Central Mongolia

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Hi all,
After the Nadaam I wanted to go and see a little more of Mongolia. This time I found six more people who speak my language, and we hired a van (another Russian metal box) for seven days. The plan was to drive west to central Mongolia, and then North to a nice and big lake, and then to release the car and the driver and stay there for a while.
The first day was short, and we drove most of the way back to Kharkhorin. On the way we stopped for a while in a ger and they gave us their local drink - Airag, which is fermented mare's milk, and tastes like sour milk. They drink it all the time, and even though the amount of alcohol there is minimal - it makes them very happy.
We spent the night near some small sand dunes, called Mongol Els, mostly for the people who didn't go to the Gobi. It wasn't that impressive.
While we were making dinner many local kids came around and bugged us. I was babysitting them for a while to let the others cook. It was very tiring...
The next day we went to Kharkhorin, to the same monastery I've seen before, and I won't tell it again.
From there we drove a little north. Stopped on the way near an ancient scribe stone that has the names of the Turkish tribes on it (it the oldest evidence of these tribes and it's in Mongolia... The Turkish president was visiting this stone just a week after we did).
We arrived to Ogii Nuur, a very nice lake, for spending the rest of the day. Went in for a little swim in the cold water, and then tried my new hobby - fishing. Heard from people that fishing is possible in the Mongolian lakes, so before we went on this trip I bought myself a new fishing rod with all the needed accessories (for about 15$) and decided I'll try my luck. Since I knew nothing about fishing - it took me a long while until I even learned how to throw it into the water well enough. I didn't catch anything that day, but it was still nice.
That night while we were making dinner our driver disappeared. We knew he had another friend who was driving another car there, and we guessed they are sitting together somewhere drinking the national drink - vodka (did I mention the Soviet influence?). When we were getting into our tents he returned, very happy, and very loud. He kept yelling "vodka! vodka!", and he even grabbed the ass of one of the guys... That scene repeated itself several times later on in the trip.
That night it was raining heavily, and I was really happy that this time I have a better tent...
The next day was a long driving day. We started to see some trees and even small forests, but it was obvious that the Mongolian are cutting them down rapidly. We had another stop in a ger, with the same things - airag, dry cheese, dry bread, wool shearing, etc.
That night we reached some hot springs. It was raining a little bit and there was a beautiful rainbow over the valley. After eating we took some vodka and some juice, and went to the hot pools. Spent a couple of hours there, and it was very fun. We even got a hot shower (and a shave).
The next day was yet another long day of driving. We stopped on the way in Tsetserleg, a small city, for buying some more food. After that the scenery became a little more dramatic, with the hills getting higher and can even be called mountains.
On the way we stopped many times to see little interesting things. A big holly rock (Taikhar Chuluu), ancient scribe stones (many of them around the country), a nice gorge, and so on.
The final stop was The Great White Lake (Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur), a beautiful lake surrounded by a volcanic area, and some volcanoes. We climbed the Khorgo Uul volcano all the way to its crater, and then went to the lake itself.
There was a little patch of land full of ovoos, and it was very beautiful. I took photos of it from every possible direction.
I tried fishing again that evening, without any luck again. Later we met some more tourists and one of them gave me some tips from his experience in fishing. He caught a big fish that day.
We were very tired from the long road, and decided to rest for the next day instead of going on a one day horse ride as we planned. We woke up late, did almost nothing, and I tried fishing again. This time I lost my hook and weight to the lake, and I realized that the equipment I have is not the best... Went to the little shop that was there and bought some new hooks, weights, a stronger fishing line, and a float. All for another 3$. But it still didn't help me and I didn't catch anything.
All of a sudden a big storm appeared on the far side of the lake. Somebody said that there was nothing to worry about, because the wind is in another direction and it will pass us. Less than 15 minutes later we were standing in heavy rain with some hail. We got so soaking wet that there was no reason to hide anymore. We disassembled the tents and packed everything, and decided to start driving on, since there was no reason to stay any longer on the lake.
During that drive we passed near a very big ovoo. The driver circled around it clockwise with the car before driving on. Was very funny. Later we stopped to watch another driver catching one of the many little squeals that were running around everywhere. They were laughing about having it for dinner, but they released it.
That night we stayed with a family. We slept in their ger while they slept at the neighbors'. We saw them milking their yaks, and they gave us all the regular treats. They gave us something they call "Mongolian Vodka", which is basically some yeast in water with some sugar. This is what they add to the milk to make airag. But they also drink it straight. Quite disgusting. Their kids showed us that the wrestling in the Nadaam is something they practice for since they are very young, and they even had an improvised basketball court for playing in the middle of nowhere (so I played with them a little bit).
We cooked dinner and offered them some, but they didn't like it. They can't eat anything with any taste, and any kind of herb or spice you add to the food makes it impossible for them. Needless to say that we didn't like the Mongolian food that much - because it was tasteless!
The next morning we used their stove to make some pita bread and ate it with some chocolate. Was a sweet way to start the day.
In the country you barely see any cars. Even in the small towns you don't see too many. But somehow, while we stopped for gas, we heard a big crashing sound, and our car moved forward almost two meters. When we looked around we saw that a big truck, that probably wanted to stop for gas too, forgot the part about stopping, and just hit us from the back. It was unbelievable that we actually had a car accident in a gas station. Our driver was shocked for a few minutes. The car was his life. The car is a Mongolian source of pride (remember that family and the pictures in front of their truck?). He just stared at it and didn't say a word. The damage wasn't too bad, and we thought they will write down the details and we could move on. We were wrong. We all drove to a ger nearby, and then they started working on the car. The hammered on it for hours, brought new lamps instead of the broken ones, and so on, until they make it look like new (only the paint job was missing). We spent there seven hours in the ger while they were working on the car. After that they also gave him a nice amount of money.
during that time we saw some more shearing, some more milking (this time of sheep), and they made for us some nice local form of sweet MALAUACH. They were also watching TV with their satellite dish, and we could see some news on the Russian channel - the Demonstrations in the Gaza Strip for the Pullout...
After all the fixing was finished we drove on to another small town, where the sister of our driver lives. We spent the night camping in her back yard, and we had dinner with them. The town had a power grid and power lines were connected to every house, but at night it was complete dark. They said that they didn't pay the bill to Russia for a while so the Russian just stopped supplying electricity.
The next day we drove to Moron, the biggest city in Northern Mongolia. We had lunch in a restaurant - the first meat I had in a week. On the way we saw some camels who lost their desert, a little funny sight in the middle of the green. Another two hours and we arrived to Khatgal, almost on the lake, where we spent another night in the tent before we released our driver and moved on to the lake.
And until that story is here,
R.

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Photos

The devil
Already on the second they decided I am a devil... Is it that obvious?

Ogii Nuur
And a Mongolian Highway...

View from the top
And an ovoo...

Ovoo in the water
How can you circle that one?

Comments

[Jen]

Beautiful Pics
Great journal of travel events.. thank you. The pictures are gorgeous and exactly what I have been wishing to see! Keep smilen