Mountain Biking 2 - Ulaanbaatar - Mongolia

I found a ride that a local had done, and downloaded the GPX to my cycle computer. It was a 75 km loop, and we ended up climbing 1,000 metres. The whole ride took us five hours.

Riding past Sukhbaatar Square.

We started quite early, so the traffic wasn't too bad.

It wasn't long before our route took us off the main roads into what is called a "ger district".

 Half of Mongolia's population lives in Ulaanbaatar, and half of Ulaanbaatar's population live in these ger districts.

As you can see, the riding was a little rough.

We passed our first Ovoo -- a shrine made of piled rocks.

They're called a ger district for a reason -- this is a ger tent. Most of the buildings were more permanent, though -- kind of like wooden shacks. I'm guessing living in a tent wouldn't be much fun in winter, when it can get to 40 degrees below zero.

We passed this enormous cemetary. I couldn't photograph more than a small part of it, it was so massive.

 

A roadside stall selling vegetables. Pete noticed that not many people grow vegetables in Mongolia -- the diet is mainly based on meat and dairy products.

There are a lot of ger districts around Ulaanbaatar. These motorcycles have replaced the horse.

It wasn't long before the seal ran out, and we were back on rough gravel roads.

At the top was another Ovoo. I was excited to see those blue scarves, which are called "Kadags" -- the blue represents the sky, and those scarves are an important spiritual element for Mongolians.

The first big climb of the day. The descent down the other side was fun. 

Once down, we began to ride along the valley.

Another Ovoo.

We passed another ger -- these are typical summer dwellings for farmers.

The path got a little vague in places.We stopped for food, and this wee girl came to say hello.

After about five kilometres, we turned and headed back up a side valley. This is about halfway through our ride.  

Getting familiar with no fences, and livestock just wandering.

Starting to climb back up the hill. At the top, we could finally see Ulaanbaatar again.

There was another Ovoo at the top -- complete with abandoned crutches.

We were back on sealed roads, but I was glad I was riding a full-suspension mountain bike -- it was really bumpy! 

Back in the city at last, and one last mad dash through the traffic back to the hotel. 80% of Mongolians are Buddhist. We passed this amazing-looking monastery.

It was a 75 km loop, and we ended up climbing 1,000 metres. The whole ride took us five hours.