In Search of Adventure: Holiday in Mongolia: Part 3

13/6/11 - 26/6/11

It was hard to decide where else to travel in Mongolia, so much country and so little time! We ended up deciding on Eastern Mongolia because it sounded different from the Central tour we'd already done and because of the lack of tourists who go that way. The style of tour was also quite different and this time it was just Tim and I (plus driver and guide).

So after a day off in UB to get our clothes washed and give our selves a chance to recuperate, we met up with our tour guide from Tseren Tours, Baskaa, and our driver and his little blue Russian jeep. And it was time to leave UB again, this time heading East. Not far out of UB we stopped at an Ovoo and a conveniently placed tourist-trap of Eagle-on-pole and Reindeer-under-awning. It costs, of course, to take pictures so i was happy just to say hello to the Reindeer and get a hand lick in return. Apparently Reindeer become unhappy and actually get sick being away from their natural habitat in the higher, colder areas of Mongolia but the locals continue to exploit them for the tourist dollars... i wonder, if tourists were better informed would it still go on?

Turtle Rock,
Gorkhi Terelj NP

After our last tour spending meals sitting on the dirt or rocks and eating off our laps we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had folding chairs and even a table supplied. Also the guide did all the cooking and cleaning, there was an esky to keep things cool and the meals were very westernised - we felt like we were cheating but yay to no more boiled goat!

Local kids in the horseman's Ger

We stopped at some odd rock formations at Gorkhi Terelj NP and climbed up for a view. More beautiful Mongolian scenery. Our driver also helped out some young locals who'd run out of fuel by siphoning some out of our tank, and off they went, 7 people in a little 3 door hatch! Next we drove thru some pretty deep river crossings (good driver!) to get to the Ger settlement of our horse guide. Of course once we arrived we got the usual salty milk tea to welcome us - though this stuff was actually a lot less salty and quite tasty.

We set up camp for our first night on a stream bank close by to the Gers and amongst the livestock. Locals joined us pretty quickly and the obligatory bottle of vodka was handed around the group until it, and its friend, were finished. We had some good chats with our driver who it turned out spoke better english than Baskaa - who we learnt later had been warned by Tseren that her english had better improve pretty quickly or she'd lose her job, warning warranted i think, lovely girl but really needed to work on her English skills.

Tangent, Munchie and me!

The next morning was the start of our 3 day horse riding trip into the Khenti Mountains so we sorted our gear and the packhorse was loaded up, such a funny little horse, making whining, grunting and groaning sounds which had us a bit worried that she was over-loaded. But apparently she makes these sounds even when not loaded up, the oddest sound i've ever heard from a horse! We also got given some cardboard leg protectors, not exactly fancy but they were leg savers.

Our sweet, strong, groany little pack horse

Pretty pony

The next three days we spent riding in a big loop, over the hills and thru the valleys, camping and lunching next to streams - no roads but plenty of livestock, some yaks and a few Gers. One night the horseman got us some local cow milk vodka to share (tastes like watery, alcoholic yoghurt - drinkable and not very strong) and then promised, if we came back to visit, he would gift our firstborn one of his best foals! Lovely guy and very generous. especially with vodka under his belt. It was a great experience being off the roads and riding thru the countryside though three full days of riding on russian saddles was quite hard physically! The most fun riding was through the rivers to meet up with our jeep at the end of the trip - too deep for him to come thru to meet us so we went to him.

Tim being useful

Back in a new jeep with a new driver (a male Oogii) and reunited with our folding chairs (ah, comfort) we hit the road again. Over the next couple of days we did a lot of driving and a few stops, to look at a big coal mine (Mongolia's natural resources are only just getting tapped into), some local towns (which reminded us of wild west outposts), a Temple in a pretty valley and lovely lunch stops and campsites. Apart from one flat tyre which was quickly patched by Oogii with some help from Tim, all went pretty smoothly (we did have two more before the trip was finished though).

