Diary: Through Buryatia to Mongolia

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Diary of biker Dmitry Petrukhin. Record 24.

THROUGH BURYATIA TO MONGOLIA

It should be noted that I was a bit used to daily long-distance motorcycle trips of 500-800 km. The thing is that in South-East Asia and Japan, the daily mileage was 200-300 km. But gradually I got back into the rhythm, and now I drive at least 700 km a day. In the village of Ukhabikha, where I spent the night, there was nowhere to put the motorcycle, so grandfather Prokopych (chief of the lodging house) offered to go to his house and leave the motorcycle in his yard. When we arrived at his house, a young woman came out and admired the motorcycle and the biker for a long time.

I gave her a business card, but her grandfather took it away from her, came up to me and said sternly that it was his wife. That's Hollywood for you! He's in his 70s, she's barely in her 30s. Well, love and advice, as they say! I took a picture of them, as usual…

The month of August can be considered the beginning of fall, at night about 0 degrees. In the daytime it is 15 degrees, but the wind is cold. Luckily, the rains are not so bad. But only after every 200 km you need to thoroughly wash the windshield from dead insects – gnats, butterflies…. For some reason, in other countries I have not noticed such an abundance of insects. Once a sparrow attacked my motorcycle, so it traveled with me for a whole day.

I liked Buryatia very much. Throughout the whole fourth stage of the final motorcycle rally, only here I was strongly reminded of my native Kazakhstan. The same steppes… At the approach to the city beautiful high mountains, somewhat reminiscent of Zailiyskoye Alatau … Of course, the pearl of Buryatia – the Selenga River… Well, the main thing is the people. Buryats strongly resemble Kazakhs, and the population is mixed in the same approximate proportion. There are many mixed marriages. The only, perhaps, difference between our peoples is religion. Here, along with Orthodoxy, Buddhism is preached. I spent the night in the city. Prices in the hotel are biting, but I could not find a hotel outside the city. It is very difficult to save money on hotels. The thing is that for normal, sober riding on a motorcycle, a biker should always be well rested. Otherwise, after 100200 km you will be very sleepy and will have to rest on the road.

Now my route changed dramatically and I headed south, towards Mongolia (Sukhbaatar). The road to the town of Kyakhta, on the border, is simply broken in places. I probably had a hundred times the desire to turn around and go in the direction of home. But still, my moods rarely influence changes in the route. Moreover, a lot of people follow my motorcycle race and I don't want to blame everything on the poor quality of the roads. Literally 60 kilometers from the border at the crossing of a dilapidated bridge I was stopped by two cars. As it turned out, they were drunken young men. From the first raptures about my trip they turned into a brazen fiddling around me and my bike. Let me sit, let me ride, let me try on my helmet….. Put on some music. What's in the bags? They're just brainless scumbags. But to be honest, I should always be prepared for situations like this. The situation was unpredictable. And out of six people, not one of them stopped a friend 158

I didn't tell my friend to let the biker go on his way. One has already started going through the bags. If I get in a fight, it won't do any good. There's too many of them. What do I do? And then a bus appeared on the road. I stood right in the road. The bus stopped and the driver got out. He thought there was a problem with the bridge. At that moment Mongolian tourists jumped out of the bus and started taking pictures with me. I took advantage of the moment, got on my motorcycle and retreated. Further on it was not sweet either. Dense taiga, the road is narrow, you can go 40-50 km per hour. One could expect some animal to jump out from behind the bushes. Anyway, I waited for a bus with tourists, got on its tail and drove like that all the way to the border. I had different thoughts in my head. Only after such moments you begin to realize the complexity of a solo motorcycle rally.

We approached the border, there was a lot of people. It was as if the border was closed.

I asked the Russian border guards to let me through without queuing. They categorically refused. They said, that I am not a diplomat, get in line. And the time is already 5 pm. In 30 minutes the border will be closed until eight in the morning. But the world is not without good people, Mongolians from a shuttle bus (they are allowed through a special lane without queuing) asked the border guards to let me pass the border with them. It turned out that we, Kazakhs, have the most simplified entry to Mongolia, no visa is needed – just a passport. But Russians are not allowed in without a visa.

When crossing the Russian border I almost got thwarted by customs procedures. What are we carrying? Open your bags, etc. But nevertheless, the experience of such events hardened me a long time ago, and I calmly endured all the customs nagging with a stupid Western smile. I packed my bags again and went to the Mongolian border guards. And I just 2 days before that the deputy director of the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Antonenko called me, congratulated me on receiving a high award at the festival of bikers in Nakhodka and explained the order of visa regime in Mongolia. It is so, for Kazakhstanis, indeed, favorable conditions! I passed all the checkpoints quickly. And after me the border was closed. Hello, Mongolia! There is the 52nd conquered country.

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