Khazakh Music

We had the option of riding today but I decided to relax and chill around the camp with Tom and Verity, while Erica and Emma rode and Tai hiked along with them to a lake nearby. After a lazy morning of doing nothing, Tom, Verity and I ended up doing a 'short' hike up to a nearby mountain, which turned out to be much higher and longer to return back to camp.





In the evening, we were all treated to a special traditional Kazakh music performance by the owner of the Ger (see video).

Location:Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, Mongolia

Teen Wolf

My first horse ride in over 30 years! We decided not to ride out to the mountain, camp overnight at the Khuiten Uul base camp and ride back the next day; but ride to the mountain and return back to our ger camp in one day since everyone was concerned about the weather and the cold temperature. It would have been fun to camp overnight but sleeping in a sub-freezing weather with flimsy sleeping bag would not be fun.

Altai Tavan Bogd National Park area was absolutely beautiful with grasslands, clear turquoise lakes and snow-capped mountain peaks. Our ride was to the 12km-long Potanii Glacier, at the foot of the Khuiten Uul. What a view...this was my first time seeing a mountain glacier! I can't even fathom what this place would look like during winter where the snow and glacier would expand 20+ meters higher than now. Not sure if we were being environmental sensitive but we all walked out onto the glacier, including a young dog who followed us since lunch (we named him "Teen Wolf" since he looked part-wolf), to truly feel the immenseness of the glacier. What an amazing sight...I've never seen such strange yet magnificent landscape.

Location:Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, Mongolia

To the mountains!

We left Olgii (freshly showered) and headed out towards the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park that borders Mongolia, China and Russia. The drive to the park was basically the same as the other days - bumpy dirt road along a semi-arid land with mountains in the distance.

Tavan Bogd (Five Saints) is a cluster of mountains that separates Mongolia, Russia and China in the western corner of the country. Each peak refers to the elements or something sacred to the locals. The highest peak in the range, Khuiten Uul (Cold Peak), is also the highest peak (4374m) in Mongolia and a favorite among expert climbers. Besides Khuiten, the other four peaks are named - Naran (Sun), Olgii (Land), Burged (Eagle), and Nairamdal (Friendship).

Location:Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, Mongolia

Turkish and Bath...but not Turkish Bath

Today was a short day of driving to Olgii in the western part of Mongolia. On our way to town, we stopped to see the eagle-hunters and their eagles (actually they were on the side of the road). It seemed like a touristy thing, so I didn't bother to take any photos since we'll probably see more eagle-hunters up in the Altai Mountains. (note: we did not run into any eagle-hunters out west)

In Olgii, we needed to pick up our passports here since we'll need them to enter the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park (Tom, Verity and my passports were in UB since the needed to extend their visa and I needed to register my stay in Mongolia if I'm here for more than 30). While Hogy was working on the passport logistics, we headed over to an Internet cafe for much needed catch up on our emails (frack, no job offers!).

Emma suggested a Turkish restaurant she read about in the Lonely Planet guidebook, she also found a bathhouse (sadly not Turkish) in town - SHOWER! A hot shower for 1,000 Tugriks...who can say no to that! At the bathhouse, they also had a barber shop - for 2,000 Tugriks (that's less than $2)!

Oh the Turkish restaurant (Pamukkale) didn't really serve Turkish food - they just had few mutton kebabs on the menu and the rest was mostly Mongolian - not even hummus!

Location:Olgii, Mongolia

Anyone Speak Mongolian Khazak?

When we drove up to the base of Tsamba Garay Mountain this morning, we came across a Khazak family who may have room for us to sleep overnight. They invited us in for tea and biscuits, unfortunately they don't speak Mongolian and our guide doesn't speak Khazak. This was a classic 'Lonely Planet' guide description where we're invited for tea but we can't communicate with each other...what an awkward moment! Finally, Hogy was able to get the owner's wife to let us stay overnight. Her husband was away and she normally doesn't speak to strangers, let alone make decisions.

After some milk tea and biscuits, we headed up to the mountain for few hours of hiking...we knew we couldn't reach the peak (requires crampons and rope) but we wanted to get up to the snow line. Up and down a ridge, cross a mountain river, up again on another ridge, we came across a marker near the glacier...sadly, we were no where near the snow line. We needed to head back since it was past 4pm and we hadn't eaten lunch...oh well.

