Photo by Mark Agnor

Inform Polis journalists experienced all the pros and cons of the first days of the visa-free regime between Russia and Mongolia

The event, which has been waiting for about 20 years, happened last week. Mongolia has become a visa-free country. On November 14, an intergovernmental agreement on mutual trips came into force. And on this day, one of the first to cross the border under the new rules was a group of journalists from Inform Polis.

The purpose of our first visa-free visit to Mongolia, we decided to choose not Ulaanbaatar, but Darkhan. This large city can be reached and returned in one day. On the way there is also the town of Sukhe-Bator and the famous Altan-Bulag shopping area. However, so far they are not of interest. Sukhe-Bator is an industrial station town, the village of Altan-Bulag has not yet turned into the second "Manchuria".

Requirements at our border

On the morning of November 14, there was no excitement at the border crossing in Kyakhta. Near the checkpoint, a dozen cars had accumulated on both sides, and almost all of them had Mongolian license plates. Crossing the border did not take long. Our border guard at the checkpoint looked at the passports and put stamps. At the customs control, too, everything went quickly. We were only warned about what can and cannot be imported into Russia.

It turns out that there is a limit on the transport of alcohol. One person can bring no more than three liters of alcohol. It is forbidden to import animal products, so try to eat up the incomparable Mongolian meat before returning. However, the famous Mongolian cottage cheese can be transported. The main thing is that it be in a "shop" package and for personal use.

There was a hitch with the car. It turned out that when crossing the border for the first time, the owner of the car must show the registration certificate and demonstrate the engine and body numbers. All this took about half an hour. We attributed such a quick passage through our border to the fact that November 14 was a working day. Passenger buses are usually inspected much longer. At the same time, for some reason, passengers are locked up in a stuffy room before inspection and are forbidden to talk on a mobile phone. After the inspection, they are not allowed to go out onto the porch. You can not even smoke, although there are cigarette butts in the urn. It remains a mystery who smokes there after all.

Money, changers and insurance

Compared to our side, the passage through the Mongolian checkpoint was swift. It was only necessary to fill out an immigration card, go to the window and get a stamp in the passport. Hello Mongolia! The first convenience that we do not have is that you can immediately exchange rubles for tugriks at the Mongolian checkpoint. There are several exchange offices in the building. On November 14, the exchange rate was as follows: 1 ruble - 39 tugriks. When exchanged, your 5,000th bill can turn into a plump wad of Mongolian money that barely fits into your wallet. First impression - I'm a millionaire! Grab a bigger wallet, but rather buy it in Mongolia.

By the way, we warn you: there are no metal coins in Mongolia, only banknotes. Someone prefers to change money at checkpoints so that they have something to dine on the road and buy cigarettes or water. Others - on the street, where dozens of money changers scurry about. Here the exchange rate is 1 to 41. This is higher than in a bank. But at the same time, you will be dealing with a horde of tough guys in worn leather jackets, similar to brothers from the 90s. By the way, you won’t be able to drive past the “changers in leather jackets”, when leaving the checkpoint you need to get insurance for the car (2000 rubles of insurance was taken from our minibus). Just at this time, street money changers get into the car or bus.

Camels and an insidious traffic cop

Altan-Bulag is not impressive yet. Instead of a thriving shopping area - a row of dull houses with signs in Russian and Mongolian, unfinished building blocks, faded cafes and eateries. The only thing that reminds of the emergence of a trading city are several car repair centers. They say you can get your car repaired fairly cheaply.

But the highway from here to Ulaanbaatar is decent. The roads are straight as an arrow, the asphalt is almost without potholes and pits. The Mongols monitor the quality of the track - road workers and equipment often came across on the roadsides. Sukhe-Bator flashed outside the window. As we were told, this is an industrial city with huge technical territories and boiler houses - the twins of our CHPP-1.

