LONDON TO MONGOLIA June 2011 AL’S REPORTS MAY 30 The girls dropped Gerry & I off at the airport and we met Lyndon at the baggage check in . The fliight over went well except Lyndon's TV screen would not work and he whined all the way. Just before we landed he worked out the brightness was turned up too far. He copped a bit over that. After landing & getting through immigration we jammed all our gear in the Merc Limo and hung on for a hairey 45 min trip into KL. 80 to 90 MPH all the way. The hotel was fine. While we had dinner we were entertained by the Seekers. Not Judith Durham but good music. Lyndon got the wheely bed. In the morning we went for walk, had brekky and headed for the Petronas Towers, 300 M towards town. We were a bit disappointed we could not go up. Being Sunday it was all booked out. We had a look at the nearby gardens and checed out the enormous shoping center under the towers. Lyndon now has a new nickname......Mr Whippy after he took shine to the kids coin operated ammusement ride. Photos will follow. In the arvo we did a hop on hop off bus tour of the city, had an early dinner and took some night pics of the towers. Went to bed early The alarm went off at 5.20am. We are being picked up at 7am for the transfer to the airport. Then it's the long haul to London. JUNE 2 We arrived around 4pm at Heathrow, found our transfer driver Jimmy. Who had a smoke while we loaded the car. After dropping the bags off we went exploring. We didn't get far as there was a pub around the corner. The Swan Pub is a small pub on Bayswater Rd at  Lancaster Gate. We got talking to some young Aussies from Melbourne who had just hired motorcycles and were leaving for the Isle of Man TT races. We were then swallowed up by a group of Swansea football fans celebrating their team getting into the playoffs. Boy do they party. They were singing and waving around their scarves. It would have been easy to stay but common sense prevailed and we retired to have a cuppa. The sun goes down around 8 but it is twilight till after 10. It gets light again around 3am. This makes sleeping difficult when you are not used to it. Tuesday 1st June, we strolled thru Hyde Park & looked at the Lady Diana fountain then walked to Harrods for a look. We took some photos at the Dodi & Diana monument in the basement then got on the hpp on hop off bus for a tour of the city. In the afternoon we took a cab to Abbey Rd Studios and took a photo at the pedestrian crossing made famous by the Beatles Album of the same name. We ended up at the Swan again and stayed for tea. Wednesday 2nd June, we walked to Marble Arch and caught the bus to Buckingham Palace, took some pics then another bus to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment. We then went on a Thames river cruise to the Tower of London and back past the London Eye. There we people everywhere as we made our way to Covent Garden Tube station to meet my niece Emily. Emily has been workibg in London for the past 3 years. She took us to a Jamie Oliver Restaurant for lunch the guided us thru the Tube train network with 3 train changes back to Lancaster Gate. I felt like a rabbit....we went down into a tunnel at Leicester Square and popped up 100m from where we were staying. No need for a car here the trains rule. Gerry's eldest son Joel and his mate Reece joined us then Emily's friend Juliette from NZ arrived. A great night followed. They are all confident, independent, seasoned travellers with many stories. Thursday 3rd June, today we pick up a hire car and head for Swanage where the Expedition begins. The only problem we have had is with Lyndon's 20 pound notes he brought along with him. They are the old currency and no one accepts them. He needs to take them to the Bank of England and get them exchanged JUNE 4 Well D day is here. In the morning we meet the Kudu crew for the orientation day. The bikes look brilliant. They have either bark busters or acerbis hand guards, metalmule lowering links, sump guards & crash bars and the latest Garmin 62 GPS's. Gav arrives in the morning by cab. JUNE 8 Sunday was huge. We got to Brussels at 7.30 pm after leaving Dorset at 7am. We had brekky at the Ace Cafe, a bikers pub in London. Then rode to Dover to get on the 3pm ferry to Calais. After getting off we had to adjust to riding on the wrong side of the road. 600 km for the day. 1 canadian guy got in at midnight after he accidentially put diesel in his tank. The support trucks had to detour to help him. They arrived at 2am. No one got their bags until the morning. Learning from this I took the critical things out of my bags in the truck and carried them with me. Monday was a 780km slog along autobanns across Germany to Berlin. We got in at 4.30pm. The support trucks got in at 4am after one had clutch issues. Tuesday morning Gavin had a bad leak from his waterpump. While it was being fixed Lyndon and I went for a ride to see if we could find the wall. After giving up we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back we actually stumbled upon check point Charley. Gavins bike was sorted by 10am so we headed into Poland. The roads changed to single lane and passed thru small villages. We rode thru 2 electrial storms and lot of traffic jams. Trucks were everywhere. We got in at 7.30pm after doing 595kms. We had a buffet dinner across the road and retired. All is good, really enjoying the culture changes and scenery. JUNE 9 #1  You are on the ball Mr Payne, half of us  stuffed up and went to the wrong border crossing. We missed the lunch stop and the GPS auto corrected. We were not allowed thru Belarus because we needed a visa. The consolation was a great ride thru back roads and small rural villages while trying to stay on the Polish side of the border. We passed thru beautiful forests with small lakes. Got into Lithuania eventually. Off to Riga today looking fwd to rest day. #2  Both Gavin & Gerry required new chains & sprockets this morning. All our bikes have done a couple of expeditions before (20000 km) and are getting a bit tired. They are using a bit of oil but run quite well.  