5th June 2008
Wow. Wow. Wow. The landscape today was breath-taking. We left Tsterleg at about 9am. The sky was blue, the rocky mountains surrounding the town were begging to be photographed, with their lower slopes coated in green grass. A green that seemed amazing after the browns of UB. We drove over a small mountain pass and then down through a forest of evergreens. The grass was like a carpet. Then the valley opened up and scene after scene of epic vistas opened up over the next 10 hours – to the point where I had to close my eyes for a while. Re the photo above - this is my own version of the old Microsoft default start-up photo.
Over the 10 hours in the car we drove through mountains growing spindly forests, along the floor of big valleys, past rivers snaking along the valley floor, through herds of goats or sheep or horses or yaks, past mountains that seemed to be constructions of rubble. We passed a Mongolian mini-grand canyon called “rock river”. We drove alongside this for a while after it appeard out of nowhere, a deep crevasse in the landscape, with walls made of grey rock, a river running down below.
We took a side-trip to visit Khorgo Uul volcano.The volcano was black, covered in black rubble. The path of the lava flow was clear, with a wide swathe of black rocks spreading from the base into the valley below. The only thing growing on the black rocks were some spindly evergreens and tiny yellow and purple wildflowers. We took a break to climb the 400m to the crater at the top. The climb was a good puff. Rocks had been piled up everywhere and someone had kindly made concrete stairs for the steepest bits. From the top we could see the beginning of the eastern shore of the Great White Lake – Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur.
With our legs wobbling from the climb down we bumped our way across the plain and climbed a hill. At the top was a big ovoo, fluttering with blue scarves. A group of tourists was sprawled on rocks nearby, which seemed strange as there were no vehicles about. Ahead was the glorious spread of the lake, sparkling in the sun. The “Lonely Planet” describes this lake as: “certainly the highlight of Arkhangai, and one of the best in a country full of beautiful lakes.” Except for a few tourist ger camps dotted along the shore, the lake was empty and quiet, used only by the birds. We spent about two hours driving alongside the lake before we reached the other end. At one point Tungaa asked to stop and feel the water. We all climbed out and knelt beside the water, dipping our hands into the cold almost reverentially. It is fresh water. The lake is a protected area, so there are no herders nearby.
After White Lake we climbed and climbed until we were driving through smooth-topped mountains that still had patches of snow. At the very peak we came to the border between Arkhangai and Zavkhan provinces. After passing by a large ovoo and under a special gate we started our drive down a valley that almost looked alpine. We were following a river that still had significant slabs of ice on the banks. Zavkhan is known for being cold, but it was 24C when we reached the valley floor.
I forgot to mention that earlier in the day we passed two foreigners on motorbikes that looked just like the two guys who rode through Mongolia on “Long Way Around”. One even waved at me. We were travelling in comfort and style in ADRA’s new Prado. It did look like Nat and I were on an escorted luxury jaunt so I thought about putting up a sign to tell everyone that we were actually on our way to work! By the way, count the satellite dishes in the photo below...
Not long into Zavkhan we came across a gathering of people and horses. Our driver is from Zavkhan so he veered off the road to have a look. We found a mini-Nadaam festival in progress. They had apparently just finished a ceremony regarding the ovoo on top of a nearby mountain. Now they were concluding the wrestling tournament. Lots of “happy” men were wandering about. Being blonde makes me stand out, so I decided to just bring the camera, zoom and all, and take some photos.
We arrived at Tosontsengel at about 6:30pm. The hotel is full due to electioneering. So Nat and I have been given the lounge room and will sleep on the giant lounge chairs. We are set-up nicely, as there is a computer in here with speakers, so I have plugged in the ipod and we are listening to the blues while waiting for it to get dark enough to go to sleep (there are no dark curtains on the windows). I have an upset tummy – probably from the fish balls I had in the pub in Tsetserleg, but otherwise the drive over the past two days has been phenomenal (did I mention all the unpaved roads?). It will be good to spend some time with people now. We are here for three days.
