"Feeling like you're the only person on Earth"
Olgii to Ulaangom, Mongolia - 5 hours, 190 miles....turned into 16 hours, 190 miles.
"Well, you definitely don't want to backtrack on the tarmac, and it leads to a water-crossing that can be very tough. You want to use this road and this bridge. This bridge is good." Desjan's sister handed me a map she'd just sold me. The roads were clearly marked on this map...though they didn't show up on my Garmin or Google.
"So, this is the only way to get from the southern route to the northern route?" "Yes, this bridge is good." Well, that would be the route for the day. The Google Maps route claimed it would take 5 hours to travel 130 miles. Her route seems more direct...though definitely less developed. We shall see. Pack up, farewell the ger (round house), and mount the steed for Day 1 in Mongolia. Bring it. I hadn't even gotten out of town before I spotted the first road she directed me toward...a gravel goat trail that shimmied up a hill between two mountains. "That road?! This is gonna be a helluva day." After departing Olgii, I wouldn't see another human or vehicle for four hours...on the only reliable route connecting the two east-west routes to the capital city.
Mongolia suddenly got real. You name it...Green and I dealt with it. Deep sand. Clumsy, smooth rocks and jagged stones. River crossings. Packed mud. Parallel tracks, interwoven tracks, disappearing tracks. I thought I was alone in Morocco. That was nothing like this. Lonely Planet's Mongolia landing page describes "Mongolia is feeling like you're the only person on Earth." Sounds romantic and exciting...until you're trying to navigate a 700-lb motorcycle through these conditions. And these were not roads...these were merely paths. No signs, no markers. Just a few tire marks often fading in and out.
First, that woman hadn't blinked an eye before sending us down this path. She didn't ask, "Are you okay with a map and compass?...how far can you get on a tank of fuel?...Can you ride that bike through sand that aims to swallow you like on 'Return of the Jedi'?" Had I not had 700-km of range, prior experience with land navigation and terrain maps, and extensive experience on the Green Machine, she really could have been directing me to a painful demise.
As the day drew on, I'll admit, I got a bit scared. Not scared because I was lost...but scared because I knew exactly where I was, how slowly we were moving, and how much further I'd have to go. Remember how I lost all my electronics after securing water in the luggage? Well, securing it outside the luggage didn't help today, as 3 liters bounced off the bike and reserves were non-existent. Dehydration would be the culprit if things went south...that, or ripping a tire on these jagged rocks...that, or sinking the bike in sand beyond rescue. As the hours dragged on and my neck, knees, elbows, and back began to ache from standing on the foot pegs and forcing the bike through uneven terrain, some self-doubt finally crept in. "Andrew...you really, really love this stuff...but do you? You want nothing more than to get to the destination...but you would take this same path again if given the choice. What's wrong with you?" So confused.
It was more than 8 hours before we emerged in a valley riddled with gers and grazing livestock, at which point I finally had a sigh of relief and could quit glancing at my tire pressure and engine temperature monitors. I knew water was available somewhere, so I could quit nursing remaining stores.
Another two hours later, we finally descended into the town of Ulaangom. Green is always such a hit with the locals. Everyone wants a turn sitting on him.
Two overpriced hotels in town, so I found a nice campsite beyond the town and cell phone coverage. Green had taken two naps in the sand earlier that day, and it takes a ton of energy on my part to wake him up. Needless to say, I was out like a light and he stood guard.
