Lake Khövsgöl, & Feeling Privileged As I Leave Mongolia

A lot of kids in North Mongolia have
this golden tinge to their hair

The road made bad by the snow melt

After the sand dunes of Khongoryn Els I felt it would be the highlight of my trip but the experience of visiting the Tsaatan blew that assumption away so for the remaining two days I really did not expect anything to top that but there were a couple other experiences noteworthy of putting on paper (or blog).

Khoridolsarigag Mountains

On the way back from Tsaagan Nuur, we took a detour and passed by Lake Khövsgöl. For part of the journey, we retraced our way back to the Darkhad valley and it gave me another chance to observe this remote region. The scenery was slightly different due to the snow fall which gave a gleaming white glow to the peaks of the Khoridolsarigag Mountains that ran parallel to our path.

Drying yogurt to make Aaruul



A horse skull as an offering at an ovoo

Since we had space in the van we helped a nomadic family move some of their earthly belongings and in return we got treated to more Tsai and dairy products. I felt as though it was the least I could for these incredibly hospitable nomads. As the sun set, we still had to make the all important mountain pass but were slowed down by awful tracks. The snow fall a couple days ago did not help matters as the snow melt swelled the rivers and steams and since most of these did not have bridges we had to pretty much drive our way out of it hoping that the van did not cease.

A small town on the way back

More dairy products

With one eye at the fading light Gana stepped up on the gas through the mountain pass which was a pity since it was the most beautiful part of the ride. Our plan was to be on the eastern side of the Khoridolsarigag Mountains before dark and spend the night with the family of Gana’s sister.

Making Mongolian tea from tea brick

We did not succeed in our task which meant that we had to go from ger to ger in the dark asking the residents of where his sister’s ger was situated. As we wandered around the reality of a nomadic life struck me….here we have Gana who knows this region as good as anyone and has probably visited his sister innumerable times but since her family is nomadic they don’t have a set location. All we knew was they were around a particular area but there were no tracks, no addresses; just a wide expanse of flat grassland. The best we got was a pointed finger in a direction and then it was up to Gana to drive around and locate another ger where we could ask again until we finally find the one we were looking for.

A hill, a lake, some gers and lots of cattle...make for a picturesque setting

Inside Gana's sister's ger

It was well past midnight when we finally made it to her ger and it was comparatively well furnished. The next morning I even saw Spain vs. France Euro 2012 quarterfinal game on their satellite TV. Surprisingly, they did not seem particularly interested in futbol, instead like most Mongolians, they preferred basketball. One sport most Mongols are very proud of is horse racing and Gana’s borther-in-law seemed to be good at training racehorses judging by the medals several of their horses had won in the local Naadam festival.

Belly full with more dairy product in the morning we headed to Lake Khövsgöl. This lake owes its existence to India in a way as it was formed due to the pressure of the Indian sub-continent meeting the Asian continent. It is surrounded by mountains, thick pine and larch forests, green meadows and is crystal clear.

Approaching Khövsgöl

My intendend camping site with my new tent on the shores of Khövsgöl Nuur

I put up my tent and then it was time to walk along its picturesque shore. On my way back I was randomly invited by a group of Mongolian visiting Khövsgöl. A few shots of vodka, some snacks and dinner followed and it was time to get back to my tent as it was close to nightfall. Gana thought I was lost and had started his own search for me so understandably was quite relieved to see me half way to my camp. It was a fairly cold night and the rain clouds seemed ominous so Gana had already packed up my tent so we checked into a tourist ger for the night.

Everything around the lake was photogenic and would be a
photo graphers delight

Khövsgöl was extremely beautiful by itself but unfortunately it came right after the Tsaatan visit and was never going to live up to that experience which I admit is quite unfair on it. Had I done horse riding/hiking there I might have had a different opinion.

Terelj National Park

Back in Ulaanbaatar I had one more day before I flew back but just did not feel like I had to do something special…a feeling that probably occurred from being content. It so turned up that it was a rather memorable experience. Going back to my second day in UB, while exploring the city, I had met a friendly lady who was living in the US and was visiting her family. Due to my travels out of the capital, we never quite got to meet again but the last day we decided to have lunch.

Camp at Terelj

Mongolian Wrestling

Next day she, along with her friend Sukh picked me up and we drove to Terelj National Park which lay a couple hours from the city. We visited their son who was at a wrestling camp there and was about to participate in the upcoming Naadam festival.

These guys were participating in the upcoming Naadam festival

Up until that point my general impression about UB was that it was not a very friendly city. Most Mongolians in the countryside were friendly and hospitable but denizens of UB seemed rather aloof. It could have been because of the language barrier or just the fact that it was a bustling city and no one had time but spending the day with Nora and Sukh gave me a completely different perspective.

At Nora's and Sukh's home over dinner (note the Morin
khuur which is Mongolia's tradational stringed instrument)

 They had been incredibly kindhearted hosts to take me to Terelj and spend time with their son but to my amazement I was even invited for dinner at their suburban apartment that evening.

As I write the final words from my journey through Mongolia I am trying to recollect the highlight reel moments and the obvious ones there are the sand dunes of Khongoryn Els and Tsaatan people but interestingly this little day at the end of my trip also ranks there purely due to its randomness and feel good factor. After all how may times does it happen that you meet somebody on the street by chance and they not only show your around but invite a complete stranger to their house for dinner…I could not but feel privileged by their kind act.

View Journey Through Mongolia in a larger map
It never ceases to amaze me that my journey starts with focus on the natural wonders of the country but it’s the people who leave the more lasting impressions.

As for the country, just like Madagascar, I hope I can go back there someday since there is so much more to see and do. I wonder though, how different it will be as there are a lot of developmental activities taking place fuelled most definitely by its enormous mineral deposits. It’s like the country is trying hard to catch up after its slumber during the Communist era. Would it have an adverse impact on the nomadic life of most Mongolians? Well, we will have to wait and see. At least the Mongolians are proud, patriotic, communal and comparatively well to do so in all probability all that development and mining won’t be of the exploitative nature that I have seen in resource rich Africa.