They are kitted out well, mine has gps, pivot pegs, crash bars,  lowering link, bark busters and metal mule sump guard. Over 90kph they vibrate a bit and wont go over 167 kph so I couldn't see what the ferraris and porsches were sitting on in Germany. Seats are ok, I tried the airhawk for while but for me I was more comfortable without it. More later......Al JUNE 10 Reached Riga in Latvia. It is a great place, cobbled streets & small laneways. It really comes alive after dark....the sunsets at 11pm. It is full of drunk pommy backpackers. We have a rest today and have already met the riders joining us here. The group has swelled to 18 riders plus a lead rider. The support crew consists of a mechanic who drives one truck. The organiser and a medic are travelling in the other truck. There are 8 Aussies (including 1 lady), 3 Canadians, 2 Americans & 5 poms, 3 are riding there own bikes ( XR650, R800GS, 950Adv). Ages range from thirties to sixties. They are a good mob, we all get on well together. Off to Russia tomorrow.  JUNE 15 Comrades, Russia has been a challenge. The roads are in terrible condition, cracks potholes, patches on top of patches with tram track grooves up to 10 inches deep. In the north between the border and Moscow we travelled through many forests and saw a lot of swampy areas. It was also very hot and humid. Moscow was good to travel through but you needed to keep your eyes open for the odd vodka fuelled kamakaze lada driver. We arrived late on the afternoon and decided not to go into Red Square and the Kremlin on the tube train. Lucky as those that did were dissappointed. There was a concert on any the whole area was closed off. One of our Canadian riders speaks Russian and has helped us out with our border crossing, translations, information on the country and the people. He is an enormous asset. We travelled south to Penza through more forests but as you go further south the land turns into country more suitable for agriculture. We camped in a forest off the road south of Penza and were attacked by mozzies. I had to get up twice during the night and should have put my jeans on. I was peppered within seconds. The roads south seem to be more heavily policed with radar and roadblocks.  Yesterday I had just put my last roubles into our fuel kitty which Lyndon was carrying. I was sweeping when I was pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Gerry, Lyndon & Gavin didn't realise and continued on. The police often handout on the spotfines or accept cash bribes. I was worried I might be locked up because I didn't have anything to pay the fine or bribe. They checked my rego papers, gave me a talking to then let me go when the language barrier became too much . I am still not sure what I did wrong. The villages we pass through are all similar. The buildings are unpainted timber and drab in most cases. The people do not smile much and are wary of strangers. They dont seem very happy. Outside most houses there are seats or benches which the older people sit on and watch the traffic go by. Just the thing to do if you dont have TV. We had lunch in a roadside cafe yesterday. Marinated Pork Shashlicks cooked over birtchwood coals with bread and black coffee. Not bad at all. Getting fuel is a chore. We didn't realise at first that you need to pay first. The locals only put a fixed amount in. We are fuelling all 4 bikes from the one pump and paying out of a kitty. Lyndon has the patience and has developed a talent in communicating our needs. All the petrol station attendants are in secure rooms and you put your money in a draw which they retract into their booth. You then fill up collect any change. Samara is a nightmare traffic wise. It took quite a while to find the hotel as the gps coords were out a little. We are off to the Kazakhstan border today to sit in the queue for hours. Once through we camp for 4 nights across the stepes before getting to Almaty on Sunday and having a rest day. Reminder........I am sending some photos to the Ulysses Adventure Riders SIG website and Gavin is doing some detailed reports as well. 12 of us went to dinner in Barnaul, Russia. Leon, one of the 3 Canadians speaks Russian and ordered for us. What a feast it turned out to be. We had several appetiser dishes, smoked fish, sushimi, clams and shrimp followed by steaks, fish or chicken. It was washed down with beers and vodka toasts. The bill came to $26000 roubles or around one hundred each. A great night. We awoke to a flat tyre on the front of Gerry's bike. It was fixed in no time. We then rode thru a storm and it chased us all morning. Lunch was Shaslicks again in a small village beside the Katyhn river. A suspension bridge was nearby........ Not an engineering wonder see pics. There was also a castle on an island in the middle of the river. We followed the river into the Altai mountains. What scenery! We camped beside the river in the mountains. The next day we rode out of the mountains up to the border at 2100m. It turned out the border was closed on Sundays so we camped nearby and had a restful afternoon. It rained all night. We arrived at the border at 8am for the 9am opening. There was quite a queue already. We sat around in the rain until we were told we needed to walk back to the Immigration office for a stamp on the departure slip......another queue. The entire Russian border staff went to lunch at 1pm for an hour then staggled back at 2 or so. Our bikes we let in and after a hectic 1.5hrs filling out forms in Russian going to the counter and lining up again we were sent back many times to redo the form. Once this was sorted we had to go to passport control then ride across no mans land a crossing of 20 kms, get checked at an outpost, fumigation wash then do a