Back in UB

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After our 10 day trip in the minivan, I headed back to Ulanbaatar for another day and a half before heading back on the 24 hour train ride to Datong (6 hours West of Beijing). The first night, we just took it easy, and I went out for pizza with Erwin and Aafke, a nice change of pace after numerous plates of mutton and noodles. I also took the second day to explore the city. Mostly a fairly unpleasant looking city, I managed to find the square with the theater and government buildings, a much nicer part than much of the city populated with former Russian style apartment buildings with entrances through convoluted back alleys and busy, pot-holed streets. On the final evening, I met up with my friend Saruul, who I had met on the train up to Mongolia, and she showed me around a bit more of the city, including a war memorial on a hill overlooking the city for a nice view of the sunset. Overall, Mongolia was an incredible, wide open country, and I was really happy to have the chance to see some of the wonderful countryside before getting back to the hectic cities of China.

(Group shot, L to R: Driver Muha, Frauke, Guide Mochee, Ingo, Jenny, Erwin, Aafke and me. Ingo and Frauke are a German couple travelling for one year, Aafke and Erwin are a Dutch couple who came all the way across on the train from Moscow, Jenny is a Malaysian just on a month trip, making her way back down through China after this. Mochee/Mogee is the daughter of a diplomat, so she has lived in Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, China, Mongolia and the US. Not bad.)

(Peace Ave, one of the main streets through UB. Nothing too spectacular, but that's the point.)


(An unfinished high rise that looks a bit like that massive hotel in Dubai. Trust me, this one is not that nice.)

(I believe this building is the Mongolian stock market, on the edge of the big city square.)

(And I think that's the national theater, though I could be wrong. Maybe I should consult Saruul on this one.)

(The government house, fronted by a statue of Chinggis himself.)

(There's the ode to the imperial conqueror, protected by a solitary soldier, looking rather bored.)

(Same place, topped by the Mongolian flag.)

(One of the Buddhist temples on the edge of town. Although it looks like fun, chasing around and annoying all of those pigeons would probably not be a very Buddhist-friendly activity.)

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Tsenkher Hot Springs and Kharkhorin

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Unfortunately, we had to leave one of my favorite spots ever, but our next day was another beautiful drive through yellow grasslands, up some steep hills where it felt as though the van was seconds away from either falling backwards or tipping over sideways. After a short drive, we stopped to help a local family jump start their car by towing it and popping the clutch. As is the Mongolian way, you can't just leave after something like that. The family invited us into their ger, where we had some dried cheese, airag (fermented horse milk) and a few other things. We then stopped at another random ger in the middle of nowhere that happened to be the house of a friend of our driver. Again, we had some cheese, airag and they brought in a massive bowl of animal parts, though we all decided to pass. Not wanting to rude, I usually try just about anything, especially in a situation like this, but the were literally chomping away on livers, intestines, lungs and the like, looking as though they had just been removed from the animal. The hot springs come out of the mountain at something like 80 C, and they are then pumped down to the pools for tourists, though we found it still too hot to be comfortable. After a few minutes of the local owners laughing at us, we had to get out, but it was nice to be too warm for once. The following day, we stopped in Kharkhorin (Karakorum), the ancient capital of Mongolia, home of one of the biggest monasteries, and the last stop on our 10 day journey. On our second to last night, we also had a true Mongolian barbecue, which was not at all like the Mongolian BBQ that I have had in Atlanta. Sad to say, as the Mongolian BBQ in Atlanta is quite good. This meal, on the other hand...not so much. It basically consisted of some fatty slabs of goat, cooked in a massive pot with rocks, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. After a few hours of chewing, I concluded that the former type is better.

(Yak, yak, yak, yak.)


(The jeep of the other group that we met on the road, a nurse/trail guide from California who helped many people in our group through their sicknesses. One night while Frauke was up sick, I also could not sleep because I literally could not lay down, as the noodle soup that I ate, along with two other peoples' portions who did not like it, expanded in my stomach, and I felt like I was about to explode. Not pleasant, but probably worth it.)



(On the bottom left, you can see the jeep again, to give you some scale to these vast grasslands.)

(Muha and the local man that needed a jump for his Toyota enjoy some airag and cheese. This ger actually had a satellite in the back, so it had some black and white tv, along with pictures of their family and random art decorating the small hut.)

