Choose a route for traveling around Mongolia by car. Let's go to Mongolia

From Barnaul to the capital of the homeland of Genghis Khan - 2372.51 km. Many Altai tourists are increasingly choosing this direction for travel. We tell you what attracts Mongolia, how to get there, what to see and how much the trip will cost.

Why Mongolia?

Not everyone will dare to rush to Mongolia. Despite the relative proximity to the Altai Territory, the path ahead is not the closest. Mostly this direction is preferred by independent tourists.

Mongolia is located on a vast territory, so the distances between settlements are quite impressive, and the quality of the roadway can not always be called good. Travelers are attracted by wild, untouched by man nature, national flavor, gastronomic novelties and landscapes unusual for the eyes.

And also the endless steppes, transparent lakes, the Gobi desert, snowy peaks, the hospitality of the locals. Here, yurts are not entertainment for tourists, but ordinary life, food on a fire.

Mongolia is called the land of the blue sky for a reason. There are more than 260 sunny days a year, and in the Gobi desert it may not rain for several years.

How to get there?

If you are traveling by car from Barnaul, then it is better to split the trip into several days. For example, to get to the village of Aktash in the Altai Mountains, stop there for the night, relax. Moreover, the road to the Ulagansky district of the republic runs through stunningly beautiful places. And it is simply impossible to go without stops.

For example, you will have to overcome two passes: Seminsky and Chike-Taman, where you must take a photo as a keepsake. This also applies to the place where the Katun and Chuya merge, and a few kilometers from the village of Aktash is the famous Geyser Lake, which has become popular among tourists.

The road along the Chuisky tract is in excellent condition, but some sections are being repaired, so there may be forced stops or even traffic jams. Some travelers say that they had to stand up to four hours before they were allowed to pass.

The road along the Chuisky tract, although good, is not easy, you won’t be able to go fast, and few people want to accelerate on mountain serpentines and winding descents. So the next stop can be made, for example, in the village of Tashanta, to rest, gain strength and move on.

What documents are needed to travel to Mongolia?

You need a passport, driver's license, documents for the car. But you don't need to apply for a visa. More precisely, if you are going to stay in Mongolia for less than 30 days, then it will not be needed. If you expect that the trip will last more than a month, then a visa is needed.

Of course, the import of drugs, psychotropic drugs and explosives, weapons and ammunition, samples of animal and plant tissues, as well as pornography is prohibited. If you are going to take out furs and skins, gold, precious metals and precious stones, as well as items of cultural or artistic value from Mongolia, they must be presented at customs. The cost of each item should not exceed 500 USD; if this amount is exceeded, a duty from 10% to 100% must be paid.

These are not all restrictions, but there are not many of them. Please read them carefully before your trip.

Where to live?

Since interest in Mongolia has been increasing in recent years, there are enough offers for tourists. In cities, tourists are offered accommodation in hotels, inns, and recreation centers. Prices vary, on the Internet there are both very inexpensive offers (from 700 rubles per day), and hotel rooms for 20 thousand rubles.

But outside of Ulaanbaatar and major cities, everything is much more complicated. The only accommodation option is a yurt. Most yurt camps are owned by private individuals. There are both cheap ones and expensive ones. A range of services from basic camping accommodation to luxury options with all amenities. Meals are usually half board or full board. The cost of accommodation starts from 2000 rubles per day.

It is advisable to look for a place to spend the night in advance, having already planned the route.

What is?

National Mongolian cuisine. Everyone has a different attitude towards it. Someone recommends not relying too much on gastronomic pleasure, so as not to be disappointed. Others fall in love once and for all with tea with cream and salt, koumiss, lamb dishes. By the way, basically all meat dishes are prepared from sheep, and they also love goat meat there. Less often horse meat and beef. The food is rich and fatty. So if you are on a special diet for health reasons, it is better to take cereals with you and cook yourself.

By the way, food in a cafe will cost quite inexpensively, for example, you will have to pay about 120 rubles for a plate of noodles with lamb.

When to go?

Officially, the best season in Mongolia is from June to early September. However, travelers who have traveled at other times also say that Mongolia is always beautiful. The main thing is to take the right clothes. The more warm things, the better.