siimilar thing on the Mongolian side. We then had to buy 3rd party insurance. After 11hrs all the riders and one truck got thru. The other truck was kept over night in the Mongolian customs compound. We rode to Olgiy and eventually found the Ger camp we were booked into at 10pm. After a cold dinner and a couple of Mongolian Fusion beers we hit the sack. Slept well but dung and coal fired boiler for shower had gone out overnight. We did our washing in an old twin tub and hung it out. We were picked up in 2 old Russian 4wd vans with very rickety seats. Ours wouldnt start and had to be cranked. We were driven to town where we hit the ATM and did some shopping. An interesting comparison... A cylinder of Mongolian Pringles cost 3500 and a 500ml bottle of vodka cost 3000. We had prearranged a cultural trip to a village nearby in the mountains so we jumped back in the vans. Ours wouldn't start and had to be hand cranked over. This problem persisted all day. It then boiled on a long steep hill. The driver had to jump out quick and put rocks under the wheels. The other van came back minus its passengers so we comandeered it. They got the boiling van going again so it picked up the others. We were driven to see an ancient stone statue that the Mongols used to define clan boundaries but it was raining too heavily to get out. We  then went to visit a family and had traditional home made tea,  biscuits, cheese and snacks in a Ger. Some went for a horse ride on the small ponies that they use for herding their goats.  We then visited the eagle hunter and were able to get up close to his eagle. He used a head shroud over the beak and eyes to keep the eagle calm. It was amazing when he took the shroud off and we could see the eagles piecing eyes. We then drove back to another village for a feast in another ger. Tea, biscuits and chocolates, followed by lamb, pasta and a lamb broth. The opposite to what we are used to. The brakes on the older van had to be bled before we headed back, then we ran out of petrol in one of the vehicles on the way back. A memorable day off riding made all the more enjoyable by the 2 bottles of vodka we polished off during the day. Tomorrow we tackle the 1600 km trek to Ulann Bataar. We arrived on schedule in Ulann Bataar yesterday after 5 hard days riding. The story goes like this....... We left Olgiy at 8am in light rain that developed into quite heavy rain. We were heading east and had reached our second waypoint when word came through that one of the Canadians (Sam) had came unstuck on some loose gravel and needed medical attention. One of the trucks was taking him back and would take at least 4 hours. We had some lunch from the other support truck then some slept, others chatted and Capt Slow did a Julie Andrews, he climbed every mountain. Late in the arvo the truck arrived back, minus Sam. We made some progress and eventually crossed a fast flowing river and camped on a plateau at sunset. The next 3 days followed the same pattern, early rises, pack up, a quick breakfast, on the road by 7 or so, ride to a waypoint wait for the trucks to catch up then ride to the next waypoint. On the way we passed many large beautiful crystal clear lakes with Ger camps on their shores. Wild horses, herds of goats and sheep with the occasional cow and yak. When the waypoints were in towns we were swamped by locals who were looked at us like we were Martians. The roads were pretty challenging with corrugations, loose sand, rocks, large potholes, dust and many tracks to choose from. The tracks all ended up heading in the same direction you just had to choose the one that looked the smothest. When the one you were on became sandy you cut over to another. At times there were several bikes ahead of me all on different paths, like I imagine the charge of the Light Horse Brigade might have looked. At other times you would crest small hill to find several vehicles approaching you from different directions. We were averaging 350 to 370km per 11 hour riding day. Scattered around, usually on the top of hills aee what appears to Buddist Shrines made of huge mounds of rocks and timber. Worshippers leave offerings and blue material tied to them. You often saw cars pull up and the occupants would pick up some stones, throw them on the pile then jump back into their cars and continue on their journey. We rode across one mountain pass that was over 3000M. It was very cold and the snow was still visible. The best camp was beside a small mountain stream and had a great fire to keep us warm. The sound of running water lulled me to sleep. Towards the east there were some short sections of tarmac followed by long sections of roadworks. When the road was complete but not line marked they kept the traffic off by dumping truck loads of gravel every km or so. We became experts at riding over or around these mounds. About 300 kms out of UB on the central road the tarmac got better and we were able to sit on 100 plus. You had to be careful though as the road repair crews do not use signs. To repair potholes they use a concrete saw to cut around the potholles then use a pick, crowbars and shovels to dig down 6 inches. They then leave the hole and move to the next pothole. The bitumen seems to be scarce so quite often these sections of excavated holes are left unmarked for weeks. We reached the outskirts of UB and thought our troubles were over. The main road through town was dug up and there were no detour signs. All we had were the coords of the Oasis Cafe were the expedition ended. It took us over an hour and a half to find our way 15km. It was an eventful way to finish the trip. We were chased by dogs, pushed aside by impatient drivers, Lyndons bike was cutting out, mine was overheating, Gerry tried to mount a gutter to park and ended up on the ground. Despite this we rode into the Oasis Cafe at 1pm after covering over 12500kms in 27 riding days. Kudu put on a nibbly feast washed down with a few beers. Sam came over in the evening. He was in good spirits. He has 6 broken ribs and his being flown home by his insurance company on Monday. I will saviour the memories forever. This was by far the most difficult thing I have ever done. Getting motivated each day was hard. Ignoring the aches and pains also. I am pleased it is over. The participants all got on well and there were many funny moments. We fly out Tuesday to Beijing and get back home on Saturday evening. Looking forward to getting home, Al And check their photos GAV’S REPORTS Well we’ve completed the first leg of our trip through Europe.  