In general, during the entire trip does not leave a persistent feeling of deja vu. The landscapes are very reminiscent of the Tugnui Valley and our suburbs. Outside the window flashed the Mongolian villages "Istok" and "Left Bank", "Melkombinat" with the same elevator columns. The fact that we are still in Mongolia is only reminiscent of large herds of obese animals. Especially camels.

The second stop was organized by the Mongolian traffic cops. It turns out that you need to pay "road tax" from time to time. Right in the middle of the road there is a booth with a barrier, where they will demand about 500 tugriks. We write approximately because the prices differ. With one of our cars, they demanded payment only in one direction, with the other, which went a little later, they took more on the way back. Immediately at the checkpoint, we encountered the impudence of a Mongolian traffic cop. The uniformed man inspected the car and pointed to a crack in the glass. A long sentence in Mongolian followed. Apparently, it meant that it was indecent to drive here with such glass. Then the man in uniform switched to Russian, saying very clearly: “200 rubles!”. Arguing with the local law enforcement officer is fraught. Therefore, they gave him 200 rubles, they did not receive receipts, but they moved on.

Darkhan - a city of contrasts

After an hour and a half drive, the city of Darkhan arose, looking like our Gusinoozersk. But with their own characteristics. The outskirts will be the first to meet you with rows of lambskin buyers and firewood sellers. Then residential high-rise buildings, roundabouts and pretty good highways. There are a lot of cars in Darkhan, as in all of Mongolia, and they all honk continuously. Due to the abundance of pedestrians, cars move slowly. Drivers follow the rules, do not threaten each other with fists. Everything is decent, noble.

Another interesting point is that there is no public transport in Darkhan. For the whole day we did not see a regular bus, or even a minibus with a traditional "lens". But in Darkhan there are many taxis that are popular - many locals, leaving the store right there, without haggling (!), sit down in a taxi. It is, by our standards, ridiculously funny - from 1 to 2 thousand tugriks, in rubles - from 25 to 50. This is amazing, given that gasoline in Mongolia is more expensive than ours. When converted to our money, the price of 1 liter of the 92nd is about 40 rubles and more.

Therefore, when entering Mongolia, we advise you to thoroughly refuel on the Russian side, near Kyakhta. In general, Darkhan is a city of contrasts. On the one hand, beautiful recreation areas, roundabouts and expensive cars. On the other hand, there are sheep skins on the roadsides, garbage in the yards due to the lack of bins. Young people walk along the sidewalks, either dressed in trendy clothes with iPhones, or dressed in cheap down jackets.

Posharpannye "Soviet" five-story building and next to the building of banks and shopping centers made of glass and concrete. It is strange that it is difficult to exchange rubles for tugriks in the banks of Darkhan. And in shopping centers there are practically no national products. On the shelves of boutiques "dominance" of South Korea and China. In some places there is Mongolian goods - cashmere, leather, camel wool products, yak wool socks and gloves, carpets, felt boots and slippers are hung. But the cost of things is almost the same as in Ulan-Ude.

There are almost no souvenir shops in Darkhan where one could buy a tourist trinket. Only in one boutique saw magnets. But the price "bites" - they asked for 15,000 tugriks (almost 400 rubles) for the magnet. Perhaps this is because European tourists hardly go to Darkhan. But the national product can be found in grocery supermarkets. Here you can see the famous stew, dry cottage cheese, bows, sausages.

Mongolian lunch

There are not so many eateries where you can taste real Mongolian food in the city. There is a cafe. But in fact, most of them are beer eateries. The assortment is appropriate: beer (we note that it is inexpensive) and snacks. True, they serve a lot of tea. You order a glass, and they bring a huge mug.

Mongolian pubs have one more fundamental difference. Almost all of them are karaoke bars. Apparently, the Mongols are very fond of singing. By the way, when we entered one of the restaurants, we heard powerful discordant singing from the booths. Real Mongolian cuisine was already found at the exit from Darkhan. Note that the service is not bad - they immediately allocated a booth, brought a menu with pictures, which made the choice an affordable affair.

