For me, going for a day ride in Los Angeles generally means taking a couple of bottles of water in the tank bag. Going for a few days, a few extra clothes, the GPS and a few old-fashioned maps and rain gear if heading north. A trip for a couple of weeks involves a little more planning, more clothes, and just a bit more of everything. But a 68 day, 12,000 mile trip from Riga, Latvia to Hong Kong!….well, let’s just say that a few extra bottles of water just won’t cut it.

Nevertheless, on August 1, 2015, with a spare fuel pump, spark plugs, brake pads, clutch and throttle handle, extra gloves, a spare visor, and many other odds and ends, I, two tour guides on bikes and 11 other stalwart souls on 8 bikes left the relative tranquility of Riga, Latvia to head north, then east and then southeast to Hong Kong via Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Mongolia and then through China. The stock answer when everyone was asked “Why do this” seemed to be about seeing far off lands or the thrill of riding a motorcycle in parts of the world where this is not a common occurrence, but I suspect that there were many more reasons that might not even be vocalized until the end of the trip 68 days later. The following are some observations in a week-to-week format about what Ayres Adventures, in what might prove to be in a slight understatement, named “The Epic Journey”! As we progressed, other names were thrown out such as “The Geriatric Journey” due to the way people moved in the morning, or “The Experiment in Social Engineering Journey” as 13 strangers were thrown together for 68 days with some interesting results.

Week 1, August 1 – 8: We left Riga, heading to Tallinn, Estonia. Piece of cake, nice two-lane road, lush, thick forests, not too much traffic, what’s not to like? We then took a small side road up the coast. Crossed into Estonia, stopping in a small fishing village for our last look at the ocean in the form of the Baltic Sea before we hit Hong Kong harbor and the Pacific Ocean. An easy ride into Tallinn, which gave us all a chance to get warmed up for the weeks ahead.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Crossing border with Estonia“Tough border crossing”

The historic part of Tallinn, once you are away from the endless restaurants on the main road, is a city of great charm. Day two saw us heading for St. Petersburg, crossing the border into Russia at Narva, Estonia. Suffice it to say, it was more difficult to get out of Estonia and the EU than it was to get into Russia. Take a number, wait. Explain to the giver of numbers how to read a Certificate of Title from the USA, wait, and wait, and wait in a parking lot about a mile from the border. Finally our numbers are called and we head for the border crossing.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Estonia, Crossing the border
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Estonia, Crossing the border
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Estonia, Crossing the border
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Estonia, Crossing the border
“Hurry up and wait”

Gates, barbed wire, cameras and some very serious looking individuals (who again seemed puzzled by a Certificate of Title) manned the border. No laughter or smiles here! A lot of grunting by the officials, due either to indigestion or their bewilderment of 10 motorcycles arriving all at once but one by one by one we were let out of Estonia, only to sit on a bridge crossing a river which apparently served as the ancient border between Russia and Estonia.

Two medieval forts glared at each other from opposing banks and it was not hard to imagine cannon balls being lobbed across the river.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Estonia, Crossing the border

Finally we arrived at the Russian border, filled out an immigration form on a piece of paper the size of a postage stamp that we could NOT lose under threat of being sent to Siberia, had our bikes inspected by a guard who could not have cared less, and after 6 hours of dealing with the officialdom in two countries, we are now in Russia!! A woman in a one-room house just past the border sells insurance but as it was only $20.00 for a month, I didn’t ask how reliable it was. We were off to St. Petersburg and arrived as the light was fading; a monument to Lenin greeting us as we rode down the main avenue. We were trashed so it was dinner in the hotel and then to bed. A free day in St. Petersburg allowed us to tour the city in the morning and while it is impossible to do more than scratch the surface, one can see immediately that the historic parts of the city are still magnificent. Restoration on building after building is happening and one can only marvel at this city that was built out of a swamp many hundreds of years ago. We spent the afternoon at Peterhof, one of the most beautiful places in the world; it had been on my bucket list for 30 years. One could spend a day doing nothing but sitting and looking at the most magnificent fountains. It is a testament to Russian resolve that they rebuilt it after it was burned to the ground in WW II.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Saint Petersburg
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Saint Petersburg
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Saint Petersburg“Water, water everywhere”

“As we progressed, other names were thrown out such as “The Experiment in Social Engineering Journey” as 13 strangers were thrown together for 68 days with some interesting results.”