It’s been a long arduous week with long days in the saddle (up to 750kms). Day 1 took us from Swanage in southern England to the Ace Café in London, the official starting point of the trip.  The Ace Café is a famous London gathering point for motorcyclists – basically a large, chaotic and very ordinary eatery.  After a basic (but large) English breakfast and a photo opportunity for Yamaha (we’re riding 660 Yamaha Tenerés) we set off again for the port of Dover to board the bikes onto the ferry for Calais.  Whilst the weather turned bad on us just as we were boarding the bikes, the crossing was relatively smooth and uneventful. It was then a matter of getting used to riding on the right-hand side of the road (as we will for the remainder of the journey).  Very challenging on a motorcycle because you have no cues on the bike to indicate that things are all happening on the wrong side of you. Anyway, the rest of the day was spent getting to our hotel in Brussels. Nothing of note or interesting en route. The only noteworthy event of the day was the Canadian (Sean) managed to fill his tank with diesel at the 1st refuelling stop just outside of London.  Needless to say, he didn’t get very far and needed to put the 1st SOS call out of the trip J to our support crew. That meant that the vehicles with our luggage missed the ferry to Calais and only got one 2 hours later.  The only got into Brussels at 4am. Day 2 – Brussels to Berlin Another long day cutting across Europe. We rode about 750kms – a lot of this on the autobahns.  The Yamahas are pretty capable for 660’s and we were able to do upwards of 150kph on Germany’s magnificent motorways.   That however, is way too slow for the fast lane on the autobahns!!  It’s quite an experience travelling along at 150kph and being overtaken by plumbers’ panel vans going at 160-170kph and then every so often a Porsche, Mercedes or Ferrari overtaking you like you were standing still.   Riding into Berlin, my bike overheated 600 metres before the hotel…lucky/unlucky(?). Turned out a seal on the water pump had failed – probably because the pump was working overtime in the slow rush hour traffic through Berlin. (Water cooled bikes…who needs ‘em!)  A welcome shower, a few beers and a good night’s sleep was the order of the day. We’ll deal with the bike in the morning. Day 3: Berlin to Warsaw Tony (our mechanic) changed the water pump before our departure…setting us back a couple of hours.  We only managed to leave Berlin at 10am.  We’d really have to ride hard to make up time and get us into Warsaw at a reasonable hour. Well after the fantastic autobahns that Germany has to offer, crossing into Poland came as a surprise.  Single lane, poorly maintained roads with a gazillion trucks!  Not to speak of the massive thunder storm that made tricky diesel drenched road surfaces even trickier. The scenery however became a lot more interesting notwithstanding the deluge we rode through for about an hour.  After negotiating what seemed like 100kms of road works (constructing a new motorway to the German border), we eventually got onto a very good highway in clear weather and the pace picked up a lot. We got into Warsaw at about 7:30pm – in time for a shower, beer, dinner and bed. I got up early in the morning to take a walk through the city to take some photos.  Polish people are still very suspicious however and don’t like to have pictures taken of them or the city it appears. Day 4: Warsaw to Vilnius (Capital of Lithuania) An interesting day in many respects. Firstly, the ride through northern Poland was a dramatic contrast to our experience of the day before.  The countryside is stunning in summer... beautiful rolling farmlands, spectacular forests and quaint villages that don’t appear to have changed in the last 100 years. Turns out we got a bit too smart in selecting our route on the GPS and ended up at the border between Poland and Belarus en route to Lithuania. Belarus is not part of the EU, so there was no way they’d allow us to cut across the south eastern corner of Belarus without visas – which we didn’t have.  So…we had to double back and find a bypass route that would enable us to cross into Lithuania directly from Poland.  A 120km detour!!  Turns out…our error had us detouring through some of the most fantastic scenery and villages in northern Poland!  What a bonus from what initially looked to be a disaster. Got into Vilnius at a reasonable time…well in time for a good few beers and a pork dinner.  It’s pork and cabbage in this part of the world if you want to eat local cuisine.  Mostly not too bad though…except for having to contend with Lyndon’s morning sphincter symphonies!! Day 5: Vilnius (Lithuania) to Riga (Latvia) An easy day…just 400kms. Got into Riga at around 3:30pm. It’s just gone 7pm here in Riga and I am listening to the dulcet tones of a tenor saxophone drifting in through the open window in my hotel room.  There’s a little sidewalk café about 10 meters up the cobble street from the hotel - just fantastic. What a fantastic city this is.  Quite unexpected. Wonderful architecture, narrow cobble lanes and balmy summer evenings with the sun still shining at 10pm. Lots of al great al fresco restaurants…very vibey indeed. (Definitely worth a visit in summer but I don’t think I’d want to be here in winter!) Tomorrow (10 June) is a welcome rest day then, we have Russian border officialdom to look forward to on Saturday. We’re guessing it will take upwards of ½ a day to get into Russia.  