DIRECTION HOVD 🇲🇳 : This is a very remote area of Mongolia. If you hitchhike in the cold as I did, don't do stupid things and try to always be close to civilisation. Write on a piece of paper and in Mongol, who are you, what you're doing, explain that you look for a free ride to go further. If you ask for long distance, so many people will stop just to make you pay. Also, in 2026 there is a big gas shortage in Mongolia which makes free hitchhiking even more difficult. Also, be cautious about people. unfortunately lot of people in this area suffer of severe poverty and alcoolism ; nobody will harm you tho, just keep distance if you feel like it. Also, lot of roads you see on maps are actually offroad. LOOK AT SATELLITE MAP AND PREPARE ITINERARY. Despite all this negativity, I was invited several time and people are so welcoming. I actually loved so much hitchhiking to Mörön from there ! A real adventure ! Because it was becoming dark and the border closes the evening, I asked a lady to help me find a ride to Hovd. Unfortunately it was too late and no truck was going there. The last ones just sleep close to the border for the next morning to leave, but on a different road, they don't pass through Bulgan. So instead I got a ride to Bulgan with two soldiers ~M40 and ~M50 in a van. In Bulgan, around my ending point, there is a "hotel" where I slept on the ground for 20.000MNT (5€). Check iOverlander. Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MÖRÖN 🇲🇳 : Here you can eat and sleep (for free actually, I just asked the guy in the shop on the right and he said ok). Very few people will go that way so be prepared to wait. Eventually, someone was going to Tsagaan-Uul, the village on the other side of the mountain and took me with him. Thanks Muggi ! We encountered on the way 3 people that got a problem with their car, and I spent the night at Muggi's grandma house. Next morning he paid for me a car that was going to Mörön. God bless Mongolia ! 4x4 car, M35 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MÖRÖN/OULAN-BATOR 🇲🇳 : Very low traffic but again, it is what it is. Here you can drink, eat and sleep. I got a bus that was going to the capital, but I stopped at the intersection for Mörön. Bus, M45 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MÖRÖN/OULAN-BATOR 🇲🇳 : Very low traffic but it is what it is. I got taken by Tegshjargal, archeologist super fun. He brought me further and invited me for tea, coffee, lunch in a ger. M50 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MÖRÖN 🇲🇳 : Here, my plan was to sleep at Naranbulag because it was almost dark. At my end point, you can sleep for 30.000MNT. Look iOverlander. Very little traffic but people will eventually stop. From this paved road you can get direct lift to the capital. Bus, M40 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MÖRÖN 🇲🇳 : One of my best rides ! A couple with their baby brought me on a side quest in the middle of nowhere. They joined their family in a ger to kill a sheep, get the meat, have lunch and tea, then go to the intersection on the paved road.

DIRECTION MÖRÖN 🇲🇳 : Low traffic, people didn't stop easily (except to give me a lift to Hovd lol). Well, you don't really have a better spot anyway. Got kind of a retarded lift, I said further will help me anyway but the guy just dropped his friend in a farm and came back to drop me where he picked me up ? What the fuck ? M60, M40, F60 Deo gratias...

DIRECTION HOVD 🇲🇳 : Finally got my direct ride to Hovd for free with a lovely family ! 4x4 car, M40, M55 , F11 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION HOVD 🇲🇳 : It will be hard to find a ride to Hovd. If you write it on a sign, peolple will just jump on you to be your personnal taxi. Do not hitchhike at the gas station ! There is almost a mafia that wants to put you in a taxi and make you pay 20$ the ride. Instead, go a bit further on the road without any sign, just use the thumb. Have a paper wrritten in Mongol (Kazakh also helpful) where you present yourself, that you want to get a ride for free to your next destination and also that few kilometers are helpful. Your objective is to go further a little by little. At some point you should get for free a ride to Hvod. Car, F35 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION HOVD 🇲🇳 : Got a ride in no time to the next town, Altaï. The driver probably wanted money from me but after reading my paper he said ok for free. ~M40 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION HOVD 🇲🇳 : Very little traffic. Be prepared to wait. At least, here, people will go to the next town. Truck, M60 Deo gratias !

Kiam mi devis promeni gxis la estacio uno fojo ke virino halpis min kun hotelo tie, mi petveturis kaj gajnis veturadon. Dankon.

En la ibis hotelo babilanta kun la takicistoj uno inter ilin veturis min senpage unofojo ke mi ne havi la monon. Sed tio estas tre multe situacie.

Mi provis iomete poste la lasta benzinostacio sube multaj da negxo. Tio estis iomete malfacila. Sed tre bonan. La homoj kiu veturis min arangxi nokton en Ibis hotelo kaj ankaux acxetis min bileton la ventonta tago al Erlian. Kordankon.

easy to get lift to UB

there is no way to get free lift to the lake as being an improvised taxi driver is the local sport. Tours charge 15,000, from private you can bargain to 10,000

on the way to Orkhon Valley, some will stop and ask money for the lift. No shade, avoid hot hours in summer.

on the way to Orkhon Valley, few cars. It seems that mostly local farm labours stop, perhaps better morning hours. Be prepared to be invited for drinking trip breaks on the way. No shade, avoid hot hours in summer.

It took me 5 minutes of simply walking torwards the border and getting a free ride through it and further on the Erlian. Unfortunately in the whole area people have a different understanding of hitchhiking, so you have to tell them that you don't have any cash.