Our last morning in St. Petersburg, we rode from our hotel over to the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum. No big deal, or at least the ride started out that way. I was riding with our medic on the trip, Mike Meyer, who is 6’7″ and 270 lbs. We were the last two to leave so are riding together and we became separated from the rest of the group. We go past the grand plaza of the palace, passing two cops sitting in their car, turn around, come back, pass the cops, go another 1/4 mile, turn around and come back, looking for the rest of the group. At this point, one of the cops is out of his car and motions us to pull over, which we do. He resembles with an amazing accuracy, the Pillsbury dough boy. Everything is round, except for his beady little eyes and the fact that he is not happy. He says to us “Documents”. No problem as I am totally organized. I give him mine. Mike says that he doesn’t have any, they are with the group. Pillsbury keeps saying “Documents” and Mike says he doesn’t have them. At this point, I am convinced that Mike is history. Fortunately, I will be able to continue my trip as my documents are fine whereas Mike will be digging ditches in some gulag. All of a sudden dough boy turns to me and says, “How much drink”? It’s 10 in the morning and while I know the inner workings of the grape, I don’t mix it with riding my motorcycle. Being totally honest, I said that I had two glasses of wine last night. Beady eyes is now completely ignoring Mike and focusing on me. He points to the back seat of the patrol car and tells me to get in and takes my driver’s license. For a brief moment I wonder what the weather is like in Siberia. We go back and forth which in itself is strange as he appears to speak no English but seems to understand what I am saying. Meanwhile, Mike has called Janis, one of the tour guides who speaks Russian, to get his butt over to us. Janis arrives and it is obvious that he has been down this road before as he is very respectful and appears to be quaking in his boots. Janis is a good actor. The “policeman” says I have to go in front of a judge tonight and here my sentence and at this point I am so pissed off I say “Fine, let’s go.” Wrong thing to say. All of a sudden a breath analyzer comes out and they tell me to blow into it. As startling as it may sound to those who know me well, I have never been stopped before to have this happen. So, I blow into the machine but it is about 3″ from my mouth. The reading comes out .03 alcohol content, which is total BS as it has been over 15 hours since I had a glass of wine. Meanwhile, Janis and dough boy are conversing. Janis then turns to me and asks for my bike papers, which I give him. He takes the papers over to Mike’s bike, fumbles around, comes back and gives them to the policeman, who starts to go through them again while sitting in the front seat and I am still in the back seat, not really able to see what he is doing. All of a sudden, Mr. Blimpy gives me my bike papers and tells me to walk across the square to the group and have Janis ride the bike. We are out of there in a flash and Siberia is a distant memory.

Now, the back story. I did not know that when you breathe into a breath analyzer, it should be right up against your mouth. These two cops had me blow into it from about 3 inches away. What I did not see is that they put a drop or two of alcohol on the mouthpiece so that alcohol with my breath is blown into the machine which causes the high reading. Janis knew about this , saw it going down hill fast and took the chance that a well-placed $100.00 bill would change the direction of this tale so he put the money in my bike papers and give it back to blimpy. In retrospect it is reassuring that the power of the almighty dollar can still work wonders but it will be a long time before I can even look at a can of Pop and Fresh dough! Lunch and then we hit the road.

The next two days were spent heading to Moscow. Good roads and not so good roads along with no traffic and then roads packed with cars and trucks not moving. The night before Moscow we spent at a resort on the Rybinsk Reservoir, a most beautiful and calming place after a long ride.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Rybinsk
In the woods outside of Moscow for the night

Moscow was next and we hoped to beat rush-hour…..no such luck. The rules of the road in Russia are that there appear to be none; lane-splitting, passing on the right, passing on the shoulder and using the shoulder of the shoulder to ride on is all OK. If you can ride on it, have at it. As long as the cars were not moving, everyone tried to make room for us, but once moving, it was every man and bike for himself.

