We deliberately chose to arrive in Ulaanbaatar on a Sunday so we could begin to organise Maggie as soon as possible. Our plan to return to Russia and drive to Vladivostok had been somewhat foiled by our whole gearbox situation. Our extended Mongolian stay meant that our Russian visas will have expired (and the Russians […]

Leaving Ulaangom was a highly anticipated event for us. There were several occasions when we had wondered if we were ever going to be able to leave. The day finally came and we woke to a grey sky and fairly heavy snow. Not ideal. However, there was no point waiting for better weather, the winter […]

Let’s start with a confession. I am girl who can only drive an automatic car. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been behind the wheel of a manual car, some of these experiences slightly more successful than others. So it’s no surprise that when I can barely change gears […]

The first hurdle in getting a flight to Ulaanbaatar is the booking of the actual flight. Sure, this can be done on Skyscanner but it doesn’t actually offer you all available options, and doesn’t seem to match the actual timetable. So off I went to the Aero Mongolia office in town were you can purchase […]

After a comfortable week in Olgii (it was a nice change to be in the one spot for some time) we were itching to get back on the road and explore this expansive land. After several visits to the supermarket to load ourselves with supplies we were off with the plan to head north and […]

Fortunately our trip to Mongolia was to coincide with the Golden Eagle Festival, held in Olgii. Kazakh hunters come from near and far with their Golden Eagles and participate in a competition to test their Eagles’ speed, accuracy, and agility. From early Friday evening the hunters (traditionally named kusbegi or berkutchi) rode into town on […]

Prior to crossing the border we stayed in the last real town, Kosh Agach. Our hotel seemed to be a beacon for travellers and we met a group of Israeli photographers also on their way to Mongolia. I also had a brief conversation with a Russian guy who recognised not us, but Maggie! Apparently we […]