When we received word that China would only allow us to enter at Mongolian Erenhot border (800 km north of Beijing), we had to quickly re-plan our route.  Our original route would have taken us across entire Chine in 18 days of driving.   The new route would include crossing Mongolia in its entirety West-East.

Not knowing anything about Mongolia at this point, we started contacting people and researching the country and its roads.

Little did we know at the time that all this effort would be in vain and the trip would not happen when, later, the Chinese suddenly closed all their land borders!

Three weeks of research resulted in some interesting information and observations.

Mongolian Embassy in Washington said it would take 2-3 days to drive across Mongolia.   Experienced guides, located later, typically believed it would take 10-15 days!   Apparently no one from the embassy had travelled across their country, but they did not want to say “I don’t know”!  We had to provide a specific date to the Chinese for permission to enter.  Hard to do!

The Mongolian Embassy recommended taking the northern route across Mogolia, but the experienced guides said absolutely not!    It rains too much during summer and there is deep mud everywhere.   Needed a few 4x4 vehicles to assist eachother when you, inevitably, get stuck in the mud.    We decided on a more southern route.

Mongolia has very few roads.   Mostly tracks.   You need a good GPS and compass, and maps to cross Mongolia.    In many instances, you simply drive across Mongolian plains using navigation similar to a ship in water!

Provisioning is important, obviously.    

It was recommended that we hire an English-speaking guide and a mechanic.  

Vehicles breakdown frequently.    We purchased spare parts after consulting with many mechanics and dealers.   After listening and writing / revising the list of spare parts (consolidated recommendation of 3-4 mechanics with travel experience).  It took a few months to gradually order and pack the spare parts for the trip.  For the Mongolian section, there was not anything special or additonal which we obtained.  It was a comprehensive list at a substantial cost!     We had enough spare parts to open a auto parts distribution shop!   Our toolbox must have weighed a good 80 lbs (34 kg)!   From simple screw driver to sohisticated engine analyzer.   You name it...Fuses, injectors, pumps, pulleys, belts, glow plugs, etc. 

For medicine, the list is too long, but we had most essentials and first-aid items with us.  For medical emergencies, we had subscribed to air ambulance services.  For example, in the U.S., there is an organization called MedJet Plus whose coveregae was about $350 per year for a family of 3 people.   They come with an air ambulance and pick you up at the nearest airport or landing strip.    We discussed our situation with them prior to departure and were assured that they would come and pick us up at anyplace the airplane could land.   Fortunately, we had no occasion to test and learn if their promise holds true.  

Drinking water is important.  We only needed 10 days supply for 3 people, which would have been satisfied with bottled water.   In addition we had special filteration, tablets, and good old "bleach" for clensing.   The best for us, however, was simply filtering and nightly boiling of the water.   We had plenty of propane and other fuels for boiling water.   You can purchase multi-fuel burners from most camping and outdoor stores.

Fortunately our car is a 4x4 diesel vehicle with high-clearance.  We also had complete camper facilities:  kitchen, refrigerator, 110 / 220 volt electricity. Four heavy duty batteries, 20 gallons (80 litres) internal fresh water tank.  External fuel and water tanks. With extra fuel, we estimated our range to be about 800 km at 10-15 mph, sufficient to reach far away petrol stations. We also enjoyed convenience of air conditioning, hot and cold pressurized water for washing, microwave, temperature controlled built-in space heaters, beds inside our camper/van, etc.  

For navigation we had paper maps, GPS, and compass.  One note:  GPS maps proved almost impossible to find.   One company, fugawa, allows you to scan a paper map, then geo-code and calibrate the image to the readings of GPS coordinates.  Thus, you can create your own custom moving map.    

For communications, we had mobile and satellite phones.   Both are expensive.   Actually, much to our surprise, satellite phones are less expensive than carrying a foreign mobile phone.   What we actually did was to carry two mobile cell phones. One had a permanent number and intended for emergencies ($4+USD per minute), while for the other we purchased a local SIM chip at every new country.  Thus, we had our own national phone number at very affordable rates in each country.   For satellite phone, you can purchase bulk minutes at lower rates.  In 2008, we could get $1/minute satellite rates by purchasing 2000 minutes in advance.   One problem with this is that the satellite phone company could not tell us our current balance until two months after usage!     Satellite phone is important because cellular phone networks only cover the major cities.     We also had walkie-talkies with 25 mile (38 km) range.

Finally we were ready to cross Mongolian plains on our own.       

Except it did not happen!    China closed all its borders and we had to cancel.    Little did we know at the time of planning that all our efforts and time was being spent in vain.

I would have loved to cross Mongolia.  Maybe another time!