July 9 Silk Way Rally 2019

Today we went to see the Silk Way Rally just outside Ulaanbaatar. This was not something we ever planned to do. As we were approaching the border with Mongolia, I (Anna) saw a billboard advertising festivities after the rally in a town in Buryatia. We decided to investigate it and found out that the rally would start in Irkutsk and would then continue to Ulan-Ude and Ulannbaatar and then further South and West through Mongolia to end up in China. We were trying to find the route of the rally to identify where we could have the best views, but it seems to have been kept secret from public. Only two points were indicated on the main website: in Darkhan that we passed on July 5 (no way we were going back there!) and West of Ulaanbaatar - this is where we headed today. The first point marked the start of the special section of the route and the second (where we went) was the finish of that section. There were some spectators that went to a nearby hill to take a more spectacular view, but we decided to stay at the official viewpoint.

As we were waiting for the competitors to arrive, Pablo fixed the tarpoline cover of our roof each and I went for a walk in the steppe to see local hamsters/mice, birds and crickets. About two hours after we arrived, first motorcycles appeared, then a quad bike, then cars, buggies and trucks. Despite us being at the finishing line, all of them were still moving very fast and we also could see them driving in the distance through our binoculars. After watching many vehicles to cross the finish line, we decided to go to the place where they were stopping to have a closeup view. Pablo even chatted up with a Spanish buggy team of two gentlemen seemingly after their 50s. There was a British buggy duo that also looked after their 50s, so that must be a real passion!

Traffic in Ulaanbaatar - what a nightmare! Going out and into the city took us ages! Not only there are too many cars, they make life miserable by changing lanes all the time. It must be national sport.