Ulaan Ude was tidy and much more compact than other russian cities. It was dominated by Mongol/Asian people. It was surrounded by hills in the background and a small flowing river. I stayed in a big central hotel with good facilities. The tasks at hand were to post unwanted equipment home, change some travellers cheques and do a bit of sightseeing. However I then discovered that my visa for Mongolia had expired and my visa registration for entry to Russia had (I think) been left with the immigration officer in Omsk. I literally began sweating as the guide book said that the registration papers were essential to depart Russia.
Changing travellers cheques was impossible as I spent 4 hours going from bank to bank. I also had the opportunity to see a traditional dance routine in a public square. The people were noticably friendlier in Ulan Ude and I was getting used to the change in the looks. They appeared to look Chinese to the un-initiated.
It was time to depart for Mongolia and face the music at the border crossing. I was cruising along and was passed all of a sudden by two BMW bikes. We pulled up and became the very good friends. To join four BMW's (2 x 1200 & 2 1150 Adventures) and a backup Landrover was an invitation I could not pass up. The guys had similar time frames and route for Mongolia so I quickly made a decision and rode with them to the border. The country rapidly transformed to desert with occassional low mouintains covered in pines. Getting out of Russia proved to be straight foward despite my intrepidation. Getting into Mongolia was also painless as I was allowed to apply for another visa that took less than 30 minutes. We all noticed a dramatic difference in the attitude of Mongolian people. They were more more laid back and easy going about the official business that takes place. A senior official offered to take us to a hotel in his town 30 kms to the south where we dined on the biggest meal I have ever consumed. Boiled meat with noodles followed by six large pasty style fritters with boiled meat and veges. Only two of us managed to finish the meal. Otoog at our invitation joined us for dinner. He was a delightful 28 year old who had taught himself quite speakable english.
The ride to Ullaanbaatar was approximately 325kms that took most of the day. It was frightfully windy with numerous sand drifts. However the road conditions were a step above those of typical russian highways because there was less (almost no) truck traffic. Ullaanbaatar was a sprawling city that belies the imagination. How could so many people live in a desert environment. It is a moden city with all the traffic problems and road construction issues to make riding very unpleasant. We stayed for 4 days at the Oasis Guesthouse run by an Austrian-German couple. It truly was an oasis and it gave the team time to service bikes, change tyres and generally chill out for two days. They had a time frame of 3 months to undertake the same route as I was covering in 5 months. So they really enjoyed the long break. The weather had been weird. The sun shone first up in the morning. By lunch time a freezing wind blew in from the north and then it began snowing by 3pm dropping the temps to -2. We are staying in Gers that have their own coal burning stoves. So the accommodation is novel and very comfortable.
Tomorrow we head way south to the Gobi Desert the hightlight for all of us. It was the real reason for undertaking this trip if it comes down to priorities. I will get my Kazakh visa this afternoon and we set off for approximately three weeks. I am unsure where the next internet cafe will be. It may be a while before I post another blog.