And when they brought it, they gasped. The dishes were not just big. They were huge! It is impossible to eat this entire product range alone, which includes a mountain of fried lamb, Mongolian poses, pasties, lettuce and potatoes. So, when you go to a restaurant, order one dish for two or even three. There is another good point - huge portions are incredibly cheap!

"Duty free" on the castle

The return trip took about an hour and a half. It was frustrating that the duty free shop Duty free shop is open only until 18.00, although it seems to be around the clock. However, there is no such store on our side. In general, the Mongolian checkpoint was met in a friendly and, one might even say, sloppy manner. We were offered to open the gate ourselves and not to forget to "close the door behind us." This is what we did, having personally “opened and closed” the border for ourselves.

But the Russian checkpoint took our return seriously. Again inspection, running service dogs, questions, the light of lanterns and a strict border guard. She was also surprised by our short visit to Mongolia.

What was the purpose of the visit? Did you go there for lunch? she asked with undisguised curiosity.

To be honest, that's how it was. In total, the general inspection and verification took us an hour and a half. But, we emphasize, it was a working day on November 14th. The second editorial car, which was returning later, came under a strict inspection.

We stood at the checkpoint for nine hours. The queue was at the exit from the territory of Mongolia, - says our photographer Mark Agnor.

City of Prospects

So far, the results are as follows: now Darkhan is absolutely not ready to receive tourists. There are few shopping malls in the city. The product is exclusively the same as in the cheap Ulan-Ude markets. There are things of high quality, but their price is high. So far, there is no reason to go to Darkhan for goods. Surprised by the inability of sellers to bargain. You will not find discounts here, the Mongols named prices and immediately lost interest in the buyer.

One more warning for those who intend to go to Darkhan. Almost no Russian is spoken there. English is not understood. By the way, this, they say, is the difference between Darkhan and Ulaanbaatar. In the Mongolian capital they will sometimes understand you, but not in Darkhan. Therefore, learn Buryat, because on the last trip to our journalist Arevik Safaryan, even the school lessons of Buryat were very useful. At least know the bill to understand the price. The numbers in Buryat and Mongolian are almost the same. Or bring an interpreter with you.

So far, the public catering system is poorly developed in Darkhan. We had to roam the streets for quite a long time, until we finally found a decent restaurant with real Mongolian cuisine. They say there are various historical and cultural monuments. But they are somewhere outside the city. It was not possible to reach them. Thus, Darkhan has little to please tourists from Russia. But we are confident that this state of affairs will not last long. The current Darkhan, now reminiscent of Ulan-Ude in the late 90s, will soon be transformed.

RUSSIAN-MONGOLIAN BORDER

CHECKPOINTS

Friendly border relations between Mongolia and Russia have a long history. The current border between Mongolia and Russia was established on the basis of the agreement "On the state border between the Mongolian People's Republic and the USSR" of 1958 and 1976. The Mongolian Border Service Department is working together with the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation on the basis of the Agreement between the governments of Mongolia and the Russian Federation on cooperation on border issues dated 1994 in the field of state border protection, exchange of information and experience, as well as training of professional personnel.

NUMBERS AND FACTS

The total length of Mongolia's borders is 8162 kilometers (of which 3543 kilometers are with Russia).

By land 2863 km., water areas - 680 km.

The Russian-Mongolian state border is marked on the ground by 1925 boundary markers (basic - 964, intermediate - 961).

On average, 526,074 passengers and 232,282 vehicles cross the Russian-Mongolian border per year.

Checkpoint on the Russian-Mongolian border

There are 29 checkpoints on the Russian-Mongolian border. (This is according to information from the official website of the Embassy of Mongolia in Russia). Of them:

International: Tsagaannuur, Borshoo, Altanbulag, Sukhebator, Ereentsav


Bilateral, permanent: Tes, Arts uur, Khankh, Biga-Ilenkh, Zelter, Agatsyn Gol, Ulkhan, Ereentsav


Seasonal checkpoints: Bayanzurkh, Heegt, Shishged gol, Khongor ovoo, Tsagaan Aral, Khutag-Ondor, Khuder, Togtor, Yamalkhyn gol.


