Sitting on the back of my motorbike going from west to east through Mongolia was one of the most inspiring and awesome experiences I've ever had. There was so little influence of the western world.

You'd see these guys wearing hats with Nike written on them, but not having a clue what that represented - which is fantastic. The people were the warmest, kindest, most generous people you could ever come across.

But the roads are terrible - especially in Western Mongolia - there is no tarmac, no signposts, next to nothing. You'd be driving along and the road splits up into ten different directions and you're scratching your head thinking, "oh my god, where do we go now".

We had GPS which gives a straight line direction, and we came across little villages and we'd ask directions - and we be told 'go down that valley and take the first valley on the left and ask again...'

We spent 17 days camping there. Everyone we met was really nice. We'd stop for a cup of tea and be pegging up a tent and some guy would push us out the way and take the stone to do it for us. They are always slapping your hand - eager to help.

The food was not good. In the winter they have a lot of meat and in the summer dairy food. We stopped at one place and they said, "are you guys hungry?" We said "yeah" and they opened up this cauldron. There were 200 testicles floating around. My heart sank. We were given one each. Ewan managed to eat his but mine got halfway down my throat and I coughed it back up again.

It was hard, but such an adventure. There's a symmetry of blissfulness about Mongolia. It was a real privilege to be there.
Interview by Gavan Naden

· Charley Boorman will be at the Outdoor Adventure Show, Olympia, February 18-20 outdooradventureshow.co.uk Tickets: 0870 060 0958