Picture Gallery - images of trip - MONGOLIA
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MONGOLIA - : Images from left to right:
Western Mongolia – To Ulaangom
The village on the Mogolian side of the border; Our visit to ‘Bilk's' family ger was quite interesting and they were very hospitable. It was great to see the inside of a tradition Ger – very colourful. And ‘tea' with the grandmother and his mum was an experience; Grandma standing beside her little kitchen; Kate, Bilk, Viv, Gay and Neil sitting down waiting for ‘tea'.
Helen talking to Bilk; some very colourful handmade tapestry made by Bilk's mum and which adorns the walls of the ger; Rod helping himself to some of the food offered by Bilk's Grandmother & Mum; the setting for Bilk's family gers; Ron, legs crossed, trying to keep all contained with no undies on and granny looking inquisitive!!
Gay coming out of the family ger; Bilk's family gers.
We spent the next two nights camped on the edge of a dry creek bed just out of Tsagaannuur. Rod & Neil had to put in another bolt in the shackle that wasn't tightened enough when it got repaired; Ron had to repair the radiator on the Patrol (it had developed a leak – from the repairs last year in Kenya) and there was gear spread everywhere.
Heading to the village of Tsagaannuur and found a nice stream where we collected some water; the track up between the dry mountains; a ger with a big herd of goats/sheep; a small group of cow/yaks (hainags – a cross between a cow and a yak).
The wide green floodplain of the Bohmoron Gol River. We ended up with a guide – Kalimat - and he led us out of the town following the telegraph line across the river; We crested a range at about 2550m and there were good views to the north and to the Uureg Lake where we camped; As we descended we met up with two Mongul Rally vehicles (5 blokes) who were crawling along – they were down to their last spare. We plugged one of the tyres – it had 4 separate.
Our camp above Uureg Lake; Ron & Viv beside a small stream just out of one of the many villages we passed through – we made the most of this one and washed our hair and had a wash sort of discretly between car doors; one of many windy camps – here we try and hold down the awning!! Down near the bottom of a pass we came across a small family group on the move.
We came across a big mob of people and animals all on the move after passing through a long pass to a high flat plain. It was fantastic as they were carrying all their gers and other equipment on camels. There were kids and girls pushing sheep and goats, blokes on horses, granny in her traditional attire riding a horse, a couple on foot who were leading a large group of heavily laden camels; Kate gave out a couple of hand creams to the girls, much to their pleasure!
The views thru here were fantastic and each time we crossed a high ridge there was a small Buddhist shrine of stones and blue cloth. We came across a small group of goats with their herders at the top of one such pass; Headed towards the vast lake of Uvs Nuur . This lake is the largest by surface area in Mongolia, is 5-7 timers saltier than the sea and no fish live there and made camp in the large, flat expanse surrounding the lake.
East to the Ider Gol River
We headed east and ended up visiting a few smaller villages along the way; A lone ger sits up on a vantage point overlooking the Uuvs Lake; Another little village and more directions as to where to go.
The country became much better grassed as we headed east and we made camp in a grassy gully on a flat bordering a small dry creek; Driving through a well grassed steppe we came across a group of workers cutting hay and raking it up using a small Chinese made tractor and a hand-activated rake.
As we headed east we were in grassy country with mountains all round. It was delightful country to drive through; approaching the town of Tes Gers where dotted along the river up against the surrounding districtive mountain peaks; the ‘wild west' feeling of the streets in Tes, where typical of many of the villages/towns we passed through.
In Tes we wandered the main streets of this large town and found a few shops where we could buy a few essentials. At one shope we handed out one of Viv's Mum's knitted hats to a Mum and her baby; the ‘wild west' feel with a horse tied up outside the shop beside our Patrol; the inside of the ‘local' shops – very basic.
A small herd of Mongolian Horses graze happily in a green valley – there are millions of horses!! Our Oygon Lake Camp was situated on the northern end of the lake, which is salty, we set up camp 50 metres from the water's edge and then a few of us headed along the lake to get a calf that seemed stuck, out off the water. It was near blind and Viv and Gay perservered with it until a local herder came along – they didn't care so with that Viv and Gay came back to camp; The route south headed to the village of Nomrog which was quite a large village.
The streets of Nomrog; Heading east the valley was latterly covered in wildflowers; As we were traveling around the lake of Telmen Nuur we were just heading up the hill from the lake when we came across a rolled over trailer and a recovery in action. The truck was heavily loaded with skins or wool, as were all three trailers he was towing – the rear one had rolled and with the help of another passing truck they were rolling it back onto its wheels.
From the large town of Tosontsengel in the pretty valley of the Ider Gol River with hills and mountains all round we headed up the valley following the Ider Gol River; Taxi Mongolian style – a family were given a ‘lift' across the river, probably to visit friends in the Gers nearby; We found our River Camp which was an absolute beauty, the best of the trip so far!
Rod & Kate relax with an afternoon drink on a log over the river; The large expanse of the Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur (The Great White Lake) – freshwater and very popular with tourists heading out from Ulaanbataar; The impressive gorge on the Chuluutin Gol River.
Nearby the Chuluutin Gol River ravine was large Buddhist shrine and prayer offering draped over a big fir tree. There was a mini-bus full of people at the shrine and a young family – Viv gave them one of Viv's Mum's lovely hand knitted baby jumpers; We also left an offering of one of our little koalas, and did a circuit around the tree 3 times for luck – not that it did us much good – the car still overheated and we broke a spring!!!
Another lovely valley with a river flowing through it – where you had water and grazing like this you had lots of gers and animals scattered all along the valley; a ‘truckie' stop Mongolian style; We made it to the town of Tsetserleg and found the Fairfield Bakery & Guesthouse which we read about – had an early lunch their – great little place.
We found the market in town and enjoyed a look in some of the stalls – very impressive boots and hats and some fresh fruit and veggies – a scarcity so good to find.
Next major town to visit was what was once Ghinggis Khaan's capital back in 1220 – Karkhorin (Karakorum). The monument to GH up on top of the hill just outside of town was quite impressive, showing the empire he had during his time; the other main sight in town was the Erdene Zuu Khiid Monastery which was started in 1586.
Views inside the Erdene Zuu Khiid monastery and its temples; the monks hold ceremonies in the Lavrin Sum each morning.
Outside the monastery walls there are two ‘turtle rocks' – four of which once marked the boundaries of ancient Karakorum acting as protectors of the city; Our camp tucked a little way off the main road as we head towards Ulaanbataar.
We made it through the manic traffic along the main road through the city centre, Peace Avenue, past the impressive Parliament House building before finally reaching our guesthouse; The Oasis Guesthouse was indeed an oasis amongst the chaos that is the city; Ron found the ARB store and the broken spring was replaced.
The Gobi is our next destination.