Transit: Asgatyn gol, Kharigy gol, Boh moron, Teel, Handgayt, davst, Tes.

On the Russian-Mongolian border, 8 road crossings and two railway crossings are open, operating all year round. For citizens of third countries, it is possible to cross only at the checkpoints Tashanta - Tsagan-Nur (Altai), Kyakhta - Altanbulag (Buryatia) and at the railway crossing: Naushki - Sukhe-Bator (Buryatia). If, for example, citizens of the former Soviet republics are in the group, they will not be allowed to cross the border as citizens of third countries. The pass for third-country nationals at this crossing is planned to be opened only after the reconstruction of the Mondy-Hankh checkpoint.

For citizens of Russia, it is also possible to pass through automobile checkpoints: Mondy - Khankh, Solovievsk - Erentsav, Khandagaity - Borsho, Tsagan-Dogorod - Arts-Sura, Shara-Sur - Tes, Upper Ulkhun - Ulkhun and on the railway - Solovyovsk - Erentsav.

For residents of border areas, a simplified border crossing is defined without issuing visas, using a passport with a local residence permit. So residents of the Tunkinskaya Valley can make a trip to Mongolia, to Lake Khubsugul without obtaining a visa.

Local fees apply when crossing the border. At the Kyakhta-Altanbulag automobile checkpoint, the Russian side charges money for paperwork at the exit from Russia and sanitization of cars at the entrance. The Mongolian side charges a tax on transport - about $10 and car insurance - $20-25.

It takes 2 to 4 hours to cross the border, even if there is no queue, but usually, due to queues at the border, crossing in your car, for example in Kyakhta, takes a whole day.

AUTOMOBILE CROSSINGS AT THE BORDER RUSSIA - MONGOLIA

Checkpoint Tashanta - Tsagan-Nur (Altai)

The automobile checkpoint in Altai in Tashanta is located in the mountains. There is more than 20 km of dirt road between the Russian and Mongolian checkpoints and the Durbet-Daba pass with a height of 2400 m. There is a rule here: no one should remain in the neutral zone. This section must be passed before the closing of the Mongolian checkpoint. Checkpoints are open from 9 am to 6 pm.

Checkpoint Kyakhta – Altanbulag (Buryatia)

At the Kyakhta-Altanbulag automobile checkpoint, the Russian side charges money for paperwork (about 90 rubles) at the exit from Russia and sanitation of cars $5-7 at the entrance. The Mongolian side charges a tax on transport - about $10 and car insurance - $20-25.

It takes 2 to 4 hours to cross the border, even if there is no queue, but usually, due to queues at the border, crossing in your car, for example in Kyakhta, takes a whole day. The modern terminal is designed to pass up to 500 cars per day, but in practice, even if you arrive early in the morning, this does not mean crossing the border before lunch.

Checkpoint: Mondy – Khanh

Crossing the border by citizens of third countries at the Mondy-Khankh checkpoint (Lake Khubsugul) is not provided for by the intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Mongolia and is possible only for residents of Mongolia and Russia.


• Vehicle checkpoint Mondy-Khankh(302 km from Irkutsk) located on the pass Mungiyn-Daba (1830 m.) It has a bilateral status. This means that today only citizens of Mongolia and Russia can cross the border here. It works in summer from April 15 to September 15 - from 10:00 to 18:00, in winter - from 10:00 to 17:00. Not open on weekends and holidays.

  To the border from the Russian side there is quite a decent asphalt road. From the village of Mondy, a good quality road constantly goes up. Mungiin Daba Pass and at the same time the border. After passing the border, the standard Mongolian dirt road begins. The forest is gone - around the steppe, with groves on the slopes of the mountains. From the border, the road goes with a general drop. Before reaching the village of Khankh, you must pay a fee for entering the Khubsugul National Park.