(Our second stop, at the friend of Muha's. This is just before the plate of mystery meat was produced.)

(Known for its wild horses and horsemen, we were a little hesitant to take a ride, but these little horses proved to be pretty tame.)

(Ingo and I stuck with the guide for most of our 30 minute trip.)

(Meditating in the pools fed by the hot springs.)

(A true Mongolian barbecue. Some not so prime pieces of meat, a few vegetables and vodka, it's not quite as good as the American version of Mongolian BBQ. Sorry to disappoint. Ingo was a bit frightened, apparently.)

(Erdene Zuu Khiid - the ancient monastery at Kharkhorin, once the center of the massive Mongolian empire.)

(Prayer wheels along the side of one of the buildings within the complex. Two stone turtles along the outside of the temple are supposedly the only thing left from the empire spread by Chinggis Khaan that stretched through most of Asia, all the way to Vienna and Iraq at one point.)

(The outer walls of the temple. I believe there are 108 of those points, as that's a lucky number for Buddhism.)

(We also got to experience some traditional music on our final night, thanks to this old man at our campsite who charged us a bit of money to see demonstrations of this instruments. This is the morin khuur, a violin whose strings are made from horse tail.)

(He also brought along two young ladies who were learning contortionism. Most interesting was his demonstration of traditional khoomii (throat singing). In this style, a few talented people are able to produce two singing sounds at once: one a bit of a low buzzing sound, along with a higher pitch voice. Very interesting.)

(And finally, here's our group. In front, from L to R: Aafke (Holland), Jenny (Malaysia), Me. In back: Frauke (Germany), Ingo (Germany), and Erwin (Holland). It turned out to be quite a fun group, and it was also quite cheap, since we split all of the costs.)

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Orkhon Khurkhree

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Not really expecting much, I was blown away by the place. I had seen one mediocre picture before we left, so I didn't really know what to expect. The drive itself to the place was a lovely mix of yellow and green trees and grasses, but the actual site was incredible to me. Something about the location in the middle of nowhere, with a small gorge hidden beside some small mountains was exactly what I wanted to see. The canyon was filled with trees of all sorts of colors, as we arrived just before the leaves had all fallen. The rocky river below was also pristine, and I was literally running around for hours with the excitement/awe that this place instilled in me. I jumped from rock to rock, marvelling at the view in every direction. Despite the temperature being near freezing, I was soon down to my t-shirt and jeans, loving the adventure of running through this place with no one else in sight. I even awoke early the next morning for a jog in the sub-freezing weather, so eager to see more of this place.

(The first view of the waterfall. It falls into the gorge here and meets up with another river just to the East, still in the gorge of about 150 feet.)

(Looking down over the edge, I couldn't wait to find a way down.)

(At the river's edge, about to start jumping from rock to rock. Luckily there were no mishaps, either, as that water was really cold.)

(Fall weather and scenery. Perfect, especially in late September.)

(I really can't describe how much I loved this place.)

(I stayed down there for two hours the first night, coming back just after sunset, and the group was actually wondering if I was ok, since they only stayed for about 20 minutes at the bottom.)

(A bend along the North end of the river, with the high rock walls on the side.)

(One more picture before heading back up the rocky trail to the top.)

(And just to add to the beauty, I saw a colorful sunset right above the waterfall.)

(Long exposure time = silky water. Nice.)

(Back again the next morning, just as excited, just as beautiful. A local dog actually joined me for the run, though I convinced him not to come down in the canyon with me.)

(Still right about freezing, I didn't mind at all.)

(Reflections.)

(One more time.)

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On the Road to Orkhon Khurkhree (Waterfall)