Next week will see us cross Russia via Moscow to the Kazakhstan border. I’m expecting more long days on the bike but I’m sure they’re going to get more and more interesting. Till next week…. Gavin London to Mongolia – Trip Report Day 8-18 Hi readers, Here is the next instalment of my trip report.  Day 8 Russia….What can one say about it? Our 1st experience, of course, was Russian officialdom at the border crossing from Latvia into Russia. What an experience! After arriving at the Latvian side at midday, we eventually exited on the Russian side at 11.30pm. 11½ hours to cross 1 border!!!   I have never seen people with less enthusiasm, less desire to be on the planet or less energy than Russian border officials.  Plus, for those who haven’t had the privilege of being addressed by one of these individuals in Russian, it’s like an angry Rottweiler barking at you.  We still had 2 hours of riding along dark Russian country roads before we reached our hotel in Velikiye Luki. With a sense of relief after not initially being able to find the place,  we pulled up outside our hotel at 2:30am.  Well….here was our next surprise.  The place reminded me of what it might be like to stay in a mental asylum.  Dull, dreary, dirty and dank (how’s that for illiteration!) Breakfast in the morning was yet another unmemorable experience…I can’t even begin to describe the inadequacy of it.  We couldn’t leave soon enough to ride to Moscow. Day 9/10 Moscow…After a fairly tiring day’s ride to Moscow, we entered the insanity of its city traffic.  At times, we rode on a 12 lane section of motorway (6 lanes in either direction without a separating median strip) without any road markings whatsoever.  Traffic all over the place, all travelling at breakneck speed and changing lanes without warning or bothering to check a rear-vision mirror.  Somehow, we all made it to the hotel without incident…pure good fortune.  Thankfully, the hotel was pretty modern and comfortable and provided probably the best breakfast spread of the trip.  Sadly, our schedule was so tight that we never had an opportunity to see very much of Moscow except for its sprawling featureless apartment buildings and motorways.  Yet another long day on the bikes took us through a series of small Russian villages to our 1st”wild camping” spot just outside the city of Penza. What appeared to be a fairly reasonable campsite turned out to be a mosquito hunting ground. We were swarmed by them.  In your eyes, ears and biting any exposed skin available. Trying to swat them from one part of your body only left an unguarded part exposed.  The only escape was into out tiny 2-man (yeah!) tents which are fortunately well protected.  The morning provided no relief from the swarms either and the only escape was to keep moving constantly.  Not entirely feasible when you have to eat and pack up camp.  Soon we were back on the bikes…swapping mosquito hell for Russian goat-track roads and maniac drivers en route to Samara (now there’s an experience!!!!) Day 11 Riding into Samara can best be described as chaotic.  Our GPS’s led us at rush hour from one rutted, potholed street down the next for us only to find that the waypoint was nowhere near the hotel we were booked into.  Now let me explain…the hotel names are written on our travel notes in the English alphabet which, in no way resembles the Russian.  Looking at building names doesn’t help one jot!  Nevertheless, some helpful locals after much gesticulating directed us to the street in which our hotel was located.  Well, if the standard of the hotel in Samara was an eye opener, the Hotel Azimut in Samara was the coupe de gras!!  I have yet to see a more dismal, depressing and run down establishment.  The rooms were atrocious. Torn linonium flooring, really sus looking bedding and a bathroom that had to be seen to be believed.  Dave, one of the Pommy riders on the trip was severely bitten by bed bugs leaving his entire back and arms peppered with bites.  Not fun when you’re on a motorcycle in the heat all day long and your back is itching like mad. We awoke to a dreary rainy day to leave Samara for the Russian Border with Kazakhstan about 200kms away.  I managed to dump my bike crossing over wet tram lines right across the road from the hotel in morning rush hour traffic…a heavy fall even at low speed.  Fortunately, I got away with just a bruised hip and ego! Day  12/13/14 Well what a cockup yesterday was!! Morale is low in the group.   After making into Kazakhstan at Uralsk relatively easily, we camped out for 2 nights en route to Aktobe.   We had to register our passports at an immigration office.  This has to be done within 5 days of arriving and can only be done in towns/cities that have immigration offices – so we had to get it done in Aktobe…it is the only reasonably sized city we’d be going through for a while. That took up half the day and we only rode out of Aktobe at around 11:30am. We still had a long way to go.  Fortunately, the roads were good and we thought we would make up some time.  Wrong again. The support vehicles were lagging… big time.  At our first check- point, we all agreed to push onto the next one and have our lunch stop there when and if the vehicles showed up.  Only thing was, there was nothing at the waypoint that was chosen, so we pressed on again. Eventually and many long idle waits later, at around 6:30pm, the support vehicles showed up. No explanation or apology.  In the meantime we had all decided to eat from a local roadside eatery.  Jeff (the expedition organiser) took this as an opportunity to suggest that we give supper from the vehicles at the campsite a miss and press on for another 180kms so that we didn’t fall behind schedule.  