  Currently, the Federal Agency for the Development of the State Border of the Russian Federation is working on the issue of changing the status of an international automobile checkpoint (MAPP) Mondy-Khankh from bilateral to multilateral. Already in 2010, the reconstruction of the automobile checkpoint "Mondy" will begin. A positive conclusion to this project was given in Rosgranitsa. It is planned that the design and estimate documentation will be made in 2010, and the reconstruction itself will begin a year later. (According to other sources, the project documentation is already ready).

Checkpoint Solovievsk - Erentsav

It works 7 days a week from 9 am to 6 pm with a lunch break from 2 pm to 3 pm Chita time.

Checkpoint Khandagaity – Borsho

The Khandagaity-Borshoo border checkpoint on the Russian-Mongolian border will soon be equipped for the practical transfer of its status from bilateral to multilateral. For these purposes, Rosgranitsa allocates 15 million rubles. Reconstruction of the border checkpoint on the Tuva section of the Russian-Mongolian border will make it possible to double the number of people and cars passing through.

Consul General of Mongolia in Kyzyl Bazarsad announced the decision taken by the leadership of Mongolia to open this checkpoint up to 3-4 times a month for the passage of representatives of third countries even before the completion of reconstruction, which usually stretches for several years.

In the meantime, the Khandagaity-Borshoo checkpoint operates in a bilateral mode and is open to citizens and legal entities of Russia and Mongolia. Numerous foreigners arriving in Tuva cannot cross the state border in the Tuva section and are forced to use the Kyakhta checkpoint in Buryatia or Tashanta in the Altai Republic.

Mongolia is an amazing country with a long history, the birthplace of the great Genghis Khan, endless steppes and beautiful lakes.

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Mongolia is an amazing country with a long history, the birthplace of the great Genghis Khan. On the territory of the country there are endless steppes, the hot Gobi desert, and the majestic peaks of Altai. Only here there are about a dozen horses per inhabitant, and the difference between summer and winter temperatures is 80 degrees!

Location, composition and cities

The state of Mongolia is located in the northeast of Asia. Administratively, the country consists of 21 aimags, which in turn are divided into 329 soums.

The capital of Mongolia is the city of Ulaanbaatar.

Borders and area

Land borders of Mongolia with countries such as Russia and China.

Mongolia covers an area of ​​1,654 thousand square kilometers.

Mongolia map

Timezone

Population

2,964,000 people as of the end of 2015.

Language

The official language is Mongolian.

Religion

Buddhism is the main religion for the entire population of Mongolia. It is practiced by more than ninety percent of the entire population. Shamanism, Islam and other religions are also widespread in the territory of Mongolia.

Finance

The official currency is the Tugrik.

Medical care and insurance

Medical care is relatively good. It should be noted that there are few medical institutions in which tourists can receive qualified assistance. Emergency assistance is provided free of charge. There is no health insurance system in Mongolia.

Mains voltage

220 V, frequency 50 Hertz. Type of sockets - C and E.

International dialing code

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Due to its geographical location, Mongolia has land border crossings (checkpoints) only with Russia and China. Some of these checkpoints have bilateral status (open only to citizens of two states), some have international status (open to citizens of all countries of the world).

Border crossings between Mongolia and Russia

There are checkpoints on the Russian-Mongolian border:

• Checkpoint Kyakhta - Checkpoint Altanbulag (by car), Selenginsky aimag (international)
• Checkpoint Naushki - Checkpoint Sukhe-Bator , (railway), Selenginsky aimag (international)
• Checkpoint Solovievsk -- Checkpoint Erentsav (road, railway), Dornod
• Tashanta --Checkpoint Tsagannuur (by car) Bayan-Ulegei aimag (international)
• Khandagaity-Borshoo (by road), Uvsunur aimag (two-way)
• Checkpoint Tsagan-Tologoy Tuva -- Checkpoint Arts-Suur Zavkhan aimag of Mongolia (two-way)
• Mondy-Khankh checkpoint, auto, Khubsugul aimag (two-way)
• Checkpoint Baga-Ilen auto, auto, Bulgan aimag (two-way)
• Checkpoint Zheltura -- Checkpoint Zelter (two-way)
• Checkpoint Shara-Sur - Checkpoint Tes, Tuva -- (two-way)
• Kiran - Hutag-Under (two-way)
• Checkpoint Upper Ulhun -- Checkpoint Ulikhun (two-way)