I didn’t know what to expect from Moscow, but it, like St. Petersburg, is a beautiful city with grand boulevards and wonderful architecture. The Kremlin and the surrounding area do not disappoint. Lunch on the terrace of the Gum department store overlooking Red Square was a definite highlight.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Moscow Red Square
On the terrace of GUM

That part of Moscow is incredibly clean and a pleasure not to see graffiti everywhere and as in St. Petersburg, restoration of old buildings is going on. It is a city in which one could spend easily spend a lot more time.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Moscow Red Square
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Moscow Red Square

“He says to us “Documents”. No problem as I am totally organized. I give him mine. Mike says that he doesn’t have any, they are with the group. At this point, I am convinced that Mike is history. Fortunately, I will be able to continue my trip as my documents are fine whereas Mike will be digging ditches in some gulag.”

Week 2, August 8 – 15: The next day we leave Moscow, again in heavy traffic so I could practice my riding on the shoulder of the shoulder skills. It started to become fun until we went off road next to the highway and ended up in a bog. Also, the ability to process diesel exhaust is put to the test truck after truck after bus after truck.

We spent the night in Suzdal at a hotel, which was undoubtedly a pretty good replica of something, but it reminded me of the Addams family homestead. I suppose it represented a large Russian hunting lodge but with Doris Day singing in the background while having a drink at the bar, I was somewhat conflicted.
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Suzdal
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, Suzdal

On to Nizhniy Novgorod to see within walking distance from our hotel a magnificent Kremlin, wonderfully restored. All the cities that we have been in seem to take such pride in their historical areas and they are so beautifully maintained.
Epic Journey, Russia, Novgorod
Epic Journey, Russia, Novgorod
Epic Journey, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod
Epic Journey, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod
Onion domes are everywhere!

The next day we headed to Kazan on highways and smaller roads. For now, the roads are pretty straight and the scenery consists of small towns, lots of farms and people who wave at us constantly. It’s nice to be so popular!

Kazan is a marvel. As we rode into the city, a huge, gleaming white mosque with 8 minarets and a blue tile roof greeted us. A wonderful pedestrian street with period architecture allowed us to step back in time.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazan
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazan
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazan
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazan

We had dinner in a private room of a restaurant. The table was so large it could have seated twice as many people and the formal décor of the room with ornate draperies and white linen on the table made us feel as if we should be in evening wear. Ordering dinner has always been borderline hysterical as the language barrier creates amusing situations with lots of pointing and drawing pictures in the air. Beef Stroganoff became the fallback meal and as ordinary as it sounds, it was always delicious in all the variations we encountered. Svetlana, our Russian tour guide, tried mightily every night to deal with American colloquialisms and translate them into Russian. Fortunately for me, the word “wine” seemed to be universal, also “vodka” required no translation, it was there, in your face, and plentiful. The next day we toured the city for three hours with a wonderful guide. While the Soviets destroyed so many Russian Orthodox cathedrals, the ones that survived must be seen as they are astounding in their beauty and judging by the people in them, the Russian Orthodox faith is very much a part of Russian life.
Epic Journey, Russia, Orthodox Church

Like Nizhniy Novgorod, the Kremlin in Kazan does not disappoint. It encompasses centuries of architecture and this is a city where Muslims and Christians co-exist peacefully and have done so for hundreds of years.

“One starts to feel how big Russia is as we head east and I started to feel as if I were riding across Texas and then back again!”

From Kazan we headed to Ufa on asphalt that was brand-new to bone jarring on what passed for two lane roads. One starts to feel how big Russia is as we head east and I started to feel as if I were riding across Texas and then back again!
Epic Journey, Russia, Road to Ufa
Epic Journey, Russia, Ufa
Epic Journey, Russia, Ufa

We arrive in Ufa at our hotel, which is situated in a beautiful forest, but the style of the hotel is a cross between 60’s modern, Soviet brutalism construction, and a penitentiary.

What it lacks in warmth and charm is made up for by a huge indoor swimming pool. I am happy. The bar is not sure what it is in terms of style but the furniture is all oversized. It was a little “Saturday Night Fever” in style and I wish I had been wearing more polyester. The bartender was a young boy, full of enthusiasm who showed us his ability with a cocktail shaker for hours. All he wanted was for us to order mixed drinks.