We did this, but ended up riding the last 50 odd kms in the dark over some very tricky road conditions. Very dangerous!! How someone didn’t come down is a small miracle.  After a wait of 3 hours on the roadside, the support vehicles (with our kit, tents, food, etc.) eventually pitched…again no explanation offered and certainly no apology.  We set up camp right along the roadside getting to bed well after midnight…again!.  It turns out that the vehicles were only managing 40kph – both are towing very ungainly trailers.  Will we ever reach Mongolia at this pace??? Seems like we are waiting longer for support vehicles to catch up than we’re spending on the road moving forward. Day 15/16 The only decent food we’re eating is from local roadside cafes.  Thing is, we have no idea what we’re ordering so it’s a bit of Russian culinary roulette at lunchtime.  Lyndon is the master of ordering food for our group.  With random pointing at menu lists and a lot of gesticulating, we sit and await our fate.  Next stop,  Aralsk, a port city on the shores of the Aral Sea that has now retreated many, many kilometres from the port leaving ships stranded and a port city with no way for ships to reach it and its economy at a standstill.  It was a blistering hot day and we had a tight schedule (again), so we couldn’t spend much time other than taking a quick couple of pictures and hitting the road to our next wild camp site. The Kazakh countryside is flat, mostly featureless and desolate.  Lots of camels (the double hump variety), horses and goats. There are small villages dotted every 30-50kms and in between, mostly desert.  The Kazakhs are very friendly, welcoming people.  They constantly hoot greetings at us as we pass by…very different to the Russians. No food for us from the support vehicles again, so we made do with a purchase of some bread, a salami sausage and some beer from a café in a nearby town.  Salt dried fish has also become part of our diet.  It’s tasty and a good source of protein to supplement a diet that is lacking in vitamins and minerals. The slow pace of the trip and big kilometres we were doing was playing itself out on the group, so today we decided to take control of the expedition ourselves.  We wanted to ride without the hindrance of having to wait for the support vehicles to catch up so that we could make Almaty on schedule and have a much needed rest day. (Our current pace was putting our rest day at risk.) Another long day on the bikes ended with us camping in field of scrub alongside the main road.  Fortunately we had purchased some beer form a local café and had a bottle of Vodka handy plus a gift of Cognac – it all went!  As expected, the support vehicles didn’t make it and were 150kms behind us. The only reward after camping out with only a tent (no sleeping bag or clothing change due to space constraints on the bike) was a fantastic morning view of the snow-capped mountain range that forms the border with Kyrgyzstan to the south of Kazakhstan.  Day 18 Another long day on the bikes heading for our rest stop in Almaty.  Riding is becoming increasingly dangerous.   After another series of bugger-ups (read wrong GPS co-ordinates and a general lack of proper communication), we eventually located our “guest house” in Almaty where we will rest up tomorrow.  Yet another surprise…The place is run by a Korean family, has 3 bathrooms to be shared by 20 odd dirty bikers who haven’t showered in 5 days.  The showers managed a trickle at best…but at least it was a shower.  Supper was catered by our hosts…not too bad, but breakfast consisted of boiled, unsalted sauceless pasta with a boiled processed-meat sausage and some pickled salads.  We are all exhausted and not eating properly…a recipe for disaster. (At this point, I am seriously considering abandoning the trip in the interests of my own personal safety.) Other members of the group have different views and many are committed no matter what.  My own decision will be based on the outcome of a group meeting with the organisers this evening…I need to understand how things are going to change that will make this a safe and enjoyable (even if demanding trip).  At the moment, this is not the case. Well, that’s it from me for now.  Watch this space to see if I’ll be hanging around for the next instalment. Cheers Gavin UPDATE - A New arrangement was reached after some discussion, and the crew is now travelling well, arriving before dark, and happier campers.  They should enjoy the final run through Mongolia and home. Day 22 The Russian Altai region….Wow!!  Leaving Barnaul, we were chased by some ugly looking thunderstorms as we tracked south-east towards the Mongolian border.  Unfortunately, a wrong turn forced us to back-track about 15kms directly into the beast we had been trying to escape.  It bucketed down on us with vengeance before we finally started to ride clear of it.  There was no stopping however, the storm was as intent on moving south as rapidly as we were.  After cutting across vast tracts of land planted with wheat and other cereal crops, we eventually entered the Altai region of southern Siberia, which must rate as some of the most scenic riding anywhere in the world.  Flanked by steeply rising mountain ranges on both sides of a valley carved by a fast flowing river, the road passes through a series of quaint old Russian villages. We took the obligatory lunchbreak consisting of Sashlik prepared by yet another smoking Russian and continued our journey southward, awestruck at almost every turn.  Our campsite for the night was located on the banks of the river cutting through this magnificent valley.  620 odd kilometres of the most rewarding riding we’d had on the trip so far. Day 23 And the best was yet to come…We were back on the road at 7am to Ride to the Russian/Mongolian border.  