The closure of checkpoints will not entail any economic, social or other consequences, according to Rosgranitsa. An agreement to close these checkpoints across the Russian-Mongolian state border was reached at a meeting of the competent authorities of the Russian Federation and Mongolia, held in November-December 2009 in Ulaanbaatar. Further, this proposal was agreed by Rosgranitsa with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Ministry of Transport, the Russian Ministry of Finance, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Russian Federal Customs Service, the Russian Federal Security Service. Together with the Mongolian side, it was decided that the decision to close the border checkpoints would be formalized through the conclusion by means of an exchange of notes of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on amendments to the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on border checkpoints and simplified communication through the Russian-Mongolian state border dated August 10, 1994

The order of the Government of the Russian Federation states that the changes will come into force 30 days after the completion of the exchange of notes on the closure of border checkpoints, however, Prime-TASS reports that these checkpoints will stop working from April 1, 2010.

Border crossings between Mongolia and China

There are checkpoints on the Mongolian-Chinese border:

• Dzamyn-Uud -- Erlian (railway, car), East Biy aimag (international)
• Taikeshken-Bulgan, Checkpoint "Yarant" (by car), Khovdos aimag (international)

The road after Bayan Tesa immediately ran into Tesiin Gol. We passed the ford easily, Diana helped, was a water meter, showed the way (a real navigator!). We drove along the steep coast where eagles live

Beautiful birds. True, proud as hedgehogs, until you get very close, they will not fly.


The road from this side of Tes goes through sand dunes.


Shrubs and birches grow along the river. They are strongly pressed to the ground. the wind must be strong


The leaves on the birches are very small, not at all like ours. Strive to retain moisture.


Sand falls from the mountains


Soon the mountain will turn into sand


There is almost no vegetation, but even here people live and keep livestock.


We eat almost completely in the desert


But even these places have their own charm ... (but better with a good supply of water)


The road turns into the mountains. And the green appears


There are a lot of mounds in this valley.


They are of different sizes, but they do not all look abandoned. Neat calculations of stones around the mounds are almost everywhere.
The higher we climb, the more grass.


And the closer to Russia = the more and thicker the smoke.


Suddenly, a sign appeared along the road


The only sign for more than 500 km of the way, not counting the steles with the names of the settlements.
The smoke is getting thicker.
And the smoke of the fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us. Mom quotes us.
These lines are lying! He is not sweet - bitter! And certainly not pleasant!


We found power lines. And a socket and an antenna from the TV are screwed to the pole 🙂 Caring people, suddenly you miss the zombie 🙂
We reached the border in 2 hours. On the way there was an outpost of border guards. That's where the wires ran. They quickly checked the documents and passed on. We were in Artzur in about 30 minutes. You can’t even call it a village. 10 houses, including 3 shops and 1 hotel. Everything is terribly of the Soviet type (“All sorts of people walk around here, if you don’t like it, get out!”). A very sharp difference from what we saw in Mongolia. Maybe this is how the border affects people?!
Having already said goodbye to Mongolia, we went to pass through the border, but no such luck! Border is locked tight! Really, such a padlock! :)
There is a small barracks near the checkpoint, we found people there, they explained to us that the border does not work on Sundays. Day off. Come on Monday we will be glad to miss you 🙂 .
So it was worth it to hurry and leave Bayan Tes ?! And where do you sleep now? In a hotel that has not seen repairs since the days of developed socialism, you don’t feel like it at all. In the mountains among the steppe on seven winds, it’s not sweet either! Well fuck him! Let's go back to the shore of Tes, but not so far away, otherwise tomorrow there will be a traffic jam at the border.
While searching and riding in the mountains, we saw real sand dunes of the sands of Altan Els.


