STOP PRESS – MY TIME IN A GER CAMP:
As you know, a “Yurt” or “Ger” is a temporary dwelling, round in shape with a rising roof that nomadic farmers live in. Yurt is a Russian word whilst Ger is used by Mongolians. When you travel throughout Mongolia you will sleep in a Ger that typically has 5 beds in it. Most Ger camps will have 7 to 12 Gers and are owned and run by a single family who live on site in their own Ger during the summer. In winter they lock them up and head to permanent dwellings in a big town or city. Most Gers have a light powered by solar and some have 220V power for charging – not all have power so be prepared to bring one or two power banks. Toilets are located away from the Gers and always consist of a hole in the ground – no flushing. Only some Ger camps have showers. These are usually hot with water under gravity – not much pressure so it takes some time to get wet and rinse. Ger camps do not provide towels or bed sheets so you need to bring your own towel and sleeping bag. In summer it is so warm you do not need a bag – just sleep on top of the duvet like I did. All these basic things are part of the Ger experience. The Gers themselves are warm and cosy. The beds have hard mattresses and very thick duvets’ which you will not need in summer since it gets quite warm inside. For me it was like camping with facilities so I was quite at home. The best thing about Ger camps is that they are located in open fields next to or close to the attractions you are visiting. For example, I could see camels and dunes from my Ger door. Gers are isolated so they are very quiet at night with lots of stars or brilliantly bright moonlight. Ger camps are owned by families who live in a large Ger of their own. Usually there is a separate Ger they cook and eat in. Tourists have their own Ger kitchen for the guides to cook in and their own dining Ger to eat in. Simply put, a Ger is the best way to experience the vastness and isolation and beauty of Mongolia.
I decided to sleep in to recover from the dune climb. The drive to the Flaming Cliffs went through the Khavgait Valley (also called Cave Valley by locals). This is a series of giant rocky outcrops arranged along a spiral shaped channel with long grass at their base to the roadside – it is a landscape I have not seen before. What is even stranger is that there are heaps of Mongolian Gazelles (shorter and stubbier than African ones) and even Snow Leopards to hunt them !!! Snow Leopards are rare and it is strange that they are here in Mongolia. We made a lunch stop in a full-fledged café in Bulgan. They young lady making our iced Lattes was kind enough to hot spot me and I was able to easily publish Post 36 (the one before this one). My Holafly eSim doesn’t always work – a lot has to do with the network it chooses – this is random – some are good and some do not work at all. Bulgan is 117km from the dunes and only 21km from the Flaming Cliffs which are called Bayanzag by the locals.
The Flaming Cliffs are a world-renowned paleontological site in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. They are famous for their red sandstone cliffs that glow at sunset, hence the name, and for the significant dinosaur fossil discoveries made there, including the first dinosaur eggs ever found !!! The rocks are part of the Djadochta Formation, dating back 71-75 million years. American palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews named the area "Flaming Cliffs" in the 1920s. He and his team discovered the first dinosaur eggs here. Other significant fossil finds include Protoceratops and Velociraptor remains and eutherian mammals. I was very impressed with the cliffs because it took me the better part of 2hrs to properly shoot them. This is because there are so many different shapes in the red sandstone formations and so many different vantage points to shoot them from. You are free to walk almost anywhere including dangerously high and narrow precipices. Sadly, all the dinosaur fossil finds are in a museum 2hrs away which was too late to visit since our Ger camp was only 11km from the cliffs and it was 430pm when we finished walking the cliffs. As we drove to our Ger camp in the middle of nowhere the cloud cover thickened and darkened. We were headed for rain. Tonight’s dinner was extra special. Called KHORKHOG, it is a very traditional and old Mongolian dish of goat ribs, cabbage, potato and carrot all cooked with hot stones over 3 hrs !!! Worth the wait. Washed down with the local Gobi Lager beer it was delicious and a great way to celebrate the cliffs, which I am sure you will enjoy…
Today was the most dramatic day of my entire trip to date because it rained. More on this later. The sound of rain on a Ger is awesome. If that does not help one sleep, nothing will. The only downside for me is that it was still raining heavily when my alarm went off at 6am for my run. No way I could run since the dirt road I had picked out was now a mud road !!! So, I slept in to 8am. It was a welcome change. When I turned up for some brekkie in the dining Ger, Baikal informed me that Loya was in Bulgan checking the two van tyres he had replaced and the oil level which was low. 9am then 10am then 11am then Noon and no sign of Loya. All this time Baikal kept calling Loya on progress and he kept saying he was nearly finished. Our next call was to the big boss Henry to inform him that we had to prepare for the possibility the Loya’s car would not be fixed and that we needed to organise another car. Henry agreed and Baikal lined up a Landcruiser to come down 600km+ from Ulaanbaatar to pick us up if Loya bombed out. It was now 1pm and Loya insisted he was on his way. I prepared for the possibility that he just abandoned us !!! Not so.
