More on traveling through Mongolia and hiring jeeps...

A post I recently put on Lonely Planet's thorn tree branch for Mongolia, the discussion was started by taking about vehicle fuel use...

Hi riccardo,

hadn't seen your reply to the other post - very good info and fairly spot on, looks like we are thinking along the same lines, other than that I love those "worthless, arid, dusty flat and huge place" - there aren't too many of them left in the world that you can drive across like in the Gobi...

You were very lucky getting away uninjured if your jeep rolled. Driving if the biggest safety issue in Mongolia as medical assistance in the remote areas is absolutely zero. My medical insurance rates Mongolia with the same current risk as for Iraq and Afghanistan… There are only a limited number of helicopters in the country (4 or 5 available as commercial hire) and these are often out on fishing tours in the summer. Even worse is that they have to get permission from a government/military authority before flying - last year my company wanted to arrange a medical evacuation of a driver who had rolled his vehicle and was in a coma, the authority 'decided' a helicopter evacuation wasn't necessary and wouldn't give the pilots permission to fly. We had to send a local doctor out to the countryside and the casualty was brought to UB a few days later, where he eventually died.

Even if you can get permission for a helicopter evacuation (and your health insurance will pay the cost, currently around 2200 USD per hour's flight time) it takes a helicopter about 2.5 hours to get from UB to near Yolyn Am and another 2.5 hrs to get back to UB (so over 10,000 USD), where medical facilities are still fairly poor and you’ll probably just be stabalised before needing a international medivac to Beijing or further. Basically, if you are in a critical condition in a remote part of Mongolia (say an open fracture of the femur or anything else that causes a huge blood loss and shock) YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE - no questions asked, do not pass go, do not collect 200 quid

I personally know of two other vehicle rolls last year where people died. In one, the foreign passenger was sleeping when the vehicle rolled and woke up next to his dead driver. Another vehicle roll killed 5 local guys from a mining company in a single accident.

I think anyone planning a long jeep or van journey around Mongolia should add on a week at the start of their trip to find a good driver and jeep. Do some day trips out from UB to Terelj or Khustai as a test run to see if you get along with the driver, his driving is safe and his vehicle doesn’t break down all the time. The time you spend doing this will make a huge difference to the enjoyment of a 2-week trip and possibly to your health for years to come.

Moving on… General advice for ‘independent’ travellers in Mongolia…

People who suggest that tourist should not worry about things like over-reporting fuel use or paying for drivers ‘accommodation’ when they sleep in the back of the van anyway are not helping the areas they visit. Mongolian was a closed county 15 years ago and people are still learning how to deal with an open society and an open-market economy. Not all tourist companies have experience or knowledge of the world outside Mongolia (say, how a backpacker hostel should be run) and many are learning what they can ‘get away with’ as they go along. Same with the drivers, where siphoning off a bit of petrol every now and then is a rite handed down from father to son…

How do people think they are helping when they accept being ripped-off because ‘the people are so poor’ anyway? This encourages tour companies and drivers to lie, steal and cheat rather than provide a good service. If you do get good service then make sure it is rewarded somehow – possibly not via cash but with something useful (do you really need to carry that sleeping bag back to Europe/N America? How about giving it to the driver who drove you safely, at a reasonable pace, for the last one or two weeks? And tell him why you are giving it to him.)

Staying at local gers is another delicate issue. If your driver rolls up to a ger and lets you know that you will be spending the night there and it will cost 5USD then he has probably been there before, knows the family, and the family will be used to seeing him with passengers and getting paid for it (probably 2 USD out of the 5 you give the driver). Don’t start feeling sorry for the family and giving out food/money/gifts – they have accepted you as a commercial guest.

If, however, your driver is obviously lost, eventually finds a ger as the sun is setting, goes in, and then comes out saying you can stay for the night, it is probably a family he has never met before and who are not used to ‘paying guests’ – the true hospitable nomad… Be very suspicious if the driver then says ‘5 USD per person’ and wants to collect it from you to give to the family. Make sure you pass the money over yourself. Also consider cooking your own food (and offering to share it with the family). If the ger is in a really remote area then a gift such as a kilo of flower, a bag of salt or sugar will probably be appreciated. Other good gifts are pencils and note-books for children. Please don’t give out batteries as some guide-books suggest – they only end up being thrown out when they are dead.

Whoa, that went on for a little longer than expected…