Here they are across the river


On the shore stood several yurts at a considerable distance from each other. We stood as far away as possible so as not to interfere. When we got ready to cook, Alice and I went to the nearest yurt and bought the freshest lamb leg. Which was cooked with pleasure 🙂 .
In the morning we went to the border. The border was open. You do not understand - Well, just suck open and no one! We stood at the open gate, slowly, slowly drove to the territory of the checkpoint (you never know). There are three sitting in the shade and waving their hands “Go, go, don’t be afraid!” :). We arrived at the first building. One detached itself and with obvious reluctance went inside. I took a passport, technical certificate. Wrote something in a journal. “And now,” he says, “we will do customs.” He went to the car, looked into it, crumpled the bags. “Ah,” he says, “go ahead.” Passport control is there, - we had a nice chat with two girls, we were stamped. They say they have only 10-15 cars a day passes. So no download at all. Goodbye. And we are in no man's land. The whole action took about 15-20 minutes. Well, if you don’t talk, then you can meet even faster 🙂
But ours is just hell. There were already 3 cars in neutral. They let one car through. They force everything to be unloaded and through the scanner, do not go there, do not look here, do not sit here, do not go to the toilet! Stood for 2 hours in "neutral"! Then, for about an hour, we were thwarted during the passage. There were shuttles with us, so they were forced to unpack everything. So why do they need a scanner if they unpack everything anyway? In short, I thought they worked lousy at Mondy-Khankh, 15 cars missed an hour and a half, but here it’s something with something!
From Marina: Arthur has a very hard time with expectations :))) And when he is limited in his freedom of action and movement, he definitely wants to act and move around :) “Chelnokov” I can understand why they demand to open bags. For prohibited goods, hidden and not specified in the declaration. I once crossed the border with China in Manchuria. After having to go through there, in Artsur, I was surprised by the searches, but not so much. By the way, in Khankha and Artsur, it took a total of about the same amount of time to cross the border - about three hours.
And here we are in Russia, in Tuva.


The roads are paved, very good quality!


Some places are just great! We know how to do it sometimes! Although maybe aliens did 🙂


And everything else is the same.


Well, except for the tractor. I haven't seen one in Mongolia. The same yurts, but there are very few cattle, and a lot of grass. Maybe the climate is not right?
We stopped at Erzin, hoping to refuel and have a bite to eat. The gas station is closed, cafe-canteens were not found. We jumped into the store, bought sausages (see mom missed soybeans 🙂) and watermelon. We got up on the Erzin River and ate it with pleasure!


Well, very tasty 🙂


We swam in the river, and moved to look for a gas station. I decided, in Mongolia, why fill up at the very border, if our fuel is 2 times cheaper?! Who was waiting for such a setup?!
Along the way, they accidentally found the legendary


And what to look for? Maybe they just don’t call it correctly, so the locals don’t understand what Shambhala is? Here is Shambalyg! If you drive from Mongolia, then on the right side after Erzin 🙂

A gas station was found only in Samagaltai, and then one of the two diesels is not available, and the other costs 38 r and, judging by the smell, some kind of scorched one. But there is nothing to do. Let's fill it up and move on.
And here is probably the birthplace of the well-known fast food 🙂


We flew to Kyzyl quickly.


Before entering on the mountain there is such a wonderful monument.
And here is Kyzyl itself, the capital of Tuva.


A very original fishing shop was found in the city itself


Apparently, creativity in the names is a national trait of the Tuvans 🙂 There is also Lake Cheder (well, like cheese).
But behind Kyzyl, a nightmare began! Everything burned out from end to end. As far as the eye can see, everything is black-black! Terrible sight. Like in films about nuclear war. Just firebrands and smoke. A very scary picture. They didn't even shoot.