Mongolia Lab Rat Run
25 July 17
A cynic would argue with gloomy enthusiasm that high hopes and fine expectations are a sure-fire recipe for disappointment, as, I suspect, would many a realist. And so it was that I headed for Mongolia earlier this month with both high hopes, and a niggling foreboding of doom.
It is for some years now that I have been eager to host a Mongolia tour, and so the surprise meeting early this year with an agent in Ulaanbaatar who asked to cooperate on a camping tour in the Kangi Mountains gave me cause for much excitement and the anticipation of a super adventure to come.
As I discussed the details of the tour and my requirements with the agent I felt more and more that I was dealing with a trustworthy fellow who valued the need for quality highly and believed in a fair and honest working relationship. And so it was that for the first time ever rather the venture alone or with a chum to inspect and explore a route I contacted a small group of PaintedRoads valued regulars and invited them to join me on a Mongolia expedition. Unsurprisingly most eagerly jumped at the chance of adventure in an unknown land and quickly became known collectively as, the LabRats.
And so it was that Dianne, Nigel, Marko, Phil, Keith, Echo, and I all met early in July in Ulaanbaatar’s Grand Khan Irish Pub, eager for a few pints of Gobi Gold and two weeks of Mongolian cycling adventure.
Rather than describe the two weeks in detail here and now I will let a few of my photos from the trip give you a little flavour of this wonderful land, and over the next week or so as I go through the pics I will post a few more prior to adding the tour to PaintedRoads' collection.
It is early days at the moment, we have just returned to our respective homes, but soon I will add the thoughts, comments, and opinions of the LabRats along with further images.
The bottom line, for now, is that I had no concern whatsoever to lumber my journey to Ulaanbaatar with nagging doubts. The Mongolia LabRat Run was absolutely superb in all respects. The crew were excellent, the food, produced in a kitchen tent was exceptional, the tents and the camping were great, and the overall organisation was splendid.
For anyone wishing to exchange the Westernised life of the 21st century for two weeks of wilderness, where neither car nor wifi nor crowds of people roam, then this tour is just the tonic. It’s a wilderness of trails, through desert and meadows and forests and pastures, across hills and valleys and rivers. It’s a land of nomadic herders who live a tough but pure life and understand the value of kindness, sharing, and friendliness, far above and beyond greed and materialism - am I smitten with Mongolia? Yes, I most certainly am, and I cannot wait to return.
Full details of the new Mongolia tour will follow soon.
Finally on a personal note, many thanks LabRats, it was, and you were, brilliant!
Our support vehicles were the rather wonderful Russian made UAZ - think of it as a VW camper on steroids.
A wilderness tour for sure, Mongolia offered a wonderful variety of terrain and riding from smooth tracks and grassy hills...
to desert...
to river crossings
Camping was a civilised affair with a kitchen/dining tent, shower tent, loo tent, and a four made dome tent between one or two depending on booking
The camp chefs turned out an amazing selection of quality cuisine
The Orkhon valley, quite lovely
Cycling guide, mechanic, camp guard, and instant PaintedRoads legend - Toro
Riding across the pastures
From time to time we would overnight in a ger camp, an agreeable and comfortable experience
Another wonderful meal. The food far exceeded expectations
Wilderness riding
Wide open spaces
One of the many nomads we met along the way
More friendly nomads
Meeting yaks, a regular occurrence
Our tents
Cheers all, a typical tea break