What to see?

Depending on what interests you in the first place. Some go for fishing and landscapes, others consider it necessary to visit the Gobi Desert. Mongolia is different for everyone. And this country occupies a vast territory. So you won't be able to watch it in its entirety at once. Or it will take a very long time.

But still there are places that are highly recommended to visit.

Natural sights of Mongolia: Khovsgol lake, the deepest in Central Asia. By the way, it is very popular for fishing and ecotourism. Also, travelers choose to visit the valley of the Selenga River, which flows into Lake Baikal. You can also visit the sacred mountain Bogdo-Ula, the birthplace of Genghis Khan, the surroundings of which have the status of a conservation area. And, of course, if you are primarily interested in nature, go to the Gobi Desert. This, of course, is a drop in the ocean from what you can see in Mongolia.

One lunch or dinner in an inexpensive restaurant will cost about 190 rubles. In an institution of a higher class - about 1200 rubles. Prices for food in supermarkets differ from those in Barnaul. Mongolia is more expensive. For example, a loaf of bread costs 44 rubles, and a carton of milk costs about 62 rubles, eggs (12 pieces) - 142 rubles. Vegetables and fruits are also more expensive than in Barnaul.

Accommodation, if you are not traveling with tents, is also a significant expense item.

On the way home from Vladivostok, the girl decided to drop by Mongolia for a short time. We publish her travel recipe.

Prices are current as of publication date. €1 = 2864 Mongoliantugrik

Why Mongolia?

Few travelers visit Mongolia and those who do call it one of the most spectacular countries they have ever seen. This was the first reason I went to this country. Secondly, in June there was a "House for All": a project of the Academy of Free Travel, which is periodically organized in different countries of the world. Any traveler can live in such a house for free. I was attracted by this opportunity to communicate with different travelers and learn something new from them.

Russian travelers and tourists do not spoil Mongolia very much. I met with those who lived near the border with the homeland of Genghis Khan, but had never been there. But in vain! The wanderer will have something to see in this country, and the bonus will be that most of the population speaks Russian (many in a conversation with me called Mongolia the 16th republic of the USSR).

How to get there?

The main airport of Mongolia is located near Ulaanbaatar and is called Buyant-Ukha - Genghis Khan International Airport. On average, a plane from Moscow in both directions costs € 500, the flight will take 6 hours. Citizens of Ukraine and Belarus will have to travel to Mongolia with a transfer in Moscow.

Another option is to fly to Russian cities nearby the country: Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude. Plane tickets will already cost less here: about € 200. You can already get from Irkutsk to the capital of Mongolia by train (€ 90), and from Ulaanbaatar by bus (€ 20) or also by train (€ 60).

Among European tourists, the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway is very popular - the road from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar. A train ticket will cost € 260, the journey will take a little more than four days. The train departs only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from the Yaroslavsky railway station.

Visa, currency, housing

Russians do not need a visa to Mongolia if they plan to visit this country for less than 30 days. Ukrainians and Belarusians are more fortunate: they do not need a visa if they plan to stay in this country for less than 90 days.

The same tugriks are used as the currency here. The banknotes depict the founder of the Mongol Empire - the great Genghis Khan. In general, you will meet his name or image all the time in Mongolia - in the names of hotels, shops, beer and various dishes. The Mongols still love and honor Genghis Khan very much.

“With the name or image of Genghis Khan, you will meet in the names of hotels, shops, beer and various dishes”

Most of the hotels in Mongolia are concentrated in the capital - Ulaanbaatar, here you can find accommodation for every taste and budget. So, the cheapest hostel will cost from € 3, and the “presidential suite” in the Ulaanbaatar hotel will cost € 500. In general, couchsurfing in the country is also worth looking for only in Ulaanbaatar. True, they may try to sell you some kind of tour around the country through couchsurfing - whether it be to the desert or to real nomads, do not agree. Personally, I received many such requests (I even remembered where exactly the same situation was with couchsurfing), but ordinary Mongols also wrote, who happily invited me to their home. So I stayed with a man who ran a hostel where I met some cool guys from all over the world.