Leaving Ufa, we rode into the Ural Mountains, which was a total contrast from the endless vistas and straight roads that we had been experiencing.
Epic Journey, Russia, On a way to Magnitogorsk

The Urals form an unofficial boundary between Europe and Asia. The road was good, only the occasional truck and endless twists and turns. The tree line was right up to the edge of the road. We were definitely in the middle of nowhere. Coming down from the mountains, we hit the plains of Asia that stretched for miles and miles ahead of us.. Old men and old women selling everything from toys to jars of honey to cherries sit by the roadside, sometimes two or three of them in a row. Maybe they talk to each other but they seemed to just sit, not even really looking at us as we rode by. Children, on the other hand, are enthralled by us and wave frantically, hoping for a wave back, huge smiles on their faces.
Epic Journey, Russia, Road to Magnitogorsk

“The rules of the road in Russia are that there appear to be none; lane-splitting, passing on the right, passing on the shoulder and using the shoulder of the shoulder to ride on is all OK.”

We head for Kazakhstan, not knowing if the border crossing will take 2 hours or 6; it all depends on how many trucks there are in front of us. The wind comes from all directions, sometimes very strong with a crosswind, sometimes a wonderful tail wind. We fly down the highway, 80, 95 mph is the norm. At the border, the endless scrutiny and stamping of papers takes place once again. One of the bikes has a personalized California plate with no numbers and this is just beyond the ability of the border control officer to process. In his world, there have to be numbers on a license plate so we use the numbers on the sticker that says 2015. He is much happier. They go through all our panniers looking for weapons. One of the tour guides takes a picture of the “Welcome to Kazakhstan” sign (spelled “Welcom”) and they take his camera and erase it, along with his other photos. I felt it better not to ask why, especially since I had taken the exact same photo and they didn’t see me do it!
Epic Journey, Russia, KazakhstanInsurance takes a while

Epic Journey, Russia, KazakhstanSeal of approval

Finally, we are through the border and we push on. We lose yet another hour due to crossing a time zone which makes the day, seem longer. The road goes from freshly paved to one with potholes two feet wide and a foot deep to no pavement at all. The dust is grim and makes it rough to see what I am about to hit. Outside of the town where we were to have lunch, the police stop us. Apparently someone called and said the country was being invaded by a bunch of bikers. Never having seen 11 BMW motorcycles in a group before, we are cause for consternation. After much dialogue there is a 180 in terms of attitude, we are suddenly celebrities and are escorted into town with flashing lights and sirens. The restaurant where we were to have lunch was now closed for a wedding but the police made it open for us.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan
“It’s nice to have a police escort…”

Within minutes, kids are showing up to look at the bikes and we make their day by allowing them to sit on the bikes and have their pictures taken.
Epic Journey, Russia, Children in Kazakhstan

Lunch, which consists of fresh bread, soup and rice, costs a whopping $4.00. We continue on roads that run the gamut from great to horrendous, finally arriving in Kostanay City. Once again, in one of the bizarre crossing of cultures, we have dinner in what is Kazakhstan’s version of an English pub. The bangers and mash did not, however, do very well in the translation. And, as several in the group are eating their salads, one of the riders mentions that his tour book said never eat the salad in Kazakhstan. There was a distinct clinking of cutlery hitting the plates.

“We are suddenly celebrities and are escorted into town with flashing lights and sirens. The restaurant where we were to have lunch was now closed for a wedding but the police made it open for us.”

Occasionally, one has a day of riding that takes on a special feeling or mood. The morning of our ride to Lake Shuchie was such a morning. There was a fairly heavy cloud cover and the sun had a halo around it. The light was soft, almost as if it were an autumn day. The road went out in a straight line in front of us, no curves, no hills, just a road disappearing far into the horizon. Green fields lay on either side of the asphalt. No trees, no power poles, nothing to interrupt the view. It felt as if I stood on the seat of my bike that I would see the curvature of the earth, the vistas were so vast. It was at that point, more so than any other time on this ride, that I understood and felt the immensity of this continent.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan
“I could almost see the curvature of the earth….”

