Date: Monday 30th August 2010

Today we start at 7am because we need to be in Choibalsan by 4pm because we have pre-arranged our permits arrive by plane then from Ulaanbaatar.

We really need those permits for those isolated areas we wish to visit.

We cut short our more northern route and head on a more southerly route towards Bayan-Ovoo.

Good time is made across some of the open country.

Traditionally dressed Mongol horseman.

Lunch stop is a road side cafe.

A soup of mutton and potatoes served with uncooked buns that smell more like play dough.

About 90kms before Choibalsan is this 10m old tower and is all that remains of a 12 Century city that once was part of the ancient state of Kitan.

This pre-dates even Chinggis Khaan.

Our papers did not arrive on the flight and unfortunately that elusive permission is proving very difficult to obtain. The company in UB is doing all they can but apparently some German tourists were in there about a year ago and as the grass was very long and dry and it caught fire below their vehicle and started a forest fire. Also some locals use this remote area to cross illegally into China so the Border Protection Office is not giving more permits. However we have achieved permission for 90% of the areas we wanted but the new papers will arrive the day after tomorrow by plane from UB. So we have a day to fill in.

Camp 83: Camp Disappointment @ Choibalsan.  N48* 02.901  E114* 29.109

Distance Today: 334 Kms Total Distance: 17,123 Kms

Tuesday 31st August:

Dinner was left overs and a nice bottle of red wine.

Camp 84

N48* 05.000  E114* 37.418

Wednesday 1st September:

Choibalsan is a remnant from the Soviet era. The buildings typical concrete apartment blocks with the Russian propaganda pictures on the facades.

The town was named after the Stalinist stooge Khorloogun Choibalsan as an honour while Stalin was still in power.

The roads and buildings are in poor condition yet the people dress well.

How is this for a tow behind caravan.

Refuelled, watered and resupplied and our permits arrive on the 12.45pm flight.

All is in order but they refused access to the Numrog area. Apparently it is very sensitive both politically and environmentally. Last year a German vehicle drove into the area and because of all the long dry grass the vehicle caught fire and the ensuring inferno destroyed a vast amount of the vegetation. Since then no permits have been issued.

Our drive is over dusty flat and uninteresting grass plains, broken excitingly by the sighting of the occasional herd of Gazelles.

At camp Bill discovers he has a broken rear spring so we make some makeshift repairs that seem to work.

Camp 85 is out in the open Grasslands.

N47* 44.946  E115* 35.205

Distance 123 Kms 

Total 17,245 Kms.

Thursday 2nd September:

Today more herds of Gazelles, sometimes hundreds at a time.

Our travels take us very close to the China border and constantly we see signs reminding us that we are in a protected zone.

Then a border check point where we are stopped and show the permits and our passports. All is in order.

The lookout post sits high and on this flat plain could see us coming for miles. As we pass through the gates we get a nice salute from two officers.

Lake Buir Nuur is a vast lake some 40kms long and the northern shore is China.

At the far eastern end of the lake, we drive through a small village and then on to what we thought was the old fish factory. But no this was yet another border office, so again the papers and passports.

Camp 86 was by Lake Buir with nice sunshine, little breeze and no mozzies.

N47* 51.707  E117* 53.228

Distance 222 Kms 

Total 17,468 Kms

Friday 3rd September:

It was a shame to leave this beautiful camp site.

Travelled to the most North Eastern corner of Mongolia before turning south and followed the Khalkhin Gol River. On the crest of a low hill we see below yet another check point. At the gate we are immediately met by an officer demanding papers and passports. However as soon as they see all is in order, like before they then smile and become chatty.

At this place is also a huge concrete image known as Ikh Bukham. It was layed out on the side of the hill and was made in the 1800’s

In 1939, along this part of the river the Mongolians and Russians were in a fierce 5 month battle with the Japanese invaders. Apparently it was a costly battle in man and equipment, eventually the Mongolian/Russian forces won. Some say this was the start of WWII

Celebrating the victory there are some 65 monuments along the way.

Just outside Sumber is the largest at 45meters and consuming 150tons of copper and brass.

In Sumber is an old museum that also celebrates the battle and inside considerable war relics.

This map depicts the break up of the world between the German and Japanese forces !!

Whilst in town we tried one more time for permission to visit the Numrog area without results.

Mougie even asked the chief officer if he could help us personally (i.e. a bribe, which is not out of the question in Mongolia), however his answer “I am not a shop”

The school children dress in what could only be described as 'French Maids'

Our camp is beside the Khalkhin Gol River.

Here Michael reads yet again the Webasto instructions to find out why every day it takes over an hour to get his diesel cooktop to work

Camp: 87 Khalkhin Gol River Camp.

N47* 38.167  E118* 38.509

Distance Travelled: 106 Kms 

Total Distance: 17,574 Kms

Date: Saturday 4th September 2010.

Happy Birthday to our Mongolian guide Mougie who turns 26 today.

Today’s travel plans will lead us south to an old camp called Avdrant then west trying to locate some lines of where the longitude and latitude intersect.

Past some old wheat silos that have seen better times during the soviet era.

And out onto more open plains where the herdsmen draw water from wells using more ancient methods.

As we headed into more remote areas we then saw hundreds of Gazelles, then thousands, then tens of thousands.

The camera went crazy.

On the map was a track North West but it was not to be found thus we headed of on a bearing towards the Lines of Convergence at 47 degrees North and 118 degrees East. At this Convergence point was a steel post perhaps marked by the oil exploration company who have worked this area some time ago. We also knew that the track was close to this point and just before arriving located the track. Almost impossible to see unless you were running on top of it. Only the change of grass colour differentiated it from the surrounds.

Camp was out on very open plains where the horizon was the same flat line in every direction. The sunset was beautiful and so was the lightning display from the West. As we retired we could see a red glow in the West and concluded it must be a grass fire started by a lightning strike.

Camp 88: Million Gazelles Camp.

N47* 04.033  E117* 29.512

Distance Travelled: 170 Kms 

Total Distance: 17,774 Kms

Date: Sunday 5th September 2010.

Travelling again by GPS we locate the next intersecting lines of Convergence at 47 degrees North and 117 degrees East.

No previous marks here so we erect a small marker using a timber post and the broken spring from Bill’s truck. The post came from the Shangrila Gorge in China and we had retained it for fire wood.

We all signed the post and celebrated with morning coffee.

Out in the middle of no-where an old ‘Austin A40’ ?

Again in the middle of no-where is the exact birthplace of To-Van, a man who became Lord of the area back in the 18 Century.

Not far away is a small settlement of 3 houses and a couple of Gers near a salt lake.

They have been harvesting salt from here for hundreds of years. During the Soviet era it supplied salt for all of eastern Mongolia. Now only a couple of families etch a living from it.

We now see the blackness from that huge grass fire. The locals have been fighting it for the last 2 days and finally it is out. The burn area we eventually see covers an area some 80kms long and perhaps just as wide.

The drive up mount Tsagaan at 1150meters.

From the top we can see many heat twisters cross the burnt plain carrying the black dust up to the cloud layer.

On top; the Ouvoo to which I add an Australian Koala.

We camp on top of the mountain, and have views for 360 degrees across the flat plains that surround us.

This is one of the remotest places on the planet.

Camp 89: 360 degree views Camp.

N46* 40.256  E116* 59.626

Distance Travelled: 85 Kms 

Total Distance: 17,829 Kms