Take On Asia - Black to Bering Sea by bike

[hlloyd33]

So I've just set off on my latest journey... Having spent the last 10 days or so taking the trans-siberian train from Moscow to Irkutsk I am almost ready to start the trip. I'm just waiting to get my Mongolian visa (friday) and then I'm off - on the bike (again).

The plan is vague at the moment, but the general idea is to bike from Irkutsk in a westwards direction towards Turkey, passing through Mongolia and central Asia (lots of 'stans). I've got my packraft with me to paddle some rivers and I'm hoping to buy a horse, maybe in Krygyzstan for a month or so of remote riding. And I'm going to see how far I get in 6 months.
Then I'm popping home to the UK for xmas and will pick up my winter biking/camping gear and will fly back out to Irkutsk. Then I will start cycling northeast - first over the length of Lake Baikal (the advantage of it being winter, the lake will be frozen and I can cycle ON it), then up to Yakutsk and along the Road of Bones for a way until I reach the Kolyma River. That's when I'll leave the better known road and head north along ice roads towards Cherskiy, where the Kolyma river meets the East Siberian Sea on the northern coast of Russia. I would love to continue to the Bering Sea, but with Russian visas I'm only allowed to be in the country for 3 months at a time. Besides, after 3 months of a Siberian winter, I'll probably have had enough of the extreme cold (down to -60C) and being by myself (up to 2 weeks between settlements when I'll be camping) anyway.

So that's the plan. ish - route map here.

Here's what I've posted on my blog so far... mostly photos. I'll keep you updated.
Moscow 1
Moscow 2
Made In Kazan
Trans-Siberian Train

I'm really excited to start now... can't wait to hit the road.

 

[hlloyd33]

Here are some photos of my wanderings around Irkutsk. Love the city.

Photos of Irkutsk

Off on the bike tomorrow towards Mongolia (picked up my visa today)...

 

[HumphreyBear]

Hi Helen,

Very glad to see you are off on an adventure again, I look forward to following your progress here and on your blog.

I bought your book on Africa this morning and have been reading it all day, you have such a great turn of phrase. I recommend it (Desert Snow) to anyone else on here who loves insightful travelogues.

Humphrey.

 

[Sirocco]

Hey Helen, We are sat in Kyrgyzstan right now and crossing into Kaz in a few days. Once we have our Mongolian Visa (Almaty) we will transit north and hopefully be in Mongolia for Early July. Depending on your route you may well get another sandwich and a cup of tea!

We used our Packraft here in Issy-Kol for the 1st time, be good to go for a short paddle in Mongolia. I think we should try to meet up.

You still have our Sat-Phone number?

G

 

[hlloyd33]

Yeah still got your number G. Let's keep in touch and see if our paths meet - quite possible! I'm planning on packrafting early in Mongolia - maybe Yeroo, Selenge, Orhon Rivers and then sending it home as don't want to have to carry it for whole trip. Unless of course, anyone wants to borrow it / buy it in Mongolia...

Humphrey - glad you're enjoying Desert Snow. The book's literally just this hour been discounted for kindle (to celebrate start of this latest trip) - sorry you missed out! But for anyone else - it's on offer now for a limited time

 

[Wiley]

YES!

 

[hlloyd33]

So here's a summary of the first 2 days... I am so unfit. This is a baptism of the worst kind!

Day 1


Day 2

 

[HumphreyBear]

Humphrey - glad you're enjoying Desert Snow. The book's literally just this hour been discounted for kindle (to celebrate start of this latest trip) - sorry you missed out! But for anyone else - it's on offer now for a limited time

Well, I'm further through the book by now - worth the extra dollars, I hope they go to your beer fund.

 

[hlloyd33]

I hope they go to your beer fund.

Now in Mongolia and sampling the local Chinggis beer - thanks HumphreyBear!

It has been a tough week riding from Lake Baikal to the Mongolian border - but some of the best off-road riding I've done in a long time! Loved it.

Summary blog here: A week biking Baikal and Buryatia - in maps

Photos here: Photos of Off-road biking in Buryatia

So, that's the end of Siberia for me until I return in January for some winter biking over the lake... bring on Mongolia!

 

[hlloyd33]

I've been in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital, for over a week now. It's the Naadam festival so the country is on holiday and I'm having to wait until next week to get my Kazakhstan visa. But that's OK, there's plenty going on here...

Last week I took a 2-day trip to Terelj National Park with the bike, bivy and packraft.
As well as watching the Naadam games. Photos of archery and knuckle-bone shooting(!) here and photos of horse-racing here.

I'll be around Ulaanbaatar for a few more days. Hoping to hit the road on Thursday... looking forward to it!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Great stuff ! Envious and wish I was along for the ride. Your pictures are spectacular. Thanks for posting for the rest of us. I plan to purchase your book when I return home from my travels...............

Jerry Yukon

 

[hlloyd33]

Thanks Jerry! Appreciate the sentiments and hope you enjoy the book

Latest update: I never did manage to get a Kazakhstan visa, but I wasn't going to linger in UB any more. So I've ridden to Tsetserleg via Kharkhorin in central Mongolia and chanced upon another Naadam festival here. Will head off west again tomorrow probably...

And here's how the last couple of weeks have panned out in more pictographic detail:

The Road to Ulaanbaatar - A Little Less Cycling

Things are Looking Up - Naadam and the Road to Kharkhorin

 

[hlloyd33]

I made it across Mongolia and the Russian Altai... soon I shall be in central Asia (and hopefully swapping my bike for a horse, temporarily).

For now, here's a catch-up on the ride through Mongolia.
In summary - lots of great dirt roads, and wonderful wild camping, a few too many drunk locals and definitely too many meals of leather-old lamb and noodles... oh and did I mention the wind and the rain and the mosquitoes?! Still, it can't be all peaches and roses all the time.
Photos of Biking Across Central Mongolia
Blog and Photos of Dirt Road Riding in Western Mongolia

 

[hlloyd33]

And here are the latest two sets of photos from the Russian Altai - first along the Chuysky Trakt to Aktash, and then onto the dirt/gravel to the Katu Jaryk Pass, Chulyshman Gorge and Lake Teletskoe - all of which are totally stunning!

Photos of Chuysky Trakt

Photos of Chulyshman Gorge and Lake Teletskoe

 

[hlloyd33]

I'm now in Kyrgyzstan. I put the bike in storage. And I bought a horse. Yes, one of those living, breathing, 4-legged animals. For the last month, I've been riding through the country.
Here's the photos from the journey. Hell, it was awesome!!

Part 1 - From Issy Kul to Naryn
Part 2 - Naryn to Song Kul
Part 3 - Family Life at Song Kul
Part 4 - To Kochkor

I've now sold Sarala, the very cool Stallion, and am back in Bishkek with the bike. Just got visas for the next bit and will begin cycling towards the Pamirs next week...