Mongolia

Couldn't find a better map. Strange names. Buyant Uhaa is always called Saynshand and Borhoyin Tal Zamyn Uud.
Route: Sukhe Bataar-Ulan Bator all paved. Some climbs, but nothing serious.
Ulan Bator- Airag: 350 Km Only 25 paved. Then unpaved. In worse condition than I remembered from 95! At times there is more than one road as well, definetly took some different ones this time. The first 70-80 Km are hilly, then it's mostly flat, slightly down.
Airag-Zamyn Uud 350 Km All unpaved. Was in the train, looked sandy at times.
Maps: The mongolian maps you can buy in Ulan Bator are very good! Kms correct, no altitude though.
Cost Cheap. Ulan Bator is a bit more expensive.
Visa: Much easier than before. Got a 3 weeks visa in Ulan Ude, no problem. Usually they only give 2 weeks to travellers, bu since I mentioned that my wife would meet me in Ulan Bator with a 1 month visa they made an exception. Miho actually got a 7 weeks visa in Tokyo. Went to a travel agency, booked the flight and 2 nights in an expensive hotel in Ulan Bator.
Traffic North of Ulan Bator there is some traffic, not much. South almost nothing.
In Ulan Bator there are lots of hotels obviously. We stayed in a hotel in Choyr. Probably there are hotels in other middle sized settlements along the road as well. But you don't really need that, there is more than enough space to camp!
Accomodation:
Food: Compared to 95 Ulan Bator felt like Kathmandu! Then if you wanted to eat western food you had to go to the Ulan Bator hotel. And the menu wasn't all that impressive. Nowadays there are Restaurants with big: Hamburger! Pizza! etc signs everywhere. And unlike 95 they're not out of mongolian beer all the time as well. Shops: In Ulan Bator you can buy almost everything, (but that was possible in 95 as well) was surprised how much we could find on the road. Ok, I missed some villages in 95 (probably was on the other side of the railtracks, and didn't need anything) but I doubt that there were big shops there then. At least in Choyr the modern shop with juice, canned food and everything wasn't there yet, there were only a few kiosks. Still need to buy enough, you might miss a village (it's easy!!!, depends on the side of the railroad you are and sometimes the road leaves the tracks)
Language: Lots of people speak a foreign language. Especially in Ulan Bator, but not only. Plus almost everybody still speaks russian.
Bike parts: Didn't look for any. Didn't see many bicycles around, only kids bikes. Probably not too much to be found.
Weather June was already very hot during the day. And there was no tailwind this time! People had told me in 95 that the wind from northwest was blowing all year. Liars!! And it rained a few times in Ulan Bator. Winter is definetly too cold, summer possible probably best time would be in May or August.
Main Tour 2001 China