A relatively short 220kms would see us out of Russia and into Mongolia for the final leg of the trip. But, we still had the best of the Altai roads to come.  200kms of well surfaced, smooth sweeping corners cutting through some of the most beautiful landscape I’ve seen.  To the west of us was a long range of snowed capped Alp-like mountains that dominated the landscape.  To the east, heavily wooded mountain slopes.  It just couldn’t get any better.  The road climbed steadily taking us to 2,200m above sea level by the time we reached the Mongolian border. Our perfect morning came to an abrupt end when we discovered that the border was closed on Sundays.  We were hoping to make it to Olgiy by late afternoon where the schedule had us staying for 2 nights.  This wasn’t to be and we set up camp a few kilometres back form the border on the Russian side. Day 24 Another very frustrating day.  Notwithstanding the fact that we got ourselves to the Russian side of the border a full hour before it opened at 9am, it wasn’t until 2.30pm before the 1st of us started the long, tedious and very frustrating process of exiting Russia.  Officialdom in this part of the world is simply incomprehensible.  The officials appear to be barely literate and watching them trying to decipher the details of our vehicle documentation and enter this into antiquated computers was a truly painful and frustrating process. It took a full 10 hours for us to clear both sides of the border. We then encountered Mongolian roads for the 1st time…Wow!  There’s not a sign post to be seen, so the only way to successfully reach your destination is to follow a GPS reading.  The roads are very rugged and make for demanding riding.  To our frustration, we were asked to ride as a group from the border to Olgiy.  Light was fading fast and riding too slowly on poor surfaces is risky in itself – the bike doesn’t have the momentum or speed to ride over lose gravelly surface with confidence.  I was becoming increasingly frustrated at the slow pace, so I eventually broke away from the group for the final short bitumen section (probably last we’ll see) into Olgiy.  Our co-ordinates for the ger encampment we were scheduled to stay at were inaccurate and it took another ½ hour before we arrived tired and hungry.  We were eventually fed by our hosts at around 11pm on some fried eggs, cold rissoles and some salady stuff. Day 25 On the up-side, we had a warm, relatively comfortable night’s sleep and our breakfast consisted of a fried egg, stale bread and a rice/yak milk porridge (very milky). Apart from a day off the bikes, we are scheduled to see some traditional falcon hunting today and some Mongolian horseback skills. After all agreeing that we would like a day off the bikes, mini bus taxis were summoned to take us on our outing to the Falcon (which turned out to be an eagle) Hunter.  The ride was an experience in itself.  The vehicles are barely roadworthy and are grossly under powered.  With 9 or 10 large size westerners loaded up we were lucky to touch 60kph.  But, things were to get more interesting.  We had about 50kms to cover, most of it over a mountain pass.  The mini-bus we were travelling in decided enough was enough and overheated.  Oh yes, I must also add that the starter motor was inoperable and the Russian vehicle is still (in this age) equipped with a crank handle.  We eventually made it to the next village where we were able to see Mongolian horsemanship and the Eagle Hunter with his pretty large Steppe Eagle very firmly attached to his forearm.  We were then treated to a lunch (at about 5pm) in a traditional Mongolian ger.  The meal started off with us being served large quantities of biscuits and sweets along with a kinda fried bland bread stick.  Then the coupe de gras….boiled mutton served with a kinda pasta wrap (as tough as old boot leather).  After chewing our way through this unseasoned ‘delicacy’, we were then finished off with bowls of mutton broth (the water that the ‘tough as old boot leather’ mutton was boiled in) with an unhealthy layer of fat floating on the surface. Duly satiated, we then boarded our taxis and returned to Olgiy and our gers.  By this time, the rain had set in and we were becoming increasingly concerned about the conditions of our crossing to Ulaan Baatar using the “Northern Route”. Day 26 After yet another confrontation with the expedition organisers, we set off on a dreary, dull, rainy day for the 1st true leg of our Mongolian crossing.  The road conditions were treacherous to say the least.  Rutted, slippery, muddy tracks that kept you guessing about what line to take all the time.  Progress was really slow.  Trying to keep a group of 18 riders together in these conditions is challenging to say the least.  Not 40kms into the ride, one of the Canadians, Sam, came down in a very rocky and slippery section.  After evacuating him back to Olgiy in one of the support vehicles, we learned that he had sustained 2 broken ribs and needed to be evacuated back home…a lesson to us all.  This cost us a wait of over 6 hours before we could once again make some forward progress.  Road conditions remained challenging – a mixture of soft sand, rocky rutted sections and some reasonably good hard sections.  The final challenge of the day was a river crossing.  The river (of unknown name) was a relatively fast flowing river with the shallowest section being about mid- thigh deep.  Pommy Mark (aka The Crack) nearly lost his XR650 completely whilst trying to cross one section unassisted.  Finally, we figured a crossing route and set off one by one. A few bikes were dropped mid-stream but successfully recovered and we eventually all made it to the far bank, very wet but exhilarated.  Our campsite for the evening (some 10 or so kms further on) was the reward of the day.  Completely surrounded by a range of moon-scape like mountains with a spectacular range of snow-capped mountains to the south.  