Cooking in the field

Hi

I want to travel from UB to Kazachstan (and onwards West). I'm not sure how to do this yet, will arrive end of march 2015 in UB. I feel like cooking every evening but in Europe I cook on a fire. Will this be possible in Mongolia? Is there wood to gather? And I can haul some things like rice and water but aside from that, what will be best when trekking? Fuel can by brought but is finite and smells in my backpack. Gas canisters are I assume impossible to find. Which leaves... a wood stove!

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Hi,

Gas canisters are cheaply available all over UB, every Mongolian town and in most small Soum shops across the countryside so you should have no problem there. I probably wouldn't rely on wood especially when you get further south otherwise you may have problems, especially on the steppe where there just isn't any.

Good Luck.

I travelled by car across Mongolia and would stop throughout the day collecting twigs, sticks and scrap wood. Most nights I had enough to cook pasta / noodles etc. You can also find dung, which is ideal for cooking as it burns slow, hot and without a flame.

I'd still probably take a petrol cooker - a litre of petrol should easily last you a week, probably more.

Gas is available? Really?! Well, that surprises me! I might bring the burner then, it's not the weight but I thought it would be useless there. I couldn't get any canisters in Eastern Europe, so I assumed that that was where delivery stopped.
Thanks man!

Also, yesterday I tried to get a fire going in the forest behind my house and if i have no other cooking options I might starve. Spend 45 minutes trying to get it going but no fire. I needed something to get it going, will try again this weekend. Will buy a fuel bottle in UB to bring about a litre of fuel to get anything going if needed.

On a sidetrack; How do guys look towards my idea of traveling West from UB? To cross the border with Kazachstan?

First check he map - there is no border with Kazakhstan.

Yeah I Know, but I want to move through Kazachstan. Not wanting to stay in China or Russia. So that would be a move-through. Sorry, was a bit unclear perhaps.

hi, maybe some more information to complete your project to travel from UB to west Mongolia here: www.terramongolia.com
we went there 6 times, travel different aera
you can reach west mongolia by bus...
you can go to live some days to a nomadic family...

but you ahve 40km of russia before to arrive in khazasthan so you ned a visa to accross!!!!

Hi,
Sounds like a good trip. Just make sure you ave a full range of clothes for the journey as March and April are probably two of the worst months weather wise. You'll see heavy snow, rain, wind, hail, baking sun and extremes of temperature in both directions from 9am to 9pm each day. Spring is a difficult time in Mongolia but it will get a bit better towards June.
Good Luck.