Transport

You can’t write much about transport in Mongolia, simply because it is absent. You can easily get around the city and over short distances using buses, but if you want to go to the Gobi Desert or some other interesting cities, then the only option is a car (either hitchhiking or rent).

In my opinion, hitchhiking in Mongolia is wonderful, people pick up very willingly. But here you will have to face three difficulties at once - sometimes these same wonderful people will ask you for money, the second - in parts remote from Ulaanbaatar, traffic is much less busy. Once I even had to wait for one car for two hours. The third difficulty is that there are no roads at all in some parts of Mongolia.

If hitchhiking is not for you, then choose a car rental. The average price of a car for three days on bookingcar is € 300. In less well-known services, you can rent a car from € 70 per day. The most profitable option would be to rent a Loaf, since up to 8 people can fit there.

Route

I did not want to go to the Gobi Desert, because I had already been to the Sahara, so I built my route in such a way as to spend as many days as possible in the country and see as many interesting things as possible. I came to Mongolia from Ulan-Ude, and left in Kyzyl.

Ulaanbaatar(4 days)

Get ready: Ulaanbaatar is practically the only city in Mongolia in the sense in which we are used to seeing it. Here is a unique combination of Soviet skyscrapers along with small yurts standing nearby.

You can get stuck in Ulaanbaatar for a long time, especially if you have a good company around you! In the hostel where I lived on couchsurfing, there were a lot of cool foreigners. Sometimes I could spend half a day without leaving the house and talking with the guys. It's amazing how foreigners trudge through Mongolia! Perhaps we should adopt this? On my last night at the hostel, my host cooked a ram's head for all of us, a real Mongolian delicacy that was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. In addition to the meat itself, for the first time I ate sheep's eyes and brain. It sounds terrible, but it's actually very tasty and worth a try!

“In addition to the meat itself, for the first time I ate sheep's eyes and brain. It sounds terrible, but it's actually very tasty."

In addition to hanging out in a hostel, Ulaanbaatar has a lot to offer for the cultural traveler as well. Start from the central square of Genghis Khan, where there is a monument to the national hero of Mongolia - Sukhbaatar. From here you can walk to National Museum of Mongolian History (Juulchin 1). It is worth coming here to look at the life of the Mongols from prehistoric times to the present day, the entrance to the museum is € 5.

From the history museum you can go to another museum - dinosaurs (Independence Square, 5th Khoroo, Chingeltei District/Chingeltei dureg 5th horoo) , entrance - a little less than € 2. On the territory of Mongolia, scientists have found many remains of dinosaurs and you can get acquainted with them in this museum (these are the bones of real dinosaurs!).

When you have finished your acquaintance with dinosaurs, go to Winter Palace of the Bogdy Gegen (Khoroo 11), where you can see the conditions in which the last emperor of Mongolia lived. The walk from the center will take about half an hour, but it is better to go on foot, because there are terrible traffic jams in Ulaanbaatar. The ticket price for the museum is €3.

From the palace you will be within easy reach of the monument to the military friendship of the Soviet and Mongolian troops Zaisan (Mount Zaisan) . From here it will be great to meet the sunset and see from above the whole of Ulaanbaatar.

Having enjoyed the historical part of Ulaanbaatar, the second day can be safely devoted to the Buddhist aspect. Start from the largest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia and from the first religious center of the country - Gandantegchenlin Monastery. More than 600 monks live here and various Buddhist rituals are held. The monastery became famous, among other things, thanks to a hollow 26-meter Buddha statue made of copper and gold. Entrance here will cost you € 1.25. In addition to this monastery, there are many small datsans in Ulaanbaatar, but they are less interesting for the traveler.

A separate relaxed day can be allocated for shopping. For this, come to Naran tul market (Khoroo 14). Here you can first of all buy for a further trip around Mongolia, as well as just buy national souvenirs. Among other things, here you can find dinosaur bones, products made from camel and yak wool, and national dresses. Beware: pickpockets operate in the market, so keep all your belongings in front of you and never lose sight of them!

