the lake. I think they would have let us gone without a guide, but given that none of us are equestrians beyond childhood horseback rides, we opted for a guide. In 2 hours, we trotted up the hill to observe some epic views of the lake - it’s a giant lake at dimensions. On horseback in the mountain setting, we were quick to make Lord of the Rings references to the Riders of Rohan. We made our way down to our yurt camp safely and thoroughly enjoyed our ride, well apart from Joe’s stubborn horse who lagged in the back. 

Dinner was a spread of huge proportions - plov (some of the best of the trip), lagman, breads, candy, cookies, melon, salad, chai. We ate till we couldn’t and called it a night in our yurt which was toasty hot from the cow pie burning furnace inside. Tomorrow we leave Son-Kul, one of the most beautiful places on the trip, and head for Kazakhstan. -FWY

Edelweiss, a symbol of the Alps, are abundant here

Day 30: Osh to Son-Kol

Miles driven: 274

Time in Car:13 hours

Borders crossed: 0

Per Maps.me, the route the application wanted us to take to Son-Kul lake (which is in the central part of the country) was around the center of Kyrgyzstan up north to Bishkek before going south to the lake. The alternative was through the center of the country direct - over the Turkestan Mountains of the Pamir-Alay Range. The indirect route was much longer but had better roads while the direct route was quicker and provided better views. We chose the direct. The drive consisted of two major legs - 1) Osh to Kazarman and 2) Kazarman to Son-Kul. The previous night In Sary-Tash, a fellow traveler who had just completed two weeks in Kyrgyzstan on motorcycle told us that the road from Osh to Son-Kul was rough and treacherous and definitely a two day trip. In Osh, the night before our departure, we decided we’d leave early and see how far we’d get. 

The road to Kazarman

We left around 6:30 am from Osh and it was only 160ish miles from Osh to Kazarman but Maps.me said the drive would be close to 7 hours. We set off, hopeful yet nervous for what lie ahead. 60 miles into the journey, the pavement was still good. We were cruising in 4th gear for the most part. 90 miles left, still good. I kept glancing at the ETA and as we approached 80 miles, Maps.me said we still had 5 hours of driving. Either Maps.me was very wrong or we were about to average 15 mph for the next 5 hours of driving. 75 miles left to our destination and the pavement changed and the latter became a very real scenario. 

Atop Kaldama Pass

The drive to Kazarman did in fact take all 5 hours and even a half hour to boot. We first transversed the Kyrgyz hill country avoiding packs of cattle as we went along. Then we began to climb. Up countless hairpins we ascended for well over an hour. The road was rocky, gravel, washed out in some areas and flooded in others. It made for some testy driving. The only cars we saw on the road were 4x4 Toyota’s as they overtook us on the “2-lane” cliffside road. Winding up the mountain, we stopped every so often and looking up it was hard to imagine that we would ever get to the other side of the mountain. Eventually we reached the Kaldama Pass at 10k feet and began our descent. Same as the way up, we trepidatiously creeped down the mountain via similar nail-biting hair pin turns. 6 hours later, we reached Kazarman, the pit-stop town on the way to Son-Kul. Only after the drive did we find out the drive we just did was featured on a Deadliest Roads website...

We ate lunch on the hood of our car and decided we’d push to Son-Kul, or as close as we could, before dark. It was only 2:30 in the afternoon so we were optimistic. The second leg of the drive was again through mountain passes following sharp curves over steep cliffs, but not as troublesome as the first leg of driving. Climbing into the mountains to Son-Kul, rain clouds began to gather as the temperature steadily dropped. Our shorts and t-shirts we donned in Osh were not cut out for the terrain here. Finally, over the seemingly 10th mountain pass of the day, we reached the lake, Son-Kul. It was near dark, raining, and windy. Arriving late, we wanted to wild camp near the lakeshore and experience the wilderness of the Kyrgyz mountain country. We got that and more. 

Camping digs

We picked a lonely spot on the lakeshore that was as clear of cow pies as we could find. We quickly changed into our warm clothes - everyone had jeans, a fleece, a rain jacket, and a Toro winter beanie; some had long underwear that finally paid off for taking up packing space. Not the warmest gear but it worked. We threw together a makeshift shelter stretching our tent rain tarp from our roof rack to Jerry-cans on the ground. Underneath the shelter, Joe made an excellent spam fried rice (yes, we’d been packing spam since leaving USA). Luckily, before the sun set, the rain did conclude and the western sky opened up providing some incredible reddish-purple skies as the sun went down on the western mountains. But as darkness fell, it became too cold to stand outside any longer, even in our cold gear. We gobbled our dinner and buried ourselves in our sleeping bags. Finally, our below zero rated sleeping bags were going to pay-off. -FWY

Son-Kol

Day 29: Sary Tash to Osh

Miles driven: 114 

Time in Car: 3 hours

Borders crossed: 0

View from our guesthouse: the Pamirs looming to the south of Sary Tash.

After some grueling days in the Pamirs, we blissfully slept in. The day was going to be a relatively easy one. The night before, we had exchanged stories and tips with some other travelers who had spent some time in Kyrgyzstan. We were promised that the road between Sary Tash and Osh was perfect tarmac, and we were promised that the trip would only take a couple of hours. And so, thrilled, but skeptical, we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit. 

When we finally stumbled out of bed at the nice tardy time of 8:00, we swapped a few more stories with our fellow travelers, answered questions about the rally and the Ramp Less Traveled, and set off for Osh and the much anticipated good tarmac.

My God it was beautiful. Smooth, black wonderful pavement. After days of averaging 15-20 miles on some of the most infamous roads in the world, I nearly teared up when I finally put Stevie in fifth gear. The drive to Osh was uneventful and that couldn’t have made me any happier.

Osh itself is one of the larger cities in Kyrgyzstan. Within a short drive of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China, the city is a melting pot. It’s no wonder that the city has one if the largest, most colorful bazaars in all of Central Asia. This was our destination after checking into our hostel and enjoying a great lunch of Shashlik at Cafe Atabek. We wandered the absolutely sprawling bazaar before settling on some nuts, dried fruits and other supplies for our Kyrgyzstan adventures. For dinner, we told ourselves we’d seek out some more plov, a dish Osh is “famous” for (although all central Asian counties make similar claims). However, just down the street a stone’s throw away from our hostel, a joint called Dolce Vida called our name with a menu that offered more than rice and mutton. After dinner and some beers at the “Italian” restaurant that served everything from bastardized Italian food to local food to sushi, we called it a night. The next day we would drive to Son-Kol lake, the second largest in Kyrgyzstan, and per the other travels at the guesthouse in Sary Tash, one of the must-see spots in Kyrgyzstan. Unfortunately, we were told that the blissful tarmac did not extend all the way to Son-Kol. The roads were apparently for four wheel drives at best. That sounded like it would be right up Stevie’s alley. We just needed to leave a little early. -FWY

Lenin statue in Osh