I knew now that while it was wonderful to see St. Petersburg and Moscow and Kazan and the other small cities, part of this ride was just the physical challenge of getting through Russia, of being so extremely isolated, and to cover these thousands of miles across never-ending plains. As long as this day was, and on sections of roads that were challenging, it was one of the best days of riding as for me the mental and the physical aspects of the ride were in harmony. We arrived in Lake Shuchie to our resort, complete with casino, spa, and three restaurants. Culture shock after $4.00 soup and rice, and goats, cows and horses in the middle of the road during the last 4 days of riding.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan

Week 3, August 15 – 21: We leave our luxury hotel for a short ride to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Astana, loosely translated, means Capital so everyone, no matter what language they speak, is assured of knowing that they are in the capital, no arguments! In less than a three hour ride we manage to get stopped by the police twice and one of the bikes hit another, fortunately not seriously.
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan drivers care nothing for motorcyclists so riding a bike through downtown Astana is a challenge. Astana suffers from someone trying to create an instant city by writing big checks. It looks like every architect dusted off some rejected commission and got someone in Astana to build it. It is the most incredible hodgepodge of architectural styles, from Beaux Arts to 60’s modern to Las Vegas glitz to a few stunning creations by world famous architects. But to those who now live in 20 and 30 story high rise apartments, it must seem quite wonderful.
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan

The Kazakhstanis we spoke to seem to be very proud of their country and their president, who has been in office for over a decade although the constitution only allows for a five-year term. We visited the largest mosque in Central Asia, and large it is!! All in all, Astana is a visual feast.
Epic Journey, Astana Mosque
Epic Journey, Russia, Astana, Kazakhstan

The ride the next day was another straight road for the 130 miles to Pavlodar. In a sign that Kazakhstan is trying to modernize, the old two lane road is being rebuilt into a modern, 4 lane highway. Some of it is completed, some of it is still a pot-holed two lane road, and some of it is a parallel dirt road. At least the variety of road surfaces kept us from being bored! Cattle, horses and a few sheep shared the roadway and I wondered why there wasn’t more road kill to be seen.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan

One night in Yarovoe and I think we were among the first Americans that had ever visited, much less on motorcycles. You could tell that there were some residents who were dying to talk to us and others that looked at us with extreme suspicion. I went to the beach and checked out the locals. It was good to see where my electricity came from.
Epic Journey, Russia, Yarovoe
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan
Russian wedding chapel

“Culture shock after $4.00 soup and rice, and goats, cows and horses in the middle of the road during the last 4 days of riding.”

A night in Tomsk showed again some incredible architecture from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and the hotel was among the best we had stayed in. We head for Krasnoarsk and a day of rest for the some of the bikes have to serviced.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan
Epic Journey Motorcycle Tour, Russia, On a way to Suzdal

Week 4, August 22 – 28: We rode from Krasnoyarsk to Nizhneudinsk in the rain and on new tires. Not a reassuring combination. One bike went down but fortunately the rider wasn’t hurt but the bike did not fare as well. The rest of us slid around on the slick roads and a few in the group found out that the word “waterproof” on the label of their riding gear might have been a spelling error.
Epic Journey, Russia, Kazakhstan

Lodging in Nizhneudinsk was somewhere between non-existent and dicey so we spent the night at a “health resort” which was actually a sanitarium for Russian railroad workers. My room had three single beds. Dinner was whatever you wanted as long as it was chicken and rice. No beer, no wine. I loved every minute of it!!
Epic Journey, Russia, Nizhneudinsk
Epic Journey, Russia, Nizhneudinsk
Epic Journey, Russia, Nizhneudinsk

But as we headed further east into Siberia, the topography went from flat open fields to endless wooded hills with a road cut straight through them as if to spite the power of nature. There were two predominant colors, the green of the forest and the dark brown of the earth and weathered wood of homes which had never seen any paint except for this one which I loved!
Epic Journey, Russia, Siberian house
When in doubt, add color…

Some of the homes had sunk into the ground over the years and sat at an angle but as smoke drifted out of the chimneys, they were obviously lived in.
Epic Journey, Russia, Siberian houses

Electric lines were rarely in evidence and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what winter would be like in this part of the world. We shared the road with horse-drawn carts and tractors.
Epic Journey, Russia, Road in Siberia
Generations of technology…

The gray sky made it even more depressing and the extent of the poverty level grew greater as we rode through the little villages that hugged the side of the road. In the 8 hours of riding, if I saw only 50 cars I would not be exaggerating. The roads were superb for the most part as they received so little wear and tear. Even though we had a destination for the evening, I felt I could ride for another month and still not come to the end of the road.
Epic Journey, Russia, Siberia