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park(2 days)

We spent a little time in the city and that's enough, it's time to go to nature! Fortunately, in Mongolia there is only one nature, as well as many national parks. You can get to Gorkhi Terelj by bus, which will cost a little less than a euro, it takes about two hours.

The park is very beautiful: camels themselves graze between the mountains, and someone even offers to ride them. The greatest popularity of the park was brought by the unusually shaped rocks created by nature. Also inside the park is Aryabal Buddhist Temple where you should definitely look! This is a place of power, a place where the soul and body rest. During the ascent to the temple, you will have to overcome 100 white and 8 black steps, at this time you will be surrounded by wooden tablets on which Buddhist wisdom is written.

You can stay right there in the park. Now a lot of tourist bases have been built here, which offer recreation, including in the national yurt (it will cost from € 30). I relied on chance and while hitchhiking I met a wonderful family who allowed me to live in their yurt.

I advise you to combine a trip to the national park with a trip to statue of Genghis Khan in Tsonzhin-Boldog. This is the tallest equestrian statue in the world. In addition to viewing the statue from the outside, you can go inside, where a museum dedicated to Genghis Khan will be waiting for you, and you can also climb to the observation deck at the top of the statue. Entrance inside € 3.

"Huge dunes and a whistling wind - this is what will make you feel like in a real desert"

Elsen-Tasarkhay National Park (1 day)

If you, like me, do not want to spend a lot of time and money visiting the Gobi, go to the Elsen-Tasarkhay park, where you can see a piece of the desert. It takes about four hours to get here from Ulaanbaatar, and public transport no longer runs here, so you have two options: hitchhiking or renting a car. Huge dunes and a whistling wind - this is what will make you feel like you are in a real desert. At night, the stars shine brighter than ever. To see all this, take a tent with you, or ask for an overnight stay with local nomads.

Kharkhorin (1 day)

From the park it will be convenient to get to Kharkhorin, the ancient capital of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century (which used to be called Karakorum). Despite its former grandeur, today the city looks like an ordinary village and in general there is nothing to do here. It will be interesting here for those who want to see the place where the Golden Horde became and the path of Genghis Khan began. Here it is worth visiting the ruins of the ancient city of Karakoram, of which, unfortunately, there is little left, to look at the 16th-century monastery of Erdene-Dzu. They also like to come here to look at the huge stone phallus sticking out of the ground. The phallus is directed towards the hollow, which the locals call the female womb. Locals associate several legends with this peculiar “monument”. According to them, a childless woman should sit on the phallus, praying that she would have children - and then, they say, the problem will be solved. Another legend says that there used to be a monastery here. The phallus became a reminder to the monks to learn how to subdue their flesh, instead of running on dates with the girls from the neighboring village.

Ulaang (2 days)

Since the Mongolian border with Russia is closed at this checkpoint on weekends, I had to stay longer in Mongolia. Ulaangom is a small, unremarkable town where Russians often go to buy Chinese goods. There are hotels where you can stay for € 2, but I set up my tent next to the river that flows outside the city. There were also "summer dachas" - the yurts of the Mongols, and also whole herds of cows, horses and yaks grazed.

Stop here to chat with the cute Mongols, try your hand as a shepherd herding cattle (I was allowed to ride a horse for free, chasing slow cows!), And just take a break from the big trip just made in Mongolia.

life hacks

It is not worth buying a tour to visit a real Mongolian yurt. The Mongols are very friendly people, and they will invite you just like that to their home if they like you.

Do not expect anything interesting from Mongolian supermarkets, basically all the same food that we are used to seeing on the shelves of our supermarkets is found here. For national delicacies, follow straight to cafes or to the market.

The main product that the Mongols eat is meat. It will be very difficult for a vegetarian here, so take a couple of kilograms of vegetables with you: in Mongolia they are worth their weight in gold.

You can come to Mongolia without a reason, or you can come with it. The main reason to come here is the biggest national festival in Mongolia, Naadam (in 2019 it will be from July 11 to 15). Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery will be waiting for you here, all this is very impressive.

Even if you are going to Mongolia in the summer, take warm clothes with you. It can be very cold at night in the desert and steppe.