I get a ride right to Ulaanbaatar with Russian-speak driver after one hour. :) June 2015. Cheers! //Yriy

DIRECTION HOVD 🇲🇳 : This is a very remote area of Mongolia. If you hitchhike in the cold as I did, don't do stupid things and try to always be close to civilisation. Write on a piece of paper and in Mongol, who are you, what you're doing, explain that you look for a free ride to go further. If you ask for long distance, so many people will stop just to make you pay. Also, in 2026 there is a big gas shortage in Mongolia which makes free hitchhiking even more difficult. Also, be cautious about people. unfortunately lot of people in this area suffer of severe poverty and alcoolism ; nobody will harm you tho, just keep distance if you feel like it. Also, lot of roads you see on maps are actually offroad. LOOK AT SATELLITE MAP AND PREPARE ITINERARY. Despite all this negativity, I was invited several time and people are so welcoming. I actually loved so much hitchhiking to Mörön from there ! A real adventure ! Because it was becoming dark and the border closes the evening, I asked a lady to help me find a ride to Hovd. Unfortunately it was too late and no truck was going there. The last ones just sleep close to the border for the next morning to leave, but on a different road, they don't pass through Bulgan. So instead I got a ride to Bulgan with two soldiers ~M40 and ~M50 in a van. In Bulgan, around my ending point, there is a "hotel" where I slept on the ground for 20.000MNT (5€). Check iOverlander. Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MÖRÖN 🇲🇳 : Here you can eat and sleep (for free actually, I just asked the guy in the shop on the right and he said ok). Very few people will go that way so be prepared to wait. Eventually, someone was going to Tsagaan-Uul, the village on the other side of the mountain and took me with him. Thanks Muggi ! We encountered on the way 3 people that got a problem with their car, and I spent the night at Muggi's grandma house. Next morning he paid for me a car that was going to Mörön. God bless Mongolia ! 4x4 car, M35 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Somewhere here is a truck driver place where they go in direction of Mongolia : either Hovd or Ölgiy. If you go there you can talk to them and ask if someone goes there and can take you all the way to Hovd. I managed to do that but because of miscommunication, the truck driver just wanted to drop me at the border. That was not good because it was already end of afternoon and there is no warm place to stay at the border on Mongolian side. Also, I could just find a ride earlier. Truck, M45 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Got a direct ride to Takeshiken. Because it stopped directly, my drivers talked with him and the guy was asking for 30RMB (which is the price for a full shared taxi from the city center). I negociated 20RMB. I did not wanted to wait because of the cold but if you don't care someone will eventually stop for you I guess. ~M60 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Here I was taken by a car that directly brought me to the intersection where some cars goes to Takeshiken, the last town before border. ~F35 and ~M65 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Here I was taken by a trash truck lol, he brought me a bit further. ~M55 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Prepare yourself to wait for long. There will be very few vehicles on the highway and even less going in this rest area but eventually you will find a ride to Qinghe where you can go to the border. Just ask the people with a translated message. If you're unlucky, you can sleep for free here. Staff told me they can give me a room, but anyway you can sleep inside. Thanks Ma Liu Yi, M32. You can also pay shared taxis from Fuyun to Qinghe if you don't mind. Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Once at this toll station, police officers will help you find a ride that goes to Fuyan or Qinghe. You can find rides that goes in other directions also. If your objective is to go to Mongolia, ask to be dropped at the rest area before the turn of the G680. This is a ideal spot because you can spend a night for free there. There is also a shop inside where you can buy food, just in case. Minibus, ~M55 Deo gratias !

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : The objective is to go at the toll station Nord of the city on this highway. Not the best spot tho. I waited 2 hours, got visited by Police (that just wanted to help me). The problem here is that there is too much local traffic. Majority of cars take this road to go inside the industrial area from another entry point. I think it is possible to get a ride but you can find a better place, look my other spot. Deo gratias.

DIRECTION MONGOLIA 🇲🇳 : Objective : the toll station on the G7. It is not an ideal spot but it worked for me after half hour. It is better spot than my other one because, at least, here you can filter the cars that goes on the nothern direction. Cars that go out of this industrial zone are also slower so they can see you. M~45 Deo gratias !

A nice service station not too far from Jinan, lots of traffic heading north. I was treated to a Didi to get here. Found two young guys heading from climbing one of the tallest mountains in Shandong back home to Inner Mongolia. What a lucky day! We spent together more than 900km and more than half a day, as they made also two sleeping stops, as both of them were very tired.

Not a lot of traffic but it is the best way to get to Sümber border checkpoint from Choibalsan. Got a ride to take me and a friend to a oil field in eastern mongolia.

About crossing the Mongolian border: There is a long line of waiting cars. I went up to them and asked if I could join them. Got rejected by two kazakh cars. They often travel with the whole family to visit relatives in Mongolia, so they may have no space to take you. Better ask cars with russian plates. I found two belarussian travelers who would take me. Even as a westerner without speaking much russian it should be doable to find a lift, if you're lucky you may find travelers from western countries. At the border, no problem as a hitchhiker, you are allowed to travel in another car, just the usual checks and a bit of patience needed...

It's the main road out of town going south. Little traffic, but some may go far. Be sure to get a ride that's a least a bit far or you'll get stuck in Inner Mongolia where there is little traffic.

It is not possible to cross the border on foot, so there will be taxis and minibuses who will try to take you. They will tell you that you cannot hitchhike. Don't give up and ask other people who are crossing the border in their own vehicles. But also make it clear to them that you are not going to pay for the ride. You will need to write the licence plate number of the car on an immigration form when you enter Mongolia.

To go to Mongolia, take the minibus 28 to "Istok" and you will be dropped off at the airport road junction. You can start there or walk for a bit, it's fairly easy.