Trans-Eurasia 2005 Part 12
Trip Start
May 20, 2005
1
11
14
Trip End
Aug 05, 2005
Beijing,
China
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Doris, the German women who has been riding her bike through Kazakhstan
to Mongolia just showed up at the internet cafe in Altay. So now there
are 3 of us headed to Ulaan-Baatar and beyond.
I was able to get ahold of the bank director in Altay and he agreed to
open the bank for a few hours the next day even though it is still
Nadam Holiday.
So instead of being stuck in Altay until Wednesday, we may get out of
here on Tuesday if I can access some cash. We all have full tanks, but
I'm afraid not enough cash to make it to the next big city of
Bayanhongor because Tim and I will have to refuel. (and eat).
So at 9:00 sharp we head over to the bank to wait and see if they are
really going to open. Doris is getting impatient and wants to leave,
but there are 2 bank employees hanging around the front door of the
bank waiting for their boss to show up and open. Finally, about 9:30
the director shows up and it turns out he is an old classmate of Tim's.
So I gave him my visa card and a short one and a half hours later I
have some cash.
Off we go to Bayanhongor. It's about 400 kms so there is no way we'll
make it in one day. It's a pretty day weather-wise, and we stop to take
pictures, get gas and lunch, and then get lost. We're following 2 tire
tracks which is the main east-west hiway across Mongolia, but up in the
higher land the ground turns to rock and there are no more tire tracks.
We get lost, and our fuel is running low. We argue about which is the
safest direction to travel and finally pick up some tire tracks again.
By now it's about 10:00 PM and the sun is setting so we pull up to a
Yurt, and ask if we can pitch our tents close by. The family have no
objection, so we make camp and then stop by their yurt to make
conversation. Only the kids are there (4) but not the parents. They
disappeared after we showed up and I don't know which way they went. So
we drink some tea, I hand out candy bars to the kids. And just as I'm
getting ready to go back to the tent for the night, the father shows
up. It's midnight now so I make a quick exit for my tent.
The stars are just unbelievable at night in Mongolia. No other light
and no pollution. It looks like a big blanket of stars are thrown over
the sky for the night. It's gets cold tonight and my feet are freezing
inspite of my sleeping bag, tent, and then socks. But by morning it's a
bit warmer and we head off for the east. My bike is running rougher and
rougher every day now. We had to push start it this morning and it only
wants to run on one cylinder except at idle. Not a good omen
considering we'll be crossing the Gobi Desert today.
The 2 tire tracks that run past the Yurt where we camped turns out to
be the main East-West Hiway again so we're in good shape direction-wise.
We stop for lunch at a small village where they actually have 80 octane
gas which is good news for me. The last several small hamlets only had
76 gas. We fill up (except for Doris who has a 49 liter tank) and while
lunch is cooking I decide to change the points, condensor and plugs
hoping my problems will go away.
When the bike is cold it runs great, but as soon as it warms up, it's
running even worse. We left the hamlet at 1:30 but within half hour by
bike is stopped by the side of the road. I disassemble the right side
carb and the jet is pretty dirty so I hope that will solve the problem
once I clean it. When I get it re-assembled it's still not running
right but it is a lot better. Now the road to Bayanhongor splits into
about 5 sub-roads and we are trying to decide which sub-road to take.
Tim heads off first and chooses one. I wait for Doris to get started
and by the time she does, Tim is out of sight and I don't know which
sub-road he took. So we choose #3 and head up the mountain. After
several kilometers I cannot see any tracks from Tim so we head back to
the starting point. It's now after 5:00 PM and we'll be very lucky to
make Bayanhongor today. So we choose road #4 and head off for the
mountains. About half hour up the road we see Tim sitting by the side
of the road waiting for us. That's a relief.
My bike overheats climbing the mountain (running on just 1 cylinder) so
I have to take another half hour break and wait for the motor to cool
down. During this wait, I swap the plugs from left to right. The right
plug is really fouled but the left one seems in pretty good shape. Once
my bike is cool enough to run I walk it up the rest of the mountain and
get on once the road levels out. It's running a very high idle now,
maybe 1500-2000 RPM (I don't have a working tach) but at least it's
firing on both cylinders now. I tell Tim and Doris I dare not stop for
them so I'm going on ahead to Bayanhongor if I can. About another half
hour passes before my next disaster. My oil pressure light comes on
after a particularly rough stretch of road. I shut down the motor
immediately only to find I've left a long trail of oil behind me. The
drain plug musty have gotten knocked loose on one of the rocks and it
is AWOL right now.
I really luck out when Tim and Doris show up about 15 minutes later and
Doris finds the plug at the beginning of a long trail of oil. I'm
luckier still when after putting in fresh oil, the motor starts right
up sounding fine (at idle). So with some more prayers, I head off at
about 2,000 RPM in 3rd gear (mostly).
The scenery is incredible along this road with tall jagged mountains,
and the red sand of the desert. I stop to take a few pictures but
basically am running on auto-pilot. I have not seen Tim or Doris in a
few hours and just hope they are OK. I dare not to stop for too long as
now my bike doesn't like to restart. Going down the side of a mountain
a road is being constructed to cross a pretty big river. So for the
next 5 kilometers or so I'm riding on crushed gravel and it is smooth.
I only hope the road is like this the rest of the way to Bayanhongor.
No sooner, the smooth part ends and it's back to rough dirt.
The sun is setting so I start leaving messages with every passing car
or Yurt. There are not many passing cars, maybe 3 or 4 and I ony see 2
yurts. But I leave messages for Tim and Doris that I'm riding until
Bayanhongor.
I don't like riding at night, and it is very easy to lose your way but
I continue on into the night. At one point I think I see a tower light,
but it disappears. Lights can be a funny thing in the desert. One
minute you see some and think they are just ahead, and the next minute
they disappear. It is so dark, I keep thinking I'm riding through the
woods. There is no light in every direction, but I'm in the desert,
wide open space.
I see a broken down mini-bus so I stop for directions. Someone inside
speaks English and tells me to keep going in the same direction I'm
going for another 10 kms. Just as I head off, the driver , who was
working under the hood of the bus, grabs my arm and tells me to go back
2 kms. I know this can't be right as I already came from that direction
and there was nothing in sight. Plus the driver reeks of Vodka so I
decide to press onward. Finally, about 20 kms from the broken down bus,
I enter the city of Bayanhongor. It's 3:00 AM and there are just a
dozen or so lights on in town. I stop several people on the street to
ask (in sign language) for a hotel and one guy who was baking bread at
his shop walks over to a yurt and knocks on the door. Nobody answers,
and I'm looking forward to a real hotel anyway, so he points me in
another direction and mimicks my sleeping sign. I find a dark building
that looks like it might be a hotel and pull in. I wake up the night
manager and sure enough it is a hotel and she brings me up mto my room.
Same story, toilet doesn't flush, no toilet seat, walls have crud on
them, but it's the bed I'm after and I get a good night's sleep. This
morning I have a bonus, they let me take a shower in the room where
they wash the linens. The water is not hot, but it's also not ice cold
either. So with a shower, I'm at the post office sending this post
while I wait to see if Doris and Tim show up. I figure I'm just 2-3
days from Ulaan-Baatar now and I want to get going. I'm worried about
Tim as he is riding a 10 year old Ural but it has been very reliable up
to now. I know he had enough gas to make it here so I'll give them
another hour or so before I head off for Arvayheer. From Arvayheer the
road (according to my map) is paved all the way to U-B. We'll see.