Budget for one person for 10 days:

Food - € 25

Museums – € 5

Transport – € 2

Souvenirs – € 6

Accommodation - couchsurfing and tent

Total: € 38

Photo:

The purpose of the route is to cross Mongolia from west to east, getting to know this wonderful country so that from Altai you can get to Lake Baikal. There was only a week for everything, so it was decided to take the easiest route - the South.

• 6 days

• length ~2000 km
• photo report and a story about the route -

The purpose of the route was to cross Mongolia from west to east, getting to know this wonderful country so as to get from Altai to Lake Baikal. There was only a week for everything, so it was decided to take the easiest route - the South.

Border Russia - Mongolia

This route involves the entrance to Mongolia across the border in the village of Tashanta Republic of Altai, and departure from the village of Kyakhta Republic of Buryatia. You can drive in reverse order, there are also a number of other border points between the two countries.

Working mode each point is different and may change, therefore, to plan a trip, it is better to clarify the time and days of work of the points. To do this, you can search for the latest news on the border site by entering "Tashanta" or another checkpoint in the search. The point in Kyakhta works without breaks and weekends, but changes are possible there, just in case, you should also look on the rosgranitsa.ru website. The point in Tashanta is often closed for several days due to holidays on the Mongolian side, be careful when planning your trip.

Documentation necessary to cross the border: for Russian citizens, one foreign passport is enough, other documents and visas for up to 30 days are not required. Citizens of other countries, including the CIS, need a visa. Pass through the border only on transport. The driver needs to have a vehicle registration certificate and a driver’s license with him, and ordinary Russian driving licenses will do; in Mongolia, at the time of writing the article (2016), an international driver’s license was not required. Russian vehicle insurance is not needed in Mongolia, where you will have to pay their own (1,500 rubles in 2016), plus transport tax (500 rubles), - both will be sold to you stubbornly immediately after crossing the border. At the border checkpoint in Mongolia, you will be charged another 50 rubles. for sanitization, which, by the way, may not be done at all, simply by writing out a receipt.

Our impressions of crossing the border

Since the queue at the border in Tashanta was occupied on Sunday evening, the border was quickly passed. Both sides took about 4 hours in total. On our side, they work clearly, everything is intuitive, if you get confused, they will always tell you where to go and what to do. Things were not checked much, we took several bags and passed them through an X-ray, all other things (the whole car to the eyeballs, including the roof rack) did not turn back much, they just examined the car, asking to open everything that opens. The main thing is to answer questions normally and do what they say, then there will be no problems other than waiting in lines. On the Mongolian side it is more difficult to figure out what's what, and it's more difficult to ask - they are not so good with the Russian language, sometimes it's better to speak English. But even there, if you pay attention, everything goes pretty quickly, do not hesitate to ask where to go and what to do. The border in Kyakhta is much more thoughtful from the Mongolian side, and the round-the-clock operation makes it possible to cross the border on a night when there are practically no people. On our side, we, as citizens of Russia, were let through without a queue.

Roads of Mongolia

The southern route is one of the three main highways running from west to east, and it is the southern route that is considered the most paved. Of the 2000 km, about 1100 km are asphalt, as of 2016. Roads are being built in large sections. But nevertheless, this is Mongolia, and often the main path is a dozen roads rolled across the steppe, especially if you turn off the main highway. The roads are in different conditions: some are relatively good, you can go fast, but most of them have a so-called comb - it’s not very pleasant to drive along it, but there is a choice, and you can often find a good track, the main thing is not to stray from the right direction, as some branches lead to distant yurts or to completely different valleys.

It is very difficult to navigate by signs, it is better to use a navigator and maps. There are fords on the Southern Way, in July they presented absolutely no difficulty, even for cars, but it is clear that the rivers overflow during floods. The new asphalt in the western part is very good, but the one closer to Ulaanbaatar is rather tricky: now and then in the middle of the road there are holes of decent size, you should always be on the alert. Most of the asphalt roads are paid, there are checkpoints at the exit from the cities, usually they take 1000 tugriks.

