From Tsetserleg to Ulan Bator

In Tsetserled, Branio left us, and Elios said Ciao. After visiting a temple under the snow, we found a car to take us to the hot springs of Tsenher. We went through beautiful landscapes, rivers and trees, the sun was back. But once there, Filip got ill, a sort of flue, and we spent two days in a touristic ger camp. We finally managed to get away, the manager took us on his luxuous Land Cruiser until the main road, than we hitch hiked further. We made one more stop in Harhörin to visit ancient Kharakorum and then took a public and confortable autobus to Ulan-Bator.
Here we are now, Ulan Bator is a big city, not very interesting but we 're having good time. It doesn't look like the rest of Mongolia but more than half of the population live here. We contacted a polish speaking Mongolian called Nomi and are spending some time with her every day, getting an insight of the capital city's life. We stay at a Guest House full of travelers from the whole world. Tomorrow we'll get our chinese visa and then head to the South.

last days with Dragon

Last welding was fatal for our engine, it started burning oil 1liter in 20km.  Smoldering spark plugs each 10km.  And it even blew out 2 of the spark plugs.  It seems all the bad things happened at once!

The bus is pulled up over mountain passes, on 2 blown out spark plugs, and smoking badly tons of oil, it was wiser to get a lift up over the mountains.  There the sparkplugs were fixed again and again with liauid metal.  This lasted usually untill first accelerations, but while coasting down hill, it was easy.  Here we were towed by some young drivers.  Their trailor was only attached with metal cable, so we gave them the 3ton strap, in fear of recieving the trailor flatening the poor Dragon, with us in it.

We met a nice restaurant owner lady, who proposed that she may keep the bus at her house in Tosinzingel City, so withrout hesitation we decided to leave the bus here in Tosontsengel, half way to UB, and take a minibus over night to continue East.

Once in town, I was recomended to put the bus up on wood, taking off the tyres, taking out the battery, do to the freezing -50 temperatures in winter, that can destroy the tyres.

So for a tank 50l full of gas, and loaned mudd tyres, and 3 20l water bottles, Dragon has safe keeping untill end of May, once the snow melts.

The kind restaurant owner and her husband, by the bus

Augusta with Elios and the lady, saying good bye to Dragon

The travel continues as planed, in public transportation, although 1000km earlyer.  The mission accomplished, Dragon stays in Mongolia and awaits us in the spring, untill I bring the broken rings, and try to revive it for the road back.

Elios plays with Hotel hoses'es daughter.

the tight private bus, took us from Tosinzingel to Tsetseleg over night into the afternoon hours.  A long trying ride.

Since we left the bus, were traveling with our backpacks.  Still too heavy as we drag with us alot of warm clothes.
We made our way in a bus that drove over 500km in night and day, through a hard mongolian land.  The snow started to fall on mountain peaks.Elios took the travel very well, trying to sleep like all of us on the bumpy road, playing with our very helpfull hitchiker Brani from Czechoslovakia, who is a student of Mongolian, as well as a fine babysitter ;)
A new phase of traveling is on.  And we are doing fine now using sign language, and some basic phrases that we learned from our translator ;)

Ulangom Narambulag Songino welders

First city in North West is named Ulaangom. We set up an appointment on with a welder who invited us to sleep at his court yard fenced in with wooden fences, with a yourt and garage, in the middle of the city.

inside their yourt

The welding platform

welding the exchaust, that possibly overheated the cilinders and demaged  the rings

The next day, a very particular hitch hiker came to us: it's Branislav, or Branio, a Czech traveller studying  mongolian , doing his doctorate research about nomadic peoples children in the mountains around Ulanbatar, but broke, looking for a ride. He becomes our interpreter and sometimes babysitter for the next ten days!

After going about 150km further to Narambulag, we find the next welder in his yourt.  We arrive late so we are invited to his yourt to await tommorows welding

the Bump stop had to go back in place, and got reinforced.

The swing bar, was so badly displaced, that it was touching the frame, As you see I put a piece of rubber that I found on the road to keep it from bending, as it served as a temporary bump stop.  In that day we once again raised the torsion arms making the rear higer, and awaiting again for it to twist back up...

swing arm disassambled

funky wiering system at the welders

the electric welding machine

welding platform and early morning welding

the bus seems higher, but again over and over the pipe holding the torsion rods, keeps twisting up

We arrive at one of the salt lakes, where we get badly stuck in the sand.  Luckyly we met earlyer German students on their adventure ride , with their lada Niva, who got us out

once free of sand, we continue to sleep on open step, now the nights are getting windy and nights colder...

Once in Songino, we disassemble tottaly the torsion arm pipe, to do the final and definitive welding.  Here you see just how badly the torsion arm tube is twisted!  Everywhere where it was welded, it litterally peals off!

We also decided to reposition the swing axel

Welder at work, for 2 days

unfortunatelly the extensive welding with the unexperianced welder didnt help the engine. We suspect that its after this that the rings went bad.  The engine started to smoke and smoldering the spark plugs to the point that they wouldnt spark

after 10 days we see the first forests

trees have to be though to survive here

Dust everywhere! even inside the carburator. It was not rust but fine dust particles that somehow ended up in the fuel.  Muddy

nic, tylko sanki

spark plug very dirty after only 20km looses a spark

playing with Elios while the spark plugs luquid metal drys

getting a pull up over the mountain pass, spark plugs just arent holding under preassure, and 2 blown out spark plugs are 1 too much

Elios does his part in getting the bus from being stuck

 

Altai, border and first 200km in Mongolia

a stop at the sacred OVO with a commemorative board

We finally see the first trees since Russia! about 9 days in high severe altitudes

Continuing east we finally reach the last passage through the high mountains in the direction of Ulangom

On the way east to Ulangom

a look back to one of the most beautifull mountains that I ever got to drive through

the engine takes a beating with the very fine powder dust, getting even through into the fuel and carb, that had to be cleaned each day!

the nomad elder smoking his pipe

Earlyer Elios gets to ride on a mongolian horse.

We pass a caravan of camels, that also are used to transport the whole yurt to the next location, perhaps 200km futher.  Somehow we feel that we are going the same pase...

The next hard day contines, We let Elios sleep in the soft sleeping bag bed, as we drive no faster than 20km/h due to rocky road, and small tiny dust that keeps getting through the rusty holes in the bus, as well us shaking doors, through the seals

Another steep climb up to reach the other end of the huge valley.

As we found the correct road , and crossed the 3rd rivier, we started for the high passage at 2400m.

Before however we had to fix the gas pedal that fell through at the hinge, another vee-gyver trick had to do

The site was rewarding, another lake in a smaller valley, but still huge, the whole "crater of this valley streches out more than 100km.

We drove into a large impressive canyon with a large lake at the south, and 3 rivers going into that lake!

We were told that should we not make it through the rivers, than we shall come back and take the road more traveled.
We drove around a little lost looking for a river passage where we could acctually make it through.  First river was easy, as we went higher up to its sourcem and where it would fork out.
The seccond passage was difficult to find, but we got some help from local boys, who also showed us a nice fruity and thorny bush, that we could eat.

Filip inspecting the passage through luckyly a low river.

while we were lost driving over rutts and big stones, the muffler got hit and disconected from the heatexchangers.  There was even more of a threat that it would drown the engine...
after inspecting the exchaust, we fond small rocks that swam between the pushrod guards and the push rods, better to get them out before we keep on rocking on those roads...

a photo of the engine after the river, I kept it running after to dry out faster, but a big wave came through anyhow.

We reach the correct road after getting slowly used to gravel bumpy road, and very tempting soft sandy and dusty alternative roads, 

 The border crossing and the first rough kilometers took a toll on Filip who crashed on the first grassy bed he found, while Elios played in the sand

The Altai region was very beautifull, a real change from the flat swompy 2000km from Ural to Altai mountains.

The border went smooth, though we were supposed to register after being in russia 7 days, which we were told was not necessary. However the border officials let us slide.  At the border we met a lot of people traveling on the Mongol Rally, some old ambulances and little cars.  Good to meet some people from the west and learn their travel stories. 

While rolling into Altai, we found a road sign describing the first 3 digits of the model of the bus so 237

some futher set backs with lights not working, so a vee gyver trick had to be used and a bridge made of aluminium candy wrpper

 Another discovered fault = a cracked advance hose, so I had to cut the end and get it back on tight.

As a tourist attraction we have seen a prisoned camel, his owner gets 100 rubels for a photo shot.

spoted 'Russian samba" a minibus used in transportdurring the early 60s

As we waited on the border for monday to come, we hang out our loundry to dry on the border barbed wire

we asked the mongol rally participants waiting at the border to push the bus by that saving the precious fuel:  70l in the roof ural tank, 55l in the leaky original tank, 20l in a canister, 5l in a jerrycan, and on top of this 80l of LPG

really prepared for the Mongolian empty steps!

Upon reaching the lake shore, we stopped by some nomade yurt.  We were greeted with goat cheze, sutece salty,greasy milk tea,

and a freshly killed marmotte!

The next day they chased the heard off to another location, and started to dismantel their yurt.

the famillys oldest grand grand grand father, and his wife, who walked only on her knees...

We helped to load up on a big truckm that actually carried 3 other yurts for the whole familly.