We arrived at Lake Baikal only to find that there were forest fires everywhere so the entire lake could only be seen through a thick haze of smoke and even though we spent a wonderful day on the lake with an incredible lunch in middle of the forest I guess I’ll have to come back another time.
Epic Journey, Russia, Forest fires in Siberia
The forest fires at Lake Baikal made for beautiful photography

We rode to Arshan through some wonderful mountains filled with twisties, sometimes in bright sun, sometimes in dense fog, down into the Tunkin Valley. An enormous flood plain stretched for miles and miles and about half way through the day, on this great road with absolutely no traffic, I just cranked the throttle and took off. 126 MPH and Fraulein Helga, my wonderful 2013 1200 GS Adventure, flew down the road. A sense of total freedom and that the world was mine, however briefly. But soon civilization appeared with beautiful wooden fences which delineated property lines. It was very orderly and clean, a total contrast with other parts of Siberia, and the many cows and horses that wandered aimlessly across the road seemed oblivious to us.
Epic Journey, Russia, Siberia
Epic Journey, Russia, Siberia

“I think we were among the first Americans that had ever visited, much less on motorcycles.”

Week 5, August 29 – September 5: Into Mongolia, not knowing what to expect, only to be overwhelmed by the endless green mountains that looked like Mother Nature had just been through with a giant lawnmower.
Epic Journey, Mongolia steppe

I had read about the beauty of Mongolia but until you see it in person, you can only imagine what it must be like. Very few signs of civilization and virtually no traffic. As usual, kids loved us!
Epic Journey, Kids in Mongolia
Kids think we’re the best thing since sliced bread.

Epic Journey, Mongolia

It was not that time had stopped but that the clock ran a little slower. We stayed for two nights at in incredible resort in the National Park outside Ulan Bator. Set right alongside a river with grand mountains in the background, we relaxed in luxury, even though the doorways into our rooms were barely 5’10” high! The six footers in the group were slightly bruised. We then headed to the Gobi dessert, magnificent in its solitude.
Epic Journey, Mongolia
Epic Journey, Mongolia

We rode to our camp across the desert on sandy roads, always a bit of a challenge on a bike. My ger was a welcoming place to sleep, set in the middle of this vast land.
Epic Journey, Mongolia

The endless night sky was unlike any night sky I had ever seen; Mother Nature on steroids.
Epic Journey, Mongolia

In reflecting on riding through Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, it was more of the challenge of crossing this vast land than anything else. I used to think that riding across Texas took forever. Wrong! Try Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia!! The people were wonderful, the roads ran the gamut from dirt, dust and potholes to the best asphalt I had ever ridden on. Endless vistas, endless skies, endless roads. I was insignificant in the scheme of things and it was a humbling experience. Once out in these vast plains, you couldn’t stop, you had to keep going for there was nothing between your departure point and your destination except an occasional gas station or very small village and when your last day before entering China is spent in the Gobi desert, your sense of isolation from the rest of the world is complete!!
Epic Journey, Mongolia

We left our ger in the Gobi desert as the sun started to rise, heading for the border to China. An immense monument to Ghengis Kahn rose out of the landscape, dwarfing everything around it. The Mongolians revere him, as evidenced by this tribute.
Epic Journey, Mongolia

Trying to get out of Mongolia almost became a Marx brothers movie except that it took on a “us versus them” overtone. There is no order at the border, only chaos. One has to run around getting yet another tiny piece of paper stamped 4 different times by 4 different individuals who are not where they are supposed to be. The Mongolians have no respect and will just shove their way in front of you while you stand at a window. We finally had to form a phalanx and shove people out of way so we could obtain these silly little stamps. The officials do nothing at all to help. It was true banana republic style in total contrast to the Chinese who processed us fairly quickly, but they checked every VIN number and every engine number on each bike against the paperwork they had been sent and they kept the bikes overnight at Customs. Upon leaving the border in a taxi to head for our hotel, we learned quickly that red lights mean virtually nothing in China. Riding will be a challenge, but that was only the beginning….

“Into Mongolia, not knowing what to expect, only to be overwhelmed by the endless green mountains that looked like Mother Nature had just been through with a giant lawnmower.”

Image courtesy of Lee-Ann and Dave Fick, Randy McClanahan, Geoffrey Smith and John Jesson.