Mongolia Trans-Altai Motorcycle

Western Mongolia · Mongolia

Extreme7 daysAsia~£2,500 est.

Save ✓ I did this

Overview

Riding west from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd is the distilled Mongolian problem: around 1,400 kilometres, most of it without pavement, navigating braided tyre tracks across open steppe by GPS bearing and the pointing arm of the last herder you passed. The Khangai leg delivers Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur's volcanic crater lake; then the land dries and rises into the Altai, where river fords - walk them first, every time - and 3,000-metre passes guard Kazakh eagle-hunter country in Bayan-Olgii. Time a September ride and you can finish at the Golden Eagle Festival, burkitshi in embroidered coats launching eagles from horseback. Bogs are the variable nobody expects: after rain, innocent green valley floors swallow motorcycles to the axle, and the recovery is yours to perform. Fuel range of 300+ kilometres is essential, as is a toolkit you actually know how to use - there is no mechanic between sums. Carry spare levers, tubes, filters and a satellite communicator. June to September is the window; outside it the steppe is brutal. Around £2,500 covers bike hire in UB, fuel, food and ger-camp or wild camping - plus the eagle festival entry if your timing lands.