Location:Tsamba Garay, Mongolia

Back to the Hospital

Tai is now sick, she's having chills and convolution-like symptoms. We're at another hospital in a remote town, where the doctor told her that she'll be ok. But she's still having chills and feeling ill. We decided to stay in town while Tai tried to reach her medical insurance provider and seek additional consultation from a doctor or nurse. Unfortunately, we needed to keep driving to get to the next ger camp for us to stay on schedule...so back in the van with Tai in the passenger seat and still sick.

The next few days were long and boring drives without any interesting places to see...basically, long stretches of grassland to semi-arid land. The only interesting view to note was the sand dunes at the edge of the western part of the Gobi, sort of fitting as we headed away from the hot dry climate and to cold wet climate.

Gone Fishing

We left Kharkhorin and headed west towards Olgii and the Altai Mountains. Along the way, we made an overnight stop at the Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park. The park includes volcanic craters, lava fields with pine trees and the 'Great White Lake' (as it's known in English). Our first stop was to the Khorgo Uul volcano, where we hiked We left Kharkhorin and headed west towards Olgii and the Altai Mountains. Along the way, we made an overnight stop at the Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park. The park includes volcanic craters, lava fields with pine trees and the 'Great White Lake' (as it's known in English). Our first stop was to the Khorgo Uul volcano, where we hiked up to the cone (or the lack of) for a panoramic view of the park. Our ger camp was by Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur (Great White Lake), which was formed by lava flows from a volcanic eruption million years ago.



According to legend, the lake was formed when an elderly couple forgot to cap a well after fetching water. The valley flooded with water until a local hero shot a nearby mountain top with his arrow; the shorn top covered the well and become an island in the lake.

Our attempt at catch fish for dinner was unsuccessful (I blame the very large lure attached to the end of a very small rod), but perfect pastime activity as we watched the sun set over the lake. The sky was so clear and full of stars tonight...I was able to see the Milky Way! A perfect end to a great day.

Location:Khorgo-Tsagaan Nuur National Park, Mongolia

Milk Scare

Emma had an allergic reaction to her breakfast this morning and required immediate medical attention. She's highly allergic to sheep and goat's milk, and we believe there may have been some residue of sheep/goat's milk in her cow's milk. While Emma was getting medical attention, we spent most of the morning trying to rebook her flights to Vietnam as she needed an extra day of rest in town...only to find out her flights were non-cancelable. We're hoping Emma can file a claim with her travel insurance company for the missed flights and re-book her flights from Ulaan Baatar to Hanoi since we won't get to Oglii until August 2 (her flight back to UB is for August 1 and to Vietnam is August 2). Hogy was completely stressed but maintained a level head throughout the day...glad we have her as our guide.

Once Emma was out of danger and resting, Erica, Tai, Tom and Verity went to Erdene Zuu Khiid, the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, while I went to the hospital with Hogy to get a copy of an invoice or a medical report for Emma. It seems the hospital doesn't formally keep medical reports or invoices...pretty much all payments are done by cash and record keeping doesn't exist for outpatient care. Hogy and I ended up going to an Internet cafe to download Emma's travel insurance claim forms and created a "medical report" form for the hospital to use. Hum...I guess I can't complain about our health care system too much.

Location:Kharkhorin, Mongolia

A Very Old Rock Graffiti

Our last day in the Gobi Desert...what an incredible area! Last night Tom and I befriended a goat as we were having a cocktail under the stars; and this morning he (we named the goat 'Gary') came to visit us and chilled in our tent. He had the funniest expressionless look - a complete blank stare - as we tried to get him out of the tent...but 'Gary the Goat' kept coming back in and at one point, he just sat down in the middle of the ger. He was so adorable and funny...I hope he didn't become dinner.

Drive to Kharkhorin was long and forgetful. We made a short stop at a rock formation (Arts Boyd) that had rock drawings/petroglyphs between 5,000 and 15,000 years ago. The drawings looked very similar to the drawings from the native American Indian (Utah) to the French cave drawings.

