Nomad land blog

Roads really seem to determine the level of development of the country. From Hovsgol we came to Arkhangai province to the south, then to Bayankhongor aimag again further to the south. The road between the latter 2 was only 200 km but took 8 hrs.

Simply the road filled with sharp rocks was too punishing to the car stabbing the tyres and the belly of the car. Unless you are not careful the sharp stones can puncture your fuel tank and leave you empty on a road where a next driver may be seen after a week.

Here I am not including any photo of aimag towns. I never minded to take pictures there but looking back I think these type of images could have helped those who don’t know Mongolia. Spending 2 nights in Bayankhongor, we started to Uvurkhangai. 

 

Road between Bayankhongor to Uvurkhangai

Going to Uvurkhangai means what we Mongolians call the sound of dogs is getting closer. That means we returning home soon, home in UB. In Uvurkhangai we were hosted by a lovely nomadic family.

 They took time to let us ride horses and their families prepared steamed dumpling, booz, and played fingers with us so that the loser drank a bowl of mare’s fermented milk.  

This shy little man eating his booz won several horseracing championships together with his brother, brought medals and gifts including some ivory carvings and a tv set to his parents. The medals decorated the ger wall behind his daddy. From this ger to UB,  400km on tarmac road took 6hrs.

By the evening we reached UB. UB was more developed than about 20 days ago when we departed from it. I am not joking. I was seeing along the road more hotels and shops that I never saw before. 

The Lonely Planet book writes extensively about Mongolian routes and travel destinations. One of the lakes mentioned is Telmen, a small lake reachable from the road between Zavhan and Hovsgol (Huvsgul, Khuvsgul) aimags.

This is a nice place to stay overnight if you are traveling this route. You should have your own tent and supplies. Being less traveled place it is a very peaceful place. In summer the lake valley should be quite verdant.

The small white objects in the photo are 3 gers of nomadic families. Till the evening we drove from Uliastai town, Zavhan province, to Muron, Hovsgol province. When we came in Muron the city was obviously more prosperous to the point that as if New Year celebration has come. The lights of hotels and sheer number of bustling cars and people made the town really stand out from the rest. We have more of Hovsgol lake pictures which we will upload to our gallery http://www.mogultravel.com/mongoliapicture .

Having spend another busy day in Muron, the northernmost province center, the next day we drove south to Arhangai province, a part of the central region of the country.

On the road, we cut short the road by taking this floating platform run by local young men. It was nice to cut another 100 km distance, 2 hours of work.

After spending one whole day in Ulaangom city of Uvs aimag, we hit the road to Zavkhan aimag to the south east. The road passes by the huge Lake Khyargas. Uvs province boasts the northern most point of desert landscape with dunes to the east of Ulaangom. North of this aimag Tuva republic of Russia exists.

Lake Khyargas: Is art imitating life or life imitating art?

Driving around the shore of the lake for few hours, in the evening we came to this place run by a mama who made meal for travelers to make money for her daughter’s tuition. The daughter studies in Ulaanbaatar.

Like most self sufficient nomads, she had a solar panel and a dish antenna. Truck drivers help in the supply of sacks of flour, sugar, oil, and veggies.  Having fixed our tyre, we moved from here around sunset and spent the night in the car after few hours. 

 

Sunset at Lake Khyargas