On the main highway, the traffic is relatively lively, you can hope for help if necessary. Mongols living far from Ulaanbaatar most often drive prepared Kruzaks and, I must say, drive famously, carrying 4 spare wheels with them. But if you drive a little further from the main road, you can not meet a single car at all for a long time.

Asphalt sections on the Southern Route, Mongolia in 2016

Navigation

Throughout the journey, we used the maps.me mobile application. All the necessary cards were downloaded in advance, so the phone worked in airplane mode, without jumps to roaming. The application is convenient, fast, correctly led even to the addresses of Ulaanbaatar - in general, there are no complaints, we were satisfied. They planned to purchase a paper map, but found it only in Ulaanbaatar, when there was no longer a need. We went all the way with only one application on the smartphone.

Nutrition

• Water. On the Southern Route, we advise you to stock up on water at every opportunity. There will be lakes, but many of them are salty and the access to them is not always easy, and the rivers are mostly dirty. A couple of times we tried to draw water in rare wells where local nomads take water, but we used it only for cooking on gas and for technical purposes - it’s better to get used to this water (there is a fine suspension and an unusual smell). For drinking on the road, they used only purchased bottled water, which, by the way, becomes more expensive as you move to more arid areas.
• Food. Of course, there are quite decent shops in the cities of Mongolia, there are even supermarkets. But we, as true fans of autonomy, even in Russia bought food according to the principle of a tourist layout for 2 weeks + a supply of "nishtyakov". So we did not have to spend time in stuffy cities looking for provisions, and we could stop to eat anywhere we wanted. The only thing we really lacked was fresh vegetables and fruits - they are very rare in stores, or they are very expensive. Next time we will boldly take with us a few kilos of tomatoes and cucumbers - the border guards do not find fault with this. As for the local cuisine, there is it, along the way there are cafes and yurts with signs in the Mongolian language, but you should not expect good service anywhere other than Ulaanbaatar.
• Gas. Again, there are no trees in the South direction, so there is no firewood, which means you can’t count on an evening with a fire at all. We rely only on gas or gasoline burners and take fuel with a margin, again there were no problems with it at the border.

Overnight stays

Tent or car is the most popular and often the only option for overnight stays in Mongolia. There are, of course, guest yurts where you can ask for it, and in the towns there is something like hotels, but the amenities there are dubious (with the exception of Ulaanbaatar), so it is much more pleasant and interesting to spend the night in the endless Mongolian steppes. The main thing is to stock up on water, food and fuel for cooking, so you can leave the knurled road at any time and set up camp. We really liked to call on some mountain to make the view more interesting.

Money

Money in Mongolia is Tugriks. Currency, as we read, can be changed in every city. But it turns out that not every bank is engaged in the exchange. And, to be honest, for us this task turned into a real quest: in the city of Ulgiy, the doors of the treasured bank were closed right in front of our noses, and in Khovd we spent more than 2 hours going from bank to bank. In general, it would probably be worth exchanging at least some of the cash at the border with annoying money changers so that there is money at least for gasoline, since rubles are not accepted.

Language

Mongols do not speak Russian. Sometimes we were lucky in school English. Often had to explain in sign language.

Fuel

There are enough gas stations on the Southern Route, we refueled on average every half a tank. The cost of gasoline is 2 times more expensive than in Russia. I had a spare can with me but never used it. At gas stations, mainly 92 and diesel, with 95, and even more so 98, there is a problem, it is only in Ulaanbaatar. We refueled at Petrovis gas stations, chose it because it looked civilized, the gasoline was normal, and it was decided to refuel only at the stations of this brand. Probably other gas stations are also normal, since local, by the way, expensive cars also refueled at them. The procedure for refueling is slightly different: an employee came out to us, poured gasoline himself, and we paid cash with the same person.

Car preparation for Mongolia

Puncture wheels- a common thing on Mongolian roads, so a spare wheel is required, and two are more reliable. Owners of road tires with a narrow profile need to be ready for adventure. In settlements, you can fix a puncture, local tire shops are hiding under the sign “arc zasvar.

Before the trip, carefully inspect the suspension of your car, or rather, go through a good MOT in some trusted car service.