At 120pm Loya rocked up and off we went. It turns out that the wire connected to the ABS had shorted and kept limiting power to the throttle. It took Loya ages to find a mechanic who could find the short and shield the wire. There was also oil leaking from the bottom of the sump due to a loose screw from all the bumping (remember I mentioned screws coming loos – I was only postulating but it came true !!!). Pity we had lost 4hrs of my day but at least the rain had stopped around 11am and it was warming up. Loya drove like a madman to make up time. The initial 2hrs was on very ridged gravel and subsequently very noisy and it is surprising that every nut and bolt in the van did not come loose and the van falling apart !!! The landscape persisted to be flat and was barren all the way around. No mountains. No trees. No other cars. We were immersed in nothingness and completely off-road, switching from one track to another. Then came some soft tracks due to the rain but there was no mud – at least not yet. I spoke too soon because the mud came. We abandoned our track and simply drove along random hill tops that at least had drained of water. We were driving completely freeform. This was adventure. We could get stuck at any moment. This was a van and not 4WD. What were these guys thinking !!! I had never gone off road, off track in my life – not even in Australia. Why did the Gobi Desert in Mongolia have to be my first experience of “no road” motoring in a van of all vehicles !!! Eventually we found the dirt track that Loya was telling us about (in Mongolian of course). It was free of mud but the start of our drama. While I work on my blog I look up regularly for a good shot and less often to check where we are on Organic Maps. Both serve as micro-rests from my work. At my first pee break I looked at Organic Maps to see how far we were from the Ongi Monastery. We were further away than the last time I looked and noticed that the direction the van and road faced was OPPOSITE to where my Ongi pin was !!! We were going the wrong way !!! I called Baikal and Loya over so that they could. Check their phones. Baikal had maps.me (the predecessor to Organic Maps) and Loya had Google Maps since he always maintained a good signal. Both agreed with me. Loya apologised realising that he had made a-hard-to-notice very wide 180-degree circle trying to avoid the mud and find his hard road. Organic Maps saved me yet again !!! From that moment onwards I became the de-facto navigator guiding Loya towards Ongi Monastery using my watch compass as a backup. Who would have thought that I would navigate the Gobi Desert in Mongolia after being here for just 5 days !!! Then the real adventure started – going through huge puddles of water and almost getting stuck. Reminded me of my solo 4WD trip into a flooded outback NSW during COVID interstate lockdown. It was torture holding my breath with each passing pool as we inched closer to the village which would relieve us.