Location:Khongoryn Els, Mongolia

Camel-back Riding

This morning we were very excited to do a full day camel ride - thinking we would ride over the dunes, have lunch and ride back - but we learned that we would ride along the dunes one way, come back to our ger camp for lunch and then ride the other direction. We all decided to relax in the afternoon. The camel ride was really cool but riding along the dunes quickly became dull.

Location:Khongoryn Els, Mongolia

The Singing Dunes

Before heading out to the Sand Dunes, we visited Bayanzag, which means "rich in sexual shrubs" (dont ask...) but is more commonly known as "flaming cliffs" (penned by American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews). This area is famous for the number of dinosaur bones and eggs sites, first excavated in 1922 by Roy Chapman Andrews. The rock formation again looked similar to the American southwest. The cliffs are rich in red sand (hence the name "flaming cliffs"). Unfortunately we didn't stay long enough to see the sunset to truly see how the cliffs got its name.












The best part our day (and trip so far) was getting to the Khongoryn Els area, known for some of the largest and amazing sand dunes in Mongolia. The Khongoryn Els sand dunes are also known as the 'Singing Dunes' (the dunes make an eerie sound when the wind blows) and reach up to 300m high, 12km wide and over 100km long. We hiked up to one of the highest dunes to see the sunset - the views of the desert from the top were absolutely spectacular. While we waited for the sunset, we played in the sand like silly kids (see video).

Location:Khongoryn Els, Mongolia

Vulture's Mouth

We passed our morning drive boredom as Demchig raced with a Radiant Sky van, who stayed at the same ger camp with us last night...trust me, the drive gets really boring after few days of driving in the Gobi. Our only stop today was the Yol Valley, known for its meters-thick ice for most of the year. Yes, the Gobi gets snow in the winter and it's maximum daytime can be -15C.



Yolyn Am (Vulture's Mouth) was originally established as a birdlife conservation, but now the valley is more famous for its dramatic and unusual landscape: ice-filled gorge. For most of the year, the gorge is filled with meters-thick ice and snow. In winter, the ice can reach up to 10m high and stretches for 10km; but usually disappears in the summer. We were able to hike along the gorge and saw few remaining ice that'll disappear in weeks, if not in days.








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Location:Yolyn Am, Mongolia

"Only a fool crosses the Gobi"

Our first day in the Gobi Desert...and it's frackin HOT and DRY! Maybe I should have read this part in the Lonely Planet first - "Between the summer heat, winter cold, sandstorms, poor infrastructure and lack of water, this is one of the harshest landscapes on the planet. Mildred Cable, an Englishwoman who passed through in the 1920s noted: 'only a fool crosses the Gobi without misgivings.'" - I guess I'm a crazy fool! Interestingly, the Gobi is quite diverse with various ice-filled canyons, American Southwest-esque rock formations (think John Wayne movies) and fresh water springs...and only 3% of the Gobi has sand dunes.

We're told in the morning that it would be a long drive to Tsagaan Suvarga ("White Stupa Cliffs"), which meant hours of dusty bumpy dirt roads in a hot van.

We made a quick stop to see a Buddhist temple (Gimpil Dajaalan Khiid), one of the few that survived the communist purges. The monastery was built in the late-18th century to commemorate the first ever visit to Mongolia by a Dalai Lama (the name Dalai Lama means 'Sea of Wisdom' in Mongolian and was given by a Altan Khaan in the 16th century). The monastery reopened in 1990 and the current Dalai Lama visited in 1992. The monastery is a small scale version of Tibetan temples, including a statue of Tsongkhapa (founder of the "Yellow Hat" sect of Buddhism), a Stupa and prayer wheels.










Wahoo...my first sightings of two-hump camels! We stopped to check out a group of camels relaxing on the side of the road. The Mongolian camels, unlike to their cousins in Africa, have two-humps and are slightly smaller. Their humps droop when they don't Wahoo...my first sightings of two-hump camels! We stopped to check out a group of camels relaxing on the side of the road. The Mongolian camels, unlike to their cousins in Africa, have two-humps and are slightly smaller. Their humps droop when they don't have enough water.









After few more hours of driving (just miles of arid landscape), we stopped at Tsagaan Suvarga ("white stupa" cliffs) for a break and a short hike. The 30m cliffs are formed by white limestones, hence the name "White Stupa".








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