Another feature to consider is dust. When traveling on the roads of Mongolia, be prepared for dust to be everywhere. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to provide for the possibility of closing the cabin air intakes and other possible slots in the car.

In general, there is nothing supernatural about traveling around Mongolia by car if you know your car and its weaknesses at least at a basic level. For example, my Suzuki's weak link is the engine drive belt, which is exactly what whistled towards the end of the trip, but knowing about the problem, I had a spare belt with me. By the way, this was the only additional part I took with me on a trip, but next time I will take a couple more parts with me for more confidence, which I recommend to you.

Snorkel, winch, power bumpers and all other off-road attributes are completely optional on this particular route. All this can come in handy if you are going to go, for example, into the depths of northern Mongolia away from the main highways. On the southern path, if desired, you can drive by any car.

Behind us lined up of dozens of cars about 200 meters from the border. We made sure that our cars had not been thrown into a ditch and had not punctured tires and mentally thanked the border guard.
At 9:00, the border opened, and we drove the first batch of cars right after two buses that squeezed through the oncoming lane. As it turned out, we drove very successfully - immediately after us, the border was closed for cars and fuel trucks were allowed to bypass traffic jams. It cost everyone else a couple of hours of wasted time over and above the normal queue. By the way, all gasoline in Mongolia is either ours or Chinese. The attitude towards Chinese in Mongolia is approximately the same as we have towards everything Chinese - “fu, this is Chinese gasoline, go to that gas station over there, even if there is no 95th, but the gasoline is good (read, Russian)”
So, we drove to the border. Looking ahead, the whole procedure took us 2 hours - about 1 hour with a little to our border (from the moment we entered the checkpoint zone), then we had to drive through a clean zone of about 20 km, where you can’t stop, then we stood a little before entering the Mongolian checkpoint, filled out paperwork in Mongolian (with duplication in English - this is important, because before travelers complained that these forms were not translated at all - now you can understand at least something there) and crossed the Mongolian border two times faster than ours.

I'll tell you more about crossing the border. Starts 6 cars. They stand near three large metal tables, on which it will be necessary to shake out absolutely everything from the cars. Well, everything! The glove compartment was only allowed not to turn out. From the beginning - passport control, then you return to the car, which, in front of you, is searched in the most intent way with dogs, they ask you to open the hood and ask on-duty questions about drugs. I had a gas canister, I had to throw it away. There were no problems with the rest. There were 3 cans of 20 liters in the trunk, only one of which was full. I took out all 3 and put them side by side. If my memory serves me right, then with all the severity of the procedure, no one even approached them. The secrets under the seats and under the floor in Kug were also not found and examined. In fact, on our part, everything is more or less simple and clear, and if anything, they will prompt, the border guards are friendly and talkative. A small nuance - this border is only automobile and it is impossible to cross it on foot, therefore, in front of the border there are people who ask to get into a car to cross the border. I read that it is extremely unsafe - the people are different, up to drug trafficking, so they didn’t take anyone, although there were kind of decent-looking Europeans - the most dangerous type - you don’t expect a dirty trick from them)
With us in the queue for passport control was a local, who just earns by taxing across the border. He told us that we almost got into the Naadam holiday, when the border simply closes for 4 days! The holiday is big. We did not feel it, because. they were mostly on the road, but they revered that the main attributes of the holiday were horse racing, archery tournaments and traditional wrestling. The fight, by the way, is very peculiar - there are no borders of the ring - everything happens on the football fields (from what we saw on TV), there are no time limits, or rather, if there are any, then we used to switch the channel)) The men are standing, pushing and try to grab each other's meager items of clothing. This differs from sumo at least in that the wrestlers are quite athletic and not so fat, although pot-bellied. In general, an amateur spectacle)
At the border, the following picture was observed - a thorn and a sandy strip for traces go beyond the horizon as far as the eye can see. We look and see that a herd of cows is trudging through the border through some kind of gate. And damn it, they obviously don’t show passports and luggage to anyone)) We asked the border guards about this, and they said that yes, it is allowed to graze cattle in the 20 km zone between the borders within the framework of intergovernmental agreements) In short, cows migrate calmly)