Because of a flight delay from Seoul (Inchon Airport), we arrived at the Chinggis Khaan Airport so late that we chose to nap at the airport for the couple of hours before we had to catch the early flight to Ulgii. Some riders had arrived in Ulaanbaatar a day or two earlier in order to look around UB. For those who spent the night at the airport, Ulgii was our first view of Mongolia.

Ulgii is the capital of Bayan-Ulgii, the westernmost aimag (province) in Mongolia, and is only a short distance from both Russia to the north and China to the south . There is a paved road northwest to Russia (about 100 km), and an unpaved road southeast to China (about 180 km). Western Mongolia is inhabited mostly by ethnic Kazakhs, who speak either a native tongue (different than Mongolian) or Russian. The alphabet for both the Kazakhs and Mongols is Cyrillic.

After a brief rest and useless attempt to shake off jet lag and sleep deprivation, we headed to choose and test our motorbikes shortly after lunch. The next day, Sunday, we spent a long day riding a long loop out of Ulgii that included the village of Tsengel. Tom Nelson avoided a near disastrous dive over a cliff, and two riders had flat tires. Flats were to be a common occurrence on the trip due mostly to lower tire pressures and sharp rocks, leading to pinching of the tubes.

Google Maps link to Duman Hotel, Ulgii:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/48%C2%B057'56.7%22N+89%C2%B058'05.1%22E/@48.96575,89.9659013,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d48.96575!4d89.96809?hl= en