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Heading back North from the dunes of the Gobi, we encountered a lot more of nothing, exactly what you look for when you come to Mongolia. Actually, the landscapes the next few days were incredible. We had mixes of grasslands, small mountains, rock canyons, rock-strewn plains and even got into a forested area of higher elevation where we saw our first trees in a few days. Eventually, we weaved our way to Orkhon Khurkhree, a waterfall set among a gorge in a lovely yellow grassland, surrounded by yellow, orange, red and green trees. There was also an unfortunate mishap along the way. Heading downhill on a bumpy set of tracks, we heard a faint honk and looked over to see a local on a motorcycle trying to make a pass at a very bad time. Hitting some of the rocks and bumps, coupled with going too fast down the hill, his bike soon began to swerve uncontrollably and then fell underneath him, sending him and the bike flipping down the hill. As with most locals, he wasn't wearing a helmet, so we were quite worried. Just as we stopped, Erwin was already out of the van, offering a hand to the man on the ground. Dazed, he looked up, blood spilling from his head. His cut was actually not too deep, though, especially considering the speed of his crash. More embarrassed by the group of tourists trying to help him, going against the macho Mongolian way of the nomads, he was anxious to get back on the bike and on the road. We suspect he had a concussion, though he wouldn't wait around, so we bandaged his head, fixed the broken pieces of his motorcycle, and he was off. Luckily, his thick del also served as some protection against scrapes and bruises for his upper body, though I still doubt that he was in good shape when he finally looked himself over that night. We passed him again down the road, a few people fearing that he was holding his head, though he was actually on his cell phone, so I guess he wasn't in a dire state.

(Erwin claimed he was stronger than the Russian van. You can guess who won that one. Actually, this was one of our smoke/bathroom/stretch breaks. You can see the bathroom just around the back of the van, and the front, and the side, and behind it...yep, it's everywhere you look.)

(A bit of color for our drive.)

(Stopping of in a provincial capital, we were happy to have a brief stint of paved roads and even a shower. Here are a few locals walking to the morning market, dressed in dels.)

(Mongolian cowboy. Or possibly yakboy or goatboy. Sometimes you can't tell.)

(A small herd of yaks. A strange animal, they seem like a mix of a cow and a shaggy dog. Sometimes a shaggy dog with huge horns.)

(Heading up a steep, wooded hill, we finally made it to the top, where we stopped at the ovoo. These monuments are scattered along the countryside, and you are supposed to walk clockwise around it three times, tossing pebbles or tiny bits of money into the middle for good luck on the journey. If we didn't have time to stop, Muha would just honk, which apparently assuages the gods long enough until our next stop.)
(Only late September, the colors were already changing, and the drive through this area was beautiful, despite a bit of overcast skies.)

(This simple meal was actually the one bit of variety that we did have. This one had carrots, in addition to the noodle and mutton. Again, I liked it all, but others were happy to have a new meal. Other than Erwin; he was sick in the van at the time.)

(After an incredible drive, we stopped at our campsite at Orkhon waterfall. The nice locals greeted us with handshakes and hellos, along with a blazing fire fueled by wood and yak dung in our ger, which was quite nice, since it got down to about -5 C/20 F that night.)

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Camel Ride

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After our first night at the dunes, we got set for another big adventure - a four hour camel ride through the desert. Using Bactrian (two humped) camels, it was fairly comfortable, and they are more smooth than horses, probably because they're lazy, but I can sympathize. They are a bit smelly, but again, I can also sympathize after being in the desert without a shower for days.

(I got up early enough to watch the sun rise over the dunes, though I felt a little bad that it wasn't more spectacular, as Erwin and Ingo both joined me for the early morning. Sorry, but I can't control the weather, guys. Idiots.)

(Once again, the dunes of Khongoryn Els. These are actually known as the Singing Sands, due to the sound that they supposedly make when the wind blows over the sand. I think they are a bit shy because they never sang for us.)


(Suited up on our camels and ready to go. I named my camel Bob. He seemed to prefer the sprint ahead, wait, eat some vegetation while being yelled at and then catch up again method.)

(This was one of our food stops before Bob decided it was time to catch up.)

(There we are, taking our time across the hot sand.)

(He couldn't resist this tasty shrub. Check out my sweet sun protection - a t-shirt hanging under my hat. High tech, effective and fashionable. I had it all.)

(Erwin and Ingo make their way past. By the way, Erwin regretted not wearing pants later, as that "old camel" smell is hard to get rid of.)

(Our guide, who I nicknamed Rambo thanks to his bandanna and sunglasses, takes a break among the camels.)

(Back on top of the dunes, ready to start making ads for Adidas, if they fund my travels. I have to admit that Erwin first had this idea, though he did New Balance, so I wasn't copying.)

(The last bits of sun over the sand, meaning that it was time to come down for dinner.)

(So we did...this time it was Ingo, Frauke, Aafke, Erwin and me climbing the dune, as we spoke so highly of it the day before when just Erwin, Jenny and I climbed it. I'm so persuasive.)

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