Solo trip to Mongolia in winter
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Translated into English.

Original post
PR
Hello, so happy to be back on the forum! I’m heading off alone in mid-January for 5 weeks in Mongolia. I’d love all your tips—transport, accommodation, you name it…

For the cold, I think I’m used to it since I used to travel in Siberia, but that’s over now.

Looking forward to hearing from you! M
M
MO Mooko ·
Hi

Do you already have an idea of your route for these 5 weeks?
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Hello

Do you already have an idea of your route for these 5 weeks?

Hello, thanks for your message! For the routes, yes and no. I’m going to the Festival of the 1,000 Camels. For the rest, I want to head up to the monastery in the far north—a place that’s very important to Mongolia. I’ll be spending Lunar New Year in Ulaanbaatar. Beyond that, everything will depend on how public transport works. I’ve traveled a lot in winter in Siberia, and collective transport runs well on snow and frozen rivers. I’m open to ideas! See you soon, and thanks. Marie
M
MO Mooko ·
Good evening,

We also spent 5 weeks in Mongolia. We had a van with a driver. There’s only one main road that’s paved from Ulaanbaatar to the Karakorum site (about 20 km from the capital). The rest of the tracks are rocky or sandy paths. During our stay, we didn’t come across any public transport, just one cyclist. As for accommodation, we camped for a good part of the trip. You can also stay with locals (in a yurt). There are no hotels except in Ulaanbaatar. We were there in June, and depending on the region, the weather changes quite quickly. Our trip was in 2008, so that was a few years ago now! Catherine
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Good evening Catherine, yes indeed, 2008—time flies. There are hotels in the country now; things have changed a lot. There’s also public transportation, and people get around one way or another. As for road conditions, when it’s really cold, it’s sometimes easier—well, once you’re used to it. In Siberia, I preferred traveling in winter on the roads rather than in summer; there are very few paved roads, especially in the north. Thanks, Catherine, and have a great next trip. Marie
M
JO Jordan31 Regular ·
Hi,

Mongolia, one of my best memories :)

The most amazing experience I had there was an 8-day horse trek around Kharkhorin, spending each night with nomadic families in their yurts. It was truly an incredible experience! There’s no internet and the network is scarce in the Mongolian steppes.

I went through the Horse Trails agency if you're interested :)

This was in March 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/onefootontheworld

on dit " Live your Dreams" !! Mon rêve a moi est de faire le tour du monde !!
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Hi there,

Mongolia, one of my most beautiful memories :)

The best experience I had there was an 8-day horse trek around Kharkhorin, spending each night with nomadic families in their yurts. It was truly an incredible experience! There’s no internet, and the network is rare in the Mongolian steppes.

I went through the Horse Trails agency if you're interested :)

This was in March 2015.

Hi Jordan, and thank you for your message—I totally get why this trip was unforgettable for you. January and February are the coldest months. I really wanted to spend time with camel herders, but they’re nomads, so by definition, it’s tricky to set up a "meet-up." It was the same in northern Siberia, but I still had some amazing encounters.

So, you either need luck or some mysterious planetary alignment to make those connections, but it should work out—I’m always optimistic when traveling.

Anyway, thank you so much for your message! Marie
M
TI Tiger3 Veteran ·
Hello, so glad to be back on the forum. I’m leaving alone in mid-January for 5 weeks in Mongolia. I’d love any tips you have—transport, accommodation, you name it. I think I’m used to the cold since I used to travel in Siberia, but that’s over now. See you soon, with great pleasure. M

Good evening Marie, Your post caught my attention, and I’m really interested in your plans. I’ve ridden my motorcycle several times across Central Asia, Russia, and Mongolia (two trips, both in spring). This time, I’m planning a winter trip to Russia/Siberia and entering Mongolia via Tashata. Of course, this trip will be by 4x4, not motorcycle. Were the vehicles you used studded? And were they all parked outside? Did you travel in a convoy (like they do in Finland/Norway)? How far into Siberia did you go? Thanks so much for your answers. Thierry www.lesroutesdailleurs.fr
http://www.lesroutesdailleurs.fr

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117367592382272882283/posts
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Hi Thierry, it feels so good to be back on the forum. I don’t know when you want to leave for Siberia, but for this winter it’s probably not possible—and won’t be for a long time—but I can answer your questions. I’ve always taken public transport. Yes, they have studded tires, and at night they either leave the engines running or use electric heated blankets. By truck, I’ve gone well above the Arctic Circle and east to Magadan and surrounding villages.

No convoys—when you cross paths with another vehicle, there’s a code to signal if there’s a problem.

You know that Russian joke: one person says, *‘I’ll never go to Siberia—there are bears on every road!’* And the other replies, *‘I doubt it, because there aren’t any roads.’*

So, we drive on frozen rivers, but not later than March, or you risk ending up at the bottom of the river...