After this Oogii wasn't so sure of the roads to take - to his defense the roads out this far are basically dirt tracks and there are often half a dozen that seem to be heading in the same direction, no signposts at all. On our way through one of the "hard to navigate" valleys we stopped to look at some deer stones, which are monoliths inscribed with deer motifs dating back to the Bronze age. Amazingly they are still sitting in the Mongolian countryside where they were put thousands of years ago! We also saw lots of Demoiselle Cranes, pretty black and white birds that hang out in pairs on the steppes, eagles, hawks and gophers and marmots running for cover.

Deer stone

After driving pretty steadily East we reached Dadal, a town close to the Russian border with lots of Russian influences including the wooden cabins that people live in and yummy Russian bread and cheese. We stayed near a river here and Tim and I took the opportunity to have another "bath" - pretty much no showers or laundries to be found outside UB! The next day we headed off with our packs loaded for a one night camp out without the vehicle. Baskaa came with us and it was the first time she'd ever done an overnight trek on foot. It wasn't the best day for it as it was our hottest day yet in Mongolia but we took it easy and followed the river which meant we could cool off with a dip in the evening. Tim and i spotted some wild ducklings and their over protective mother but despite our searching, no bears or wolves. We did have an extended visit from an inquisitive local horseman though, and while Baskaa advised us to hide the vodka and make sure our gear was safe "just in case", he kindly gave us one of the two fish he'd caught in the river that evening (i think he took a shine to Baskaa, probably doesn't see many new ladies around very often).

On our way back the next day to meet up with Oogii and the jeep we saw a Shaman ceremony, basically a whole heap of people running around some bushes after a Shaman - the drumming and chanting was nice but didn't really understand the rest of it. Baskaa and Oogii then took us up to the top of a hill to see Chinggis (Ghengis) Khan's birthplace. It was just a big Ovoo and a platform to look out over the countryside, pretty simple considering how much he is revered, he is like a God to the Mongolian people.

Demoiselle Cranes

We continued to head even further East from here , in search of the herds of Gazelle that hang out on the Eastern steppes. We got lost (AGAIN) and after stopping a few times for directions and a chat Baskaa informed us that Gazelle hadn't been seen in the area this season because it had been very dry and there was no food for them, but that we would keep looking anyway. And what do you know, after a couple more hours of driving, when we were all ready to give up, herds of Gazelle on the horizon!! Woohooo! Man they can run fast. We quietly and stealthily stalked them for a half hour on foot, walking single file so as not to scare them off, and didn't get closer than a couple of hundred metres. Then we abandoned this attempt and trusted in Oogii's skillful jeep driving , chasing them across the steppe off road - we got much closer, totally awesome to see them outrun us although not sure on their intelligence as they would often run parallel to us or across in front of the vehicle!

Yay, we saw Gazelle!

Another camping site,
another sunset!

When it got time to set up camp for the night Oogii informed us he had no idea where the road was, so we just stopped somewhere flat and set up camp on the steppe for the night. Crazy place, no people or buildings in sight, just yellow grass and the rolling steppe - quite surreal. We had our fresh fish from the horseman for dinner, i can't imagine what the lucky carnivore that got the left over fish bits thought, getting fish miles from any water!

The next morning, after drying off some baby moles i found wet and cold in the grass and putting them back in a burrow (who knows if it was the right one!), we found the dirt road and started heading back towards UB. We had our first serious daytime rain and the dirt road soon turned into a muddy swamp, Oogii got us through with no problems though, it wasn't until our tyres got stuck in a deep hole and he jumped out of the Jeep to put the hubs in that we realised we weren't even in 4WD most of the way!

Giant Chinggis

Two more beautiful camping spots and a visit to the massive 40m tall "Chinggis Khan on horse" statue/museum, which we climbed up, and we had all but finished our Eastern Tour. Just one leg to go... kayaking back into UB! We said goodbye to Oogii and Baskaa and met our 2 Kayak guides and took off down the Tuul river. It was a fantastic end to the tour, we saw lots of waterbirds and birds of prey and lots of different countryside on the way down the river. They even had a gourmet picnic lunch packed for us and we stopped on a little island in the river to eat it. Due to the recent rains we didn't have to work very hard going downriver and going through the little rapids was lots of fun - "paddle paddle paddle, change sides, paddle paddle paddle!" - and we were back into UB before we knew it. Again, urgent priorities were showers and washing clothes!