Earlier this year, Sam and Luke, aka the Garbage Bag Boys, set off on an around-the-world bikepacking trip from Vietnam to Spain. Find a brief recap of their time in Mongolia and photos from their travels here…

Sam and Luke, better known as the Garbage Bag Boys, are two young Melbourne-based student paramedics who ditched their routine for an around-the-world bikepacking trip from Vietnam to Spain. They are both riding Curve GMX+ Steel Touring Flat Bar builds, which are fully loaded with everything they need, and they’re following several route guides available here on the site. In May, we shared the viral video of the boys saving a baby yak, but that’s not the only wild story from the Garbage Bag Boys’ time in Mongolia. Find a brief recap below.

  • garbage bag boys mongolia
  • garbage bag boys mongolia

Words and photos by Sam and Luke

Our entry into the Gobi Desert started with high hopes and 12 litres of water strapped to our bikes, exactly what the GMX+ was designed for. We’d just rolled off a high-speed train in Hohhot, Northern China, and were buzzing for the adventure. That excitement lasted about 10 minutes, right until the headwind hit. An unforgivable, unfathomable headwind of unimaginable proportions.

garbage bag boys mongolia
  • garbage bag boys mongolia
  • garbage bag boys mongolia
  • garbage bag boys mongolia

Headwinds, sand, corrugation and the cold, you know, things we’ll probably remember the most from Mongolia. Definitely type 2 fun. And yeah, the hospitality of the nomads and the herders made us think about our ways and generosity and selflessness going forward. Mongolia is just such a strangely appealing country, so beautiful and brutal but objectively with the least appetising food spread I’ve ever experienced in a country and yet probably some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in my life.

From meeting hardcore (or maybe crazy) bikepackers without any GPS equipment, befriending a local dog that followed us for days, crossing waist-deep icy rivers, taking refuge from Mongolian storms with the locals, and having the roof of of night’s accommodation ripped off by the wind, we have surely been making the most of our year on the road!

  • garbage bag boys mongolia
  • garbage bag boys mongolia

You can read Curve’s full update on their blog and learn more about the Curve Mongolia Expedition in September 2026 here.

Further Reading

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