Rolls Around the World 2007: 22 - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to , China

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Miles for the day - 286 (460 km) Miles to date: 10,799 (17,379 km)

Enkh & Inderbayar picked us up at the hotel at 7:30 AM and took us to the garage to get the Rolls. She was a bit reluctant to start, likely because of the cold or perhaps because she knew what was coming, but once going we fuelled up and followed Enkh to the highway south, where we took the lead so I could drive at my own speed. The road for the first 144 miles (232 km) was excellent; we maintained a speed of around 70 mph. (113 kph)

Half an hour out a huge herd of white tailed gazelle crossed the road in front of us. As we approached, half the herd turned back and ran along parallel to the road. When we slowed to let them get ahead they crossed, giving Marilynn some great photos. There would have been over 200 animals in the herd.

Inderbayar mentioned this morning that there was a disease outbreak in the village of Cyoir, located about half way to Saynshand. We were impressed to see the speed with which the authorities had moved to contain it - we went through two roadblocks where police and health officials were spraying the wheels of all vehicles coming and going. Of course, they all had to look over the Rolls thoroughly.

We were warned that the road was not good past Cyoir, but what they failed to mention is that there is no road! The beautiful pavement disintegrated into a maze of tracks heading off across the desert. This is not desert like we were going through on our tour - there were no nomads, very few animals, but lots of sand, gravel and at times talcum powder fine dust. We had the GPS programmed to check our progress, but our greatest asset was Enkh with his knowledge of the country. It took a bit over an hour to travel the first 144 miles on pavement, but another 8 ½ hours to cover the remaining 142 miles (229 km). We were thankful for the skid plate installed under the car - it took quite a pounding in deep sand and where the tracks had worn deeply into the desert leaving a rocky high centre. We came close to getting stuck in sand a couple of times, but each time the old girl pulled herself through without assistance.

One advantage was that there was little traffic - likely because there is an unlimited selection of routes. If you don't like what is there, make your own! Whenever Enkh felt it best we headed cross country. The dust was penetrating - it was sunny, so the windows were lowered, but soon the inside of the car and everything in it including us was covered in dust. Dust was also coming up through the floorboards, so about every 5 minutes my prescription sunglasses were coated, eliminating vision. Marilynn had a full time job cleaning them.

The hotel had packed a great lunch, so after zig zagging up a high rocky hill we paused to eat. The view over dry hills, sand dunes and the gravel desert between was awesome. While we were there a police patrol drove up in a Russian jeep - the expression on their faces upon seeing the Rolls out here was pretty funny! They gave us some advice on conditions ahead, told us they were looking for poachers hunting gazelle. I think they were in the wrong area - we saw no animals in this parched wilderness.

We passed through three mining villages, stopping to purchase gas in the only one with a gas station, using our gas filter - better safe than sorry. Each villages looked like a collection of buildings plopped down at random in the desert - driving anywhere between them is OK - there is no vegetation. Our hotel tonight is the Saynshand Plaza, and it was much better than we expected - it has private bathrooms and a pleasant restaurant. Saynshand, with a population of 30,000 and rough paved streets in the centre of town, is the largest city in the Mongolian Gobi, and is the last stop for gas or anything else before the Chinese border.

We are told that tomorrow we will face the test of really bad "road". Poor car!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Miles for the day - 136 (219 km) Miles to date: 10,935 (17,598 km)

Having cleared some of the dust out of our noses and ears, we were back at it again two blocks from the hotel. The warning was right - the desert is a lot rougher, going from areas of sharp rocks, to plains strewn with boulders, to sand and areas that are almost impassable because of the ruts made when it was muddy. At times we could not get over 5 mph (8 kmh). It took 7 hours to cover 136 miles (219 km). There was the odd stop for photography, as for the last 40 miles (64 km) the seemingly lifeless desert started to get a little greener and camels and horses began to appear.

The half ger, half permanent building town on the Mongolian side of the border certainly looked good as we bounced and shuddered over the desert tracks. It seemed to take forever to reach it once we could see it on the horizon, as we were moving so slowly, but finally we hit the concrete paved main street. Near the border Enkh pulled over and we transferred the luggage, which was dust free in the Mercedes 4 X 4, and said goodbye.

Inderbayar rode with us to the Mongolian border post, where the biggest problem was to find the correct official to do the documents required to leave the country. It took about an hour, so at the last check we bade Inderbayar farewell and headed for the Chinese border. This was the milestone of the trip - the end of bad roads, and the 11th and last country the Rolls will drive through on this run.

We drove slowly through an arch in the first building, looking for a place to present our passports, but instead I got a shot of liquid in the face. It was a pressure activated chemical spray for the vehicle - and we had all the windows down. There had been a bi-lingual warning sign, in Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet and Chinese characters! I hit the gas to get out of there!

A stern faced uniformed border guard motioned us to park the car. Soon a young English speaking official with a camera around his neck who apparently had some authority appeared. On his heels half the border staff from the administration building arrived to take each others pictures in and around the car. We were instructed to move the car to the customs area, and report for immigration. Embarrassingly, we were moved to the head of the immigration line to have the passports stamped, with our new friend saying to the staff, "Lolls Loyce" and giving the thumbs up. Everyone was very friendly.

James, the English name of our Chinese guide Ren Zhanmiao, was at the car when we finished. Serial numbers were checked, and we were moved to a different area where the processing of the vehicle would be done. I was given an insurance decal to place on the windshield and my Chinese driver's license. After three hours the paperwork was not finished, so we were told we would have to return in the morning - not what we wanted to hear. There was some discussion about security for the car, and finally a decision was made to lock it into a 40 foot (12 meter) container for the night. I'm sincerely hoping it doesn't get shipped off somewhere before we get back to it!

A vehicle from CSITS (China Sea International Travel Service) took us to the four star Pacific International Hotel, where check in took about 30 seconds and we were soon in a large, comfortable room with a king bed. We both did a clean up to try to shake off some of the Gobi dust before going with our guide James and the employee from Hohot who had brought our car documents, to a small family Chinese restaurant for a delicious meal.

Erenhot was a big surprise, as we'd expected another dusty frontier town. Instead it is a clean, modern city with tall buildings, wide avenues and lots of neon. Many of the buildings are outlined in various coloured neon and a lot of businesses have large neon signs, making it very colourful at night. A big change from the desert!