At 430pm we reached the oasis village of Mandal-Ovoo – we were safe. From here both Loya and Baikal knew the way to the monastery having done it many times before. We grabbed an ice-cream and we were on our way. The impressive little supermarket even sold Australian Yellow Tail wine !!! The next 2hrs were over very flat rocky ground – almost like a dried up lake bed. At least there was no mud and we maintained a good speed even though it was a track several criss-crossing each other to be exact. We arrived at the Ongi Monastery Complex around 630pm and I decided to skip seeing it that afternoon due to heavy cloud causing darkness over the ruins. We were meant to get here 4hrs earlier but Loya took care of that with his faulty car !!! I would take my chances tomorrow morning with the hope of clear skies and a rising sun to shine on the ruins. The Ger camp was only 3km away nestled alongside the Ongi River and featured a grand stone dining room with excellent Wi-Fi. I quickly settled into my Ger, showered and headed to the stone dining room with my wine. Baikal and Loya joined me at 730pm to have dinner prepared by the family that owned the camp – delicious – a chicken stir fry. As I prepared for sleep I noticed that the cloud was lifting – a good sign for tomorrow’s visit to the monastery complex ruins.
630am revealed a clear blue sky and I was relieved. After a quick brekkie and booking the Guianas, we headed to the complex. Hardly anyone there. What a contrast compared with China. The ruins are extensive located on either side of the Ongi River.
The “Ongi Monastery” is in fact TWO ruined Tibetan Buddhist monastery complexes that face each other across the Ongi River - the Barlim Monastery is located on the north bank of the river while the Khutagt Monastery sits on the south bank. The older southern complex consisted of various administrative buildings as well as 11 temples. The northern complex, built in the 18th century, consisted of 17 temples – among them one of the largest temples in all of Mongolia. The grounds housed also 4 Buddhist universities. Founded in 1660, it was one of the largest monastery complexes in Mongolia and housed over 1000 monks at its height. Both complexes of Ongi Monastery were completely destroyed in 1939 during anti-religious purges carried out under Khorloogiin Choibalsan, the leader of the Communist Party of Mongolia. Over 200 monks were killed, and many surviving monks were imprisoned or forcibly laicized and conscripted into the Communist controlled army. A large number of ruins including a tall stupa can be seen on the river and on the surrounding hills. In the 1990s, it was decided to rebuild the monastery. The first temple was inaugurated in 2004. There is a small museum in a Ger in front of it. One of the stupas has just been reconstructed as well. It has a commemorative plaque indicating the names of the monks who were killed in 1939.
Before we head to the Orkhon Valley, tell me what you think of the Ongi Monastery Complex Ruins…
.jpg)
It was around 930am when we started our 301km journey to the Orkhon Valley. We would head north, officially leaving the Gobi. Just 24km out of Ongi, we made a brief stop for fuel at a small town called Saikhan-Ovoo. Totally flat, small and isolated, it reminded me of outback towns in Australia. The next 2hrs from here was over very flat wide open green plains with heaps of herds of goats every so often. This area is famous for goat herders who live with their families in a Ger in the middle of nowhere. The elevation of 1450m proves that Mongolia is essentially one giant plateau which explains the snow and bitter sub-teen winters and the 35C summers. A land of extremes. We then passed a granite marker indicating the province border that officially leaves the Gobi behind. The green hills started to increase in size and shape – the Gobi had truly ended and we were in very fertile land with cows, sheep and goats everywhere. Around 230pm we reached the colourful town of Khujirt where we enjoyed a lunch of mixed meats and cold cabbage and carrot salad washed down by local 6.7% lager beer. Khujirt had a terrific supermarket with heaps of wine and the 12yr old son of the owner ran bottles back and forth from his mum to show me prices. I left with some Italian Grenache Rose – an amazing find in such an isolated place for a princely sum of $11AUD per bottle. Just 43km from Khujirt was the famous Uurtiin Tokhoi Cliff high above a huge bend at the start of the Orkhon Valley. It is here Mongolian General Galdan Bochgot lost over 1000 of his soldiers off this cliff in a fierce battle in 1656. What a site. What an introduction to the Orkhon Valley. This valley is vast and wide. The valley floor is super