May 20 Ulaanbaatar - Bagamuur - Ulaanbaatar (MNG)

Eagel whisperer Peter

Master Eagel whisperer Johan (2 birds)

Zolang de vooraad de strekt, blijft Peter zijn sporen achterlaten.

Peter leaving our Banzai-mark wherever he can.

Where to go, where to go? A difficult choice knowing there are only 5 paved roads in Mongolia.

Chinggis Khaan was een Mongoolse heerser en veroveraar. Hij verenigde de Mongoolse stammen en stichtte een imperium dat zich uitstrekte van China tot aan de rivier de Donau.
See Wikepedia or call Wiki-Paul!

CARL KHAAN, the next generation

On the road in Mongolië

Automarkt in Mongolië

Car shop in Mongolia

A small oil leak in the transmission of one of the Yamaha's, made us return to Ulaan Bataar. After a call to Terence of AMC shop, we tried to fix the problem. Fingers crossed.

May 19 Ulaanbaatar (MNG)

Tijdens onze rustdag in Ulaanbaatar, bezochten we een boedistische tempel. De meerderheid van de 3 miljoen Mongolen is Boedist.

During our restday in Ulaanbaatar, we visited a Buddhist temple. The majority of the in total 3 million Mongols are Buddihst.

May 18 Kyakhta - Ulaanbaatar (MNG)

Grensovergang Rusland - Mongolië (Kyakhta)
Border crossing Russia - Mongolia (Kyahta)

Toen het inschrijvingsbewijs van onze motoren voor de zoveelste keer werd overgeschreven verloor niet alleen Carl zijn geduld.
After the same bike document was copied Manually!!! for the 4th time it was difficult not to loose our patience.

De eerste kilometers in Mongolië
The first miles in Mongolia

Carwash in Darhan
Mongolian car-wash

Onderweg richting Ulaanbaatar (hoofdstad van Mongolië)
Happy to be in Mongolia, and on our way to Ulaanbaatar

May 17 Ulan Ude - Kyakhta (RUS)

Een standbeeld van Lenin in Ulan Ude (één van de vele in Rusland)
One of the many statues of Lenin in Russia. This time in Ulan Ude

ULAN UDE

Onderweg van Ulan Ude richting Mongolië werden we tegen gehouden door de politie. We hebben blijkbaar een zwak voor volle witte lijnen. Gelukkig kwamen we er weeral met een verwittiging vanaf (de 6de verwittiging dus).

Again a small conversation with the fuzz. This time for crossing the ONLY white line in Ulan Ude. A nice place to make some extra money. Luckily we are experts in playing the ignorant dumb tourist, so they told us not to do it again.

Een begrafenis stoet in een klein dorpje onderweg.
Funeral

In Kyakhta, een klein plaatsje vlak voor de Mongoolse grens besluiten we te overnachten om dan de volgende morgen de grens te passeren.

It started raining when we arrived at the Mongolian Border (Kyaktha), so decided to cross the next day and checked into the local "Burj Al Arab"

May 16 Irkutsk - Ulan Ude (RUS)

Toen we de lokale Yamaha dealer in Irkutsk (SOTEP) gevonden hadden, bleek ons UPS pakketje nog steeds vast te zitten in Moscow. Ook de zoektocht naar off-road banden was geen succes, daar 17" banden niet courant bleken te zijn. We besloten om niet langer te wachten en ons pakketje te laten doorsturen naar Ulan-Ude, waar wij het dan zouden oppikken als we terug kwamen vanuit Mongolië. Omstreeks 13h vertrokken we dus richting Ulan-Ude. 

Today riding 400km which changed from beautiful sunny weather in Irkutsk, to ice cold near the Baykal lake and ended in a sand storm at Ulan Ude, but very entertaining. The scenery was again impressive, especially near the Baykal lake. The biggest and deepest lake in the world surrounded by high mountains covered with snow. After driving for a while we thought we took a wrong turn and ended up in Switzerland, but then realised we were in the middle of Siberia. The plans to take a quick swim in the lake were quickly shelved when we noticed that the Eastern part of the lake was frozen and it is already mid May.

De eerste glimp van het Baikal meer, 's werelds grootste en diepste meer.

In een poging om zo dicht mogelijk bij de oevers van het Baikal meer te geraken, moesten we de trans-Siberische spoorlijn zien over of onder te geraken.

Aan de oever van het Baikal meer, dat zelfs deze tijd van het jaar (16 mei) nog steeds grotendeels bevroren bleek te zijn.

Toen we bijna in Ulan-Ude waren, kregen we nog een zandstorm te verwerken.

The three of us were almost blown off our bikes when we reached Ulan Ude with wind speeds of around 80km/hours. The sand storm also limited our vision to 1 m before the front wheel. Anyway we arrived safely and checked into a 4 star hotel. In Russia one have to pay before you can get something, eg. When checking into a hotel you have to immediately pay for the room, when stopping for fuel, you first have to say how may litres you want and pay before filling up the gas tank. So after we paid the room, they told us our room in at the back of the hotel on the fourth floor and there is no elevator. After hearing this remarkable news Carl already started sweating and refused to carry his bag upstairs without having a few beers first. He will also file a complaint to the Russian Tourist federation that it should be forbidden to have 4 stars and not have an elevator.

ULAN-UDE

May 15 Angarsk - Irkutsk (RUS)

Before coming to Russia, all of us had our own idea about the country and the people. Fact is that Russia is great. Beautiful, big and extremely friendly people. Everywhere we arrive or stop people come to greet us, have a talk and even invite us in their homes. Especially when meeting fellow bikers we immediately become their guests and get to see the real Russian hospitality. Once the language barrier is broken, it is interesting to share stories, culture and tradition. The bikes are always one of the topics we can discuss for hours.

We now await our parts at the the Yamaha shop and will leave for Mongolia next Tuesday. We also consider changing our tires to more suitable off-road once, seeing the condition of the roads in Mongolia.

May 14 Irkutsk - Angarsk (RUS)

In Irkutsk we met Mr. Monster. Another friendly biker who can speak English. The next day he invited us to a biker season opening not far from Irkutsk. Initially we kept a bit to ourselves, but after plenty of Vodka and Piva's our Russian improved while the Russians became fluent in English. We were treated very well and enjoyed a nice meal and a lot of (free) alcohol. Too drunk to drive our bikes we were given a room with 3 comfortable beds, again no charge.
On the biker party, the guys told us to wish the Japanese a lot of strength and to keep up the spirit. It is nice to see that big bearded mean looking bikers, have their harts in the correct place, and really care about other people.

Met "Kawasaki groeten" aan Paul en Yves