Hazards of travel in Mongolia

Mongolia is indeed a challenge to operate in. The country is having difficulty adjusting to a market economy and it will take years to improve. We do not wish to encourage travelers to come to Mongolia for a luxurious holiday. Mongolia cannot provide this at the present time. All we can say is that we have learnt to cope with such problems.

An active holiday in Mongolia cannot be compared to anything else. As with the constraints in Mongolian society today, most problems can usually be dealt with.. During our ten years of operations, we have had trips impacted due to excessive rain (1) excessive heat (1) and excessive numbers of flies (1). Probabilities for these to actually happen are small.

There will be times, when clients will have to wait, while staff is getting things organized.

1. AIR SERVICES

Delays may be due to rain, which affects the interior grass fields we use, or the plane may simply be needed somewhere else that day! The airline - MIAT - really needs hard currency, which in theory helps Mongolians to be able to travel as well. Possible delays require us to be flexible and we have built buffer days into the itineraries covering interior areas. There are no regular flights whatsoever to most areas in which we travel. In the interior areas, it will be difficult to know of delays in advance, due to the limited radio- and telecommunications available.

In 1995-2002, our air services functioned very well and these are indeed improving every year. Chartered helicopter and chartered small planes are available.

2. VEHICLES

Most Mongolian vehicles are Russian and most of them suffer from a lack of spare parts. These cost hard currency. Breakdowns of jeeps are frequent but the drivers are masters at fixing them on the spot. And they are prepared. Buses cannot usually be used far outside of Ulaanbaatar (except for the Gobi) due to the lack of suitable roads and obstacles like river-crossings.

We cope with this problem by using motorized transport as little as possible. In the Gobi, a bus is used to and from the start and end points of treks. All Nomadic Journeys vehicles carry spare parts, and are serviced in a garage before going out on any field trip.

3. EXCESS WATER

Mongolia is thought of as vast desert areas and steppes. This is of course true, but one percent of the entire territory consists of lakes, streams and rivers. It usually does not rain much, however every year there are serious floods in some corners of the country. Even the Gobi can experience serious floods, and the soils become to soft to provide any support for our vehicles. And yet in others, there may be drought, as experienced in 1996.

Sudden continuous rains are always unexpected, and wooden bridges may be washed away. Rivers swell quickly. If this happens, impassable rivers may cut off the areas we want to cover. Rerouting is always possible, and we will just change the direction of our journey.

4. VEGETARIANS

We are used to catering for vegetarians, although this is probably the one country on Earth, where there not is a single one resident. A holiday in Mongolia is not a gastronomic experience for our vegetarian members, but we manage to cater for them and also to catch a fish or two underway. If you eat neither fish nor eggs, you are in trouble in Mongolia! The vegetarian food, prepared by our cooks, has been rated as being better than expected, but frankly not much can be expected in a country like Mongolia. It is clearly acceptable. In general, our cooks and food provided is rated as very good.

5. CHINESE VISAS

You will be refused to board the plane from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing if you do not have a valid Chinese visa. For American and UK citizens the passports are stamped as en entry even if in transit at the airport in Beijing. Also, if you depart from China to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, you will officially leave China and enter back, causing a need for a double entry. If you also depart for Mongolia you need three entries. Please be careful about this, and consular officers have also been known to do mistakes, so also please check that the validity dates cover the time you need to visit or transit China.

6. FLIES

In 2000-2002 exceptionally large numbers of flies have emerged in most forested areas during June or early July, when there have been extremely hot weather, well above 30 degrees. This never happened in the past, having normal summers, with frost some time. However the past few summers have been more warm than normal and winters have generally been milder with more snow, so survival rates for insects have been high. There will be no flies problem with normal summer temperatures (Ulaanbaatar have an average July temperature of 14 degrees centigrade), normal winds etc. Only during days of extreme heat and little wind.

7. SPRING FOREST FIRES

In northern Mongolia and in Russia, there have been numerous spring forest fires over the last couple of years. It has become a regular feature, mostly due to local poor people venturing into the forests in search of antlers and other forest produce. If conditions are dry in the spring, e.g. little snow in the forests, blazes may be started. Regardless how big international media have reported these, it have not in any way impacted our summer trips.

8. ZUD, WINTER DISASTER

Many people have heard about severe winter problems, due to extreme cold. Usually, such problems are derived from overgrazing, larger herds and more nomads' dependant on livestock breeding. More than can be accommodated. Dry summers, and over grazing, and when a lot of snow falls, it prevents livestock from grazing. Zud is a Mongolian word that describes such problems. If the livestock do not have enough fat from summer grazing period, and if non-zud areas are overgrazed animals will die, thus affecting local families. Usually it is in the end of the winter period that this will surface. Although many nomads will know already in September what winter to expect. Zud disasters are variable, and some zud areas are normal in any winter. Any zud problems will not affect the way you can travel in Mongolia in the summer.

9. QUARANTINES

Mongolian authorities are rather efficient in closing off entire areas where any kind of epidemic has surfaced. Livestock may develop Foot and Mouth disease (do not affect humans). There are also yearly cases of Plague, and one summer there was a modest outbreak of cholera, imported from China. In our ten years of operations, we have not had to re route any time. If it happens, we need to re route your itinerary to elsewhere. Unlike other countries, nomadic life and vast landscapes, is available in different corners of the country, so there are alternatives.

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