Just amazing!!! Our campsite vista made every trial and tribulation of the day worthwhile. What a day….what an experience!! Day 27 After a slow start to the day, we eventually got under way for the day but progress was painfully slow having “check-in” waypoints every 10 or 15 kilometres.  It took another confrontation on my part with the expedition organisers for them to concede to legs of 40-50kms.  Suddenly we were making meaningful progress until a group of 4 riders missed one check-in point (bugger!). This resulted in a 1 hour delay while we waited for them to return to the agreed waypoint.  Frustration all around!  The afternoon’s very tricky conditions saw both Lyndon and Gerry take tumbles. Lyndon did his shoulder and Gerry sustained a healthy knock to his head and some wrist and hip injuries.  Both showed their true Adventure Riders’ grit and continued to ride out the rest of the day on some very demanding tracks .  Lots of soft sandy sections that caught a lot of us unawares.  The day’s riding was exhausting…standing up on the pegs for easily 90% of the time is an extreme test for thighs, knees, wrists and shoulders.  A couple of vodka shots and some curried tinned beef (we think) over spaghetti and everyone hit the sack relatively early (the decision aided by swarms of mosquitoes that were inescapable). Day 28 Another long, demanding and event filled day.  The roads today, were probably the toughest of the trip so far.  Kilometre after kilometre of either energy sapping soft sandy conditions or bone jarring potholes that arrived in such quick succession that it was impossible to pick a smooth line at all.  The day saw a few more riders down.  Probably 5 or 6 at least – most of them in the soft sand.  Later on in day, I had a moment that I honestly thought would end my trip at best.  I had selected one of the multiple tracks (at any given time, there are multiple tracks all headed in the same direction) and was barrelling along at about 90kph when a ditch (about 2 feet deep and probably 3 feet across) suddenly appeared across the entire track I was riding on .  There was no time to brake or take any evasive action so I had to hit it square on. This was the moment I thought I would most definitely become airborne… without any option of an elegant outcome.  The front wheel managed to clear the ditch but the bash plate caught the far edge and the impact catapulted me off the foot pegs and for a moment, I was all but completely separated from the bike except for what had suddenly become a vice like grip I had managed to achieve on the bars.  Somehow, I managed to land my arse back on the seat…then came a tank-slapper of note with my feet dragging along the dirt.  An unintentional fully opened throttle (a direct function of my vice-like grip) managed to pull the machine back onto a straight line and I thankfully recovered.  A sphincter testing moment!!  A kilometre or so further on, Tony who was tracking behind me on a different track and witness my episode, missed a slight right-hand bend approaching a small bridge over a gully.  He had no option but to dump the bike which ended half way down the gully.  Fortunately, he was unhurt and it was just a matter of recovering the bike from the gully and we were back on our way. The day ended with me suffering my 2nd bout of gastro (not pleasant when bush camping) but our campsite compensated.  We were camped on the bank of a small mountain stream with a blazing camp fire.  The temperature had suddenly changed as we traversed a mountain range.  The previous few days riding had been in very hot and dry conditions but we had a cold night’s camping to come. Day 29 As usual, the day started late and the riding was as tough as we had encountered.  Extremely potholed, multi-tracked roads that disappeared into the distance.  Picking the right option was always a gamble with every other option always looking better than the one you were on.  A couple more “offs” by some of the other riders in the group resulted in more damage to some bikes and more delays in moving forward.  Then….BITUMEN!!! Suddenly we encountered a smooth, calm, wonderful stretch of bitumen….Was this a taste of better things to come???  It certainly was.  Longer and more frequent bitumen stretches saw us start to make good progress towards our target plus give our hammered bodies a well deserved break. We stocked up on beers at a small town to ensure our final night of camping was memorable (or not possible to remember).  We drank a good few toasts.  Gerry was toasted for being oldest rider on the tour.  Lyndon was acknowledged for being able to get into small spaces. Niall, our Scottish expedition leader was thanked and we retired for our final night of camping. Day 30 The last blast to Ulaan Baatar!!!  A comparatively fast ride almost all the way on bitumen saw most of us at our end point, the Oasis Café, by shortly before 1pm.  Riding into Ulaan Baatar is indescribable.  The city is chaotic! The main road had a massive trench dug right across it with no detour indicators to suggest a bypass.  Half an hour of naffing around trying to find side streets eventually frustrated me enough to power my bike up and over a narrow railway pedestrian crossing and I was soon back on track to the destination point a tantalising 4kms away.  Cars, busses and trucks came at you from every direction and it seemed as if I would never reach the final waypoint of the trip…but suddenly, there it was.  A small sign reading “Oasis Café” poked itself up from behind some buildings and I hooked a left turn down a short dusty ally.  The 1st feeling was simply a sense of relief for eventually finding the place.  Then a feeling of accomplishment and euphoria at having completed what we’d set out to do on the 5th June…just 4 weeks ago!!  12,804 bone jarring, body hammering, energy sapping, emotionally challenging kilometres now lay behind us.  Beers and an evening of boisterous reminiscing followed…. GAV