Into the Back of Beyond. Visiting the Darkhad and Tsartan People


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Asia » Mongolia » Khovsgol
June 23rd 2009
Published: June 23rd 2009
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‘This winter it’s very bad’ said Ulzii, our hired translator for the trek, ‘at worst it’s maybe -52C or something, many people losed cattle and this spring it’s very sad and the cattle is still so weak’ she explained as we marvelled at how she’d managed to learn English so well having lived her entire life in such a barren outpost, in addition to ‘Darkhad’, ‘Tsartan’ and he... Read Full Entry



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En-route to the second Tsartan campEn-route to the second Tsartan camp
En-route to the second Tsartan camp

About 30km north of here, as the crow flies, and you would be in Siberia
Home of the TsartanHome of the Tsartan
Home of the Tsartan

About 30km north of here, as the crow flies, and you would be in Siberia
Home of the TsartanHome of the Tsartan
Home of the Tsartan

About 30km north of here, as the crow flies, and you would be in Siberia
Home of the TsartanHome of the Tsartan
Home of the Tsartan

About 30km north of here, as the crow flies, and you would be in Siberia



3rd July 2009

nice
wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! such a nice trip! lucky you two:))
10th July 2009

Alright Lee! It's been a real pleasure to read this, it's so beautifully written and the photos are just incredible. A real gem of a blog. Am in the very slow process of writing mine about Mongolia now but all that just seems like a different world now that I'm back in England and I'm finding it very hard to do. Hope you're trip's going well, would be interested to know where you are now. Let me know if you want any tips about travel in West Papua. All the best, Ed.
2nd September 2010

Mongolia adventure
Hi there I have been reading your blogs about Mongolia. Your photos are beautiful and great descriptions. I see that you were looking for others to share the trip with. We would have been keen if the timing was right! If you don't mind, do you have any information that might help us? We have 12 days in Mongolia in September as part of the trans-mongolian railway journey. The guesthouses all offer tours but we have heard stories about drunk van drivers and 'tourist theme parks'. It sounds like you had an excellent guide who took you to some really untouched spots. How did you come across him? Pre-arranged or sorted out once you arrived in UB? We would like to avoid the unfriendly tourists camps that you mentioned too! Any information would be really appreciated if you have the time. Many thanks, Anna and Chris http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Chris---Anna/
5th September 2010

Mongolia adventure!
Hi Chris/ Anna, We arranged our trip with Idre's Guesthouse in UB. I did a lot of research on LP Thorntree before we went to Mongolia and Idre was recommended lots of times, so we used him. It turned out to be an excellent choice and I'd absolutely recommend using him again. Idre is a super friendly guy with excellent English. We basically told him what we wanted (i.e. to visit a few key places, hire local translators in each place, stay with locals where possible and not to stay in tourist camps) and he had arranged much of it for us prior to our arrival. He seems to have contact with local guides all over the country. This is much better than taking a guide from UB as a local guide will know the local people, places and be more accepted by the locals than guides from distant cities. Not to mention the fact they are normally cheaper! This also means you don't have the expense of a guide during the days spent on the road where you really don't need one (and it's impossible not to waste days on the road in Mongolia - the going is tough and the distance between places is huge). Of these 'tourist theme parks' you talk of, I can imagine the kind of places you mean - almost all of them are located in the centre of the country a day or two west from UB, and mostly used by tourists from the trans-mongolian railway who have just a few days to spare. In my honest opinion they are not the best way to experience Mongolia. Seeing as you only have 12 days, my advice would be to just pick and area (I picked the far north for example) and go as deep into it as you can. Mongolia isn't about the towns and cities, it's about the journey and people you meet along the way so don't worry about not seeing 'all' of it. After a day and a half driving any direction from UB you'll be long away from the tourist hordes. Anyway, if you have any questions please just email me back and I'll help you if I can. Idre has a website: http://www.idretour.com/ (it looks like a huge operation, but i assure you it isn't! The guesthouse is lovely too) Hope this helps Lee

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