I wrote a book, and a piece of my heart stayed up there in the North. It’s over now—the country has regressed by at least 50 years.

See you soon, Marie

*Spasiba Yakutia* Kindle format by Marie Mespoulet (Author) Format: Kindle View all formats and editions During my nearly year-long journey in this northern part of Yakutia, I met so many gems—some fragile, sometimes bruised, but all precious. These are all the encounters I wanted to capture: with women, with men. I wanted the text to reflect me, the image of the solo traveler I am, with an open heart for human connections and nature.

To the difficult lives in this Russian North. To the ‘woman-to-woman’ encounters—a universal language. To the peoples of the North and their children, fighting to keep nomadism alive. To the arts and traditions of the animist peoples of the North. To the isolated horse and reindeer herders in a magnificent but unforgiving nature. To the workers—often solitary by necessity—who keep things running. To the Kamaz drivers, those huge trucks that supply the Far North on icy tracks. To the Buddhist monks and their good humor. To nature, suffering from climate change and the wounds humans inflict (mines, coal plants, permafrost eating away at homes, nuclear tests and dumps...)
M
TI Tiger3 Veteran ·
Oh, I’m reading you and I’m, how to put it... somewhere between admiring and impressed. Travel encounters are the ones that leave the deepest mark on us, forever. To keep it short, I’ve been preparing for this trip since 2022—the pandemic had other plans, so I ended up riding through Scandinavia and Svalbard by motorcycle for a month and a half (self-sufficient). Check out my travel video (it’s modest!) I was able to test my personal gear (meh), but for my motorcycle, my lack of preparation led to a few setbacks. You always learn from your mistakes. So now I’m prepping my 4x4 with those lessons in mind. I want to live at the pace of Mongolia’s winter season, and with a vehicle, that means a very specific kind of preparation. My goal is to live—and to a lesser extent, share—like Marc Alaux, experiencing the lives of these nomads of the cold while staying on the move.

I’m following your post with great interest. Thanks! Thierry

PS: Have you published your book? My recent reads: *Drunk on Steppes* by Marc Alaux, *The Siberian Epic* by Eric Hoesli, and *At the Edge of the World* by Astrid Wendlandt—just the ones that come to mind right now.
http://www.lesroutesdailleurs.fr

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117367592382272882283/posts
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Yes, I know Marc—we’ve chatted often. I left Irkutsk on the last flight; it was during COVID. Of course, for the Russians, COVID stopped at the border. Moscow airport was empty, and my arrival in Paris was the same. So, back home, what to do? Write about this wild experience, but every publishing house had signs saying, “We’re not accepting any manuscripts.” Plus, I’d never done that before. At Transboreal, Marc had recommended me, but the guy had a meltdown and tossed all the books in the dumpster. I found someone online who formats for print and digital editions, but the “publisher” was Amazon (not my cup of tea). I said okay, and my contact gave me the cover for free—there was a typo in the title, but the photo is really me fishing, and he also gave me the back cover for free. So if you check Amazon for *Spasiba Yakutia* by Marie Mespoulet, you’ll find it.

I still travel alone with anything that moves—I think it’s the best way to meet people. Of course, sometimes you think, *‘I should’ve stopped there,’* but that’s just how it goes, and you end up making great connections.

See you soon. Marie
M
PR Projecteur Regular ·
https://mariemespoulet.wixsite.com/mariemespoulet

I made this site while writing the book
M
TI Tiger3 Veteran ·
Thanks, I was supposed to meet him—he has a house near mine... I ordered your book. Thanks, see you soon! Thierry
http://www.lesroutesdailleurs.fr

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117367592382272882283/posts
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Thanks, that’s nice of you about the book—there are no photos inside by design, but you can find some on the website.

During my stays in Siberia, it was possible to chat with people—well, with female friends—but now it’s completely impossible. I never had any issues with the authorities when traveling; I think they knew exactly where I was, but now everything has really changed.

Happy reading, and hope to see you soon. Marie
M
TI Tiger3 Veteran ·
Hi Marie,

What’s also holding me back a bit is this conflict—I was in a restricted zone in 2016 (Katun River), and even with an invitation from a friend, I ended up getting arrested and interrogated (I won’t name the state agency...). When I went back in 2019, I had to go through interviews again. I’m still hesitant to take the plunge. But otherwise, I love that part of Russia—the people there are so welcoming.
http://www.lesroutesdailleurs.fr

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117367592382272882283/posts
PR Projecteur Regular ·
Hi there, I see you already have some experience, plus the people we could talk to about staying with them are taking huge risks. For me, that’s over, even though, as I told you, I left a piece of my heart there.

In autumn 2023, I spent several months mainly in Hokkaido. There are very strong ties between Ainu culture and Siberian cultures—it was fascinating. There are also huge motorcycle groups in Japan; you must know about them. (I had a BMW R75 for 15 years.)

Have a great day, Marie
M

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