green hovering around 1700m elevation and full of cows, yaks, sheep and goats. It is an animal agricultural wonderland. There are bare green mountains on one side and volcanic mountains covered in pines on the other with the Orkhon River on the volcano side. There is also this strange petrified volcanic ash rock spread through the middle. There are too many Ger camps and lots of tent camping by locals mainly from the capital on their summer holidays. We had to cross the Orkhon River a few times and came close to getting stuck. Loya did a fine job getting us through. This was the slowest most torturous drive of them all – the tracks were really bad and we were lucky to average 20km/h. Our family Ger camp was across two rivers. The first serviced by a bridge but the second was at least 100m wide and flowing rapidly. When I saw Loya hesitate I stepped in and asked that we do not cross. The last thing I wanted was to get stuck just 200m from the prize and at 8pm !!! I got no objection from Baikal. She knew what the owner Henry had told me. When a tour is booked by only one person (or party), that person has the call on what happens if it is going to affect the itinerary. They can take suggestions from the guide and driver but ultimately it is their decision. Baikal got on the phone and found another Ger camp and off we went arriving there at a record 9pm. No vanity. No shower. Just the Orkhon River and hole-in-the-ground swat-down single outdoor loo for 8 Ger’s to share. This was the most basic of Ger camps and we were here two nights !!! No time for dinner but to her credit Baikal managed to whip up an omelette to which I added tuna and peas from my emergency rations. Thank goodness because that did the trick and I was able to sleep.
I woke to a splendid day. Because our camp is at 1800m, the overnight low was 13C and I could sleep in to 9am for a 20C greeting. My run took me north along the Orkhon River with excellent views of the Orkhon Valley itself.
The Orkhon Valley is a natural valley and a UNESCO World Heritage site only 320km west of Ulaanbaatar. It is renowned for its rich history and cultural significance as a cradle of nomadic civilization. It served as the heartland for various empires, including the Huns, Turkic peoples, Uighurs, and the Mongols. The valley is also known for its natural beauty, featuring the Orkhon River and the Orkhon Waterfall. The valley has been inhabited for millennia, with evidence of human presence dating back 40,000 to 15,000 years. The following key historical sites are located in the Orkhon Valley: the ruins of the Uighur capital (Khar Balgas), the ancient Mongolian capital of Karakorum, the Erdene Zuu Monastery (the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia) and the Orkhon Inscriptions (ancient Turkic inscriptions, dating back to the 8th century).
After my run, I washed myself in the 12C river. I was in pain but clean. After a hot cup of 3-in-1 instant coffee, milk and sugar it was time for horse riding. Mongolians love their horses. There are no working dogs – only horses to round up cattle, yaks, sheep and goats. Unlike Turkmenistan and Uruguay, who worship horses, Mongolians can eat their horses. In fact, Mongolian nomads keep whole herds of horses like we keep cows or sheep since they drink their milk and eat their flesh !!!
Our horse guide brought three horses to our Gers – one for him, one for my guide and one for me. Placid creatures, very well trained and very responsive. We trotted off to the Orkhon Waterfall which was only 3km away. The waterfall was the first time that I saw crowds of people, all locals from the capital. The waterfall is not large (24m high and 10m wide) but it dispenses a huge amount of water. The fall is a result of the Orkhon River falling into a ravine 20m below its southern run. You can view the fall from above and then make a short rocky hike down to the ravine to view it from the base. Did both. Then back on the horses and back to the Gers – this time with the horse guide’s young 5yr riding with his dad. I enjoyed the 60min+ riding very much and it was well timed by me (I set the departure time) because only 30min after we returned it rained. And rained. And rained. Perfect for cosying up in the Ger and watching a movie !!! At around 3pm, Baikal dropped off another classic rock-roasted leg of lamb with cabbage, potato and a strange broad noodle with spices built into it. Too early to eat so I parked it for 7pm when I started my movie. Slept early for our early start tomorrow given all the day’s rain – we would allow extra time to drive the muddy 200km+ to the Great White Lake. Until then enter The Orkhon Valley & Waterfall…
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment