More about Mongolia: coordinates
On July 25, 2001, we flew United Airlines from Los Angeles to Beijing on the first leg of our vacation. We arrived in the evening and the next morning caught an Air China 737 to Ulan Baatar, the capital of Mongolia.
Our guide, Monhtsag Sharaa, "Please call me Munya," met us at the airport and took us on a quick tour of the city and then to our hotel - the Chinggis Khan. We plan to stay here for one night and then be are away for three nights, back for a night, then two nights away, back, then one night away, and then a change of plans that takes us to a surprise destination.
There are about two million people in Mongolia and about a third of them live in Ulan Baatar. There are about 33 million head of livestock, mostly horses, cattle, sheep, goats and camels. That means that a typical nomadic family probably has 100 to 150 head. We are told that most families have all five types of animals.
From about 1920 to 1990, Mongolia was a socialist state with strong ties to the Soviet Union. A limited economy and the influence of the USSR led to architecture that is, for the most part, utilitarian and uninteresting. There are some attractive newer buildings and monuments, including the Ghinggis Khan hotel, but they are the exception. The charm of Mongolia is clearly not in the city.
The tour company in Mongolia is Intourtrade Co. but their bus has "Bat Tour" on the side. Henceforth and hereafter it is referred to as the Batmobile.
For more than 3,000 years, the Mongolians have been nomads. Our trip has been designed to spend most of our time with the nomads on the steppes, in the Gobi desert and the mountains. Our nomadic adventures are punctuated by brief stops back in a modern hotel.
July 28, we boarded the Bat Mobile for the ride to Kharkhorin, the ancient capital of the the Mongolian Empire. We are off at 8:30 am in the Batmobile. About two and a half hours down the road we stop at a "truck stop" complete with a nice little restaurant and the most colorful out house we have ever seen. One of the pleasant surprises in Mongolia was the cleanliness of most of the rest rooms. The plumbing was sometimes old and held together with tape and wire and there was often a can to catch the drips from the pipes, but they were clean. A few missed the mark. And there were true out houses which were to be avoided at almost any cost. Mongolia is probably the cleanest developing country we have been in. While we are on the subject, they have the narrowest toilet paper we have seen, usually in US sized dispensers.
Back in the Batmobile and on down the road we passed a nomad camp and we asked to stop. The picture at the top of this page was taken at this stop. This boy came to check up out and Munya ask if it was OK to take his picture and he nodded his head. The Mongolians seem to have two facial expressions: inscrutable, as shown here or warm and friendly. They had a fairly large herd of houses tied in the shade under the bridge and were milking the mares. Back in the bus. A stop for lunch and couple of breaks and we arrive at our first ger camp at about 4:30.
The Möngön Mod Tourist Camp (Mongolian for Silver Tree) is owned and operated by our local tour company. We give them a five star ger rating. There are about 30 gers. Like all gers in Mongolia, the doors face south. That means that no ger had a view into another one. [We hear several theories: catch the sunlight from the south, block the north wind, keep an eye on the Chinese...] There are connecting sidewalks and a low cover of vegetation.
A ger camp is the Mongolian equivalent of our motel and just like motels, the amenities vary. But, the basic format is two people per ger, electric light, a lock on the door, a separate building with showers and toilets, and a restaurant in another building or in a large ger. The gers were such an important part of this trip, we have given them a page of their own: ger page
We walk with Munya about a mile to a near-by nomad camp.
[The remainder of this page was taken directly from the itinerary provided by the Escapes Unlimited,
the U.S. tour operator. We will "erode" the official line and replace it with our experiences and
pictures as we have time.]
July 28 ULAAN BAATAR to KARAKORUM Breakfast. Drive to the ancient
capital of the Mongolian Empire (8 hours in air/con bus). Karakorum, the
remains of Ghengis Khan's old capital, destroyed by his grandson Kublai
Khan in order to establish a new capital in Beijing. Visit the Erdenezuu
Monastery which was the first Buddhist center in Mongolia. This
impressive monastery is enclosed in an immense walled compound
decorated with 108 stupas and inside is the Lavran Temple. Box lunch
enroute. Visit to a nomad family compound. National Concert. Dinner and
overnight in Mongolian Ger Camp. (B,L,D) (Horseback riding or
biking can be arranged)
Karakorum
Background
Photo
Ger A fairly detailed description with pictures.
Ger: buy one with more details
July 29 KARAKORUM Breakfast. Today enjoy a special festival of horse racing.
The best and fastest horses from each province in Mongolia will be brought
here for long distance racing. The 1000 most famous wrestlers will
participate in wrestling competition. This festival is only held every 3 years
and famous for its superb horses. Box lunch. Dinner and overnight in
Mongolian Ger Camp. (B,L,D)
July 30 Full day trip to Orkhon River. Picnic Lunch. Try Mongolian National food,
"Horhog", meat processed hermetically with hot stones. Swimming and
fishing available. (B,L,D)
July 31 KARAKORUM to ULAAN BAATAR Breakfast. Travel back to Ulaan
Baatar (8 hours). Box lunch. Overnight Chinggis Khan Hotel. (B,L,D)
August 1 ULAAN BAATAR to GOBI DESERT Breakfast. Transfer from hotel to
airport for night to Gobi Desert. Upon arrival check in to your local Ger, a
traditional Mongolian desert dwelling. Morning drive into the Gurvan
Saykhan mountains to Eagle Valley. Hike through glacier that survives the
summer desert heat. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the beautiful surroundings.
Return to camp. Dinner and overnight at Mongolian Ger Camp. (B,L,D)
(Hiking opportunities for those interested)
We fly on a "charter" flight that appears to be regularly scheduled to serve a group of ger camps in the Gobie. MIAT Airlines arrives first followed shortly by Hangard, the airline we flew. Two days later we are at the airport for the arrival of both flights and we take the Hangard return flight to Ulan Baatar. This time Hangard leaves first. On both flights we receive a choice of beverage and a Cadbury hazelnut cookie bar from Russia. More about the airplane including the safety instructions.
Gobi Desert History and additional information. Sounds quite interesting. Lots of great links from this site.
Gobi and Dinosaurs Information and pictures from an expedition. Good links about dinosaurs.
Eagle Valley or Yol Valley
August 2 GOBI DESERT Breakfast. Travel to the Bayan Zagh where many
fossilized bones and eggs of dinosaurs have been found. The area is known
as the Flaming Cliffs, a majestic setting where the weather has sculptured
natural monuments into the red rocks, The cliffs seem to catch fire as the
sun illuminates the rocks. Bayan Zagh is internationally famous for
dinosaur and prehistoric animal fossils. Dinosaur eggs were found here in
Mongolia for the first time in the world. Enjoy a BBQ lunch. Visit a camel
breeding farm on the return to camp. Ride a camel into the desert or try
some unusual milk products. Return to Mongolian Ger Camp for dinner
and overnight. (B,L,D)
Flaming Cliffs History and dinosaurs. Photo and brief story
August 3 GOBI DESERT to ULAAN BAATAR Breakfast. Transfer to the airport
for flight to Ulaan Baatar. Upon arrival in Ulaan Baatar transfer to hotel.
Enjoy lunch at Hanamasa restaurant, a Swedish table (buffet style). Tour
the Bogd Gegeen Winter Palace displaying gorgeous ceremonial robes and
personal effects of the last living Buddha. Overnight dinner and overnight
Chinggis Khan Hotel. (B,L,D)
August 4 TERELJI NATIONAL PARK Overnight excursion that will include
riding a horse and a yak visiting a nomad village and family, and hiking.
Overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)
August 5 Return to ULAAN BAATAR. Visit National History Museum, Choijin Lama Museum. Afternoon on your own. Evening dinner at traditional restaurant with folk dance concert. (B,L,D)
Natural History Museum site includes interesting information about camels.
August 6 Visit Gandan Monastery. Afternoon on your own. (B,L,D)
Gandan Monastery A month's worth of pictures from Mongolia on the Discovery Channel's site including four additional pictures that give you a 360 degree view. You may have to download some software, but it took about 5 minutes (56k modem) and installed very easily.
August 7 Morning flight back to BEIJING. Palace Hotel. Afternoon tour of Temple
Heaven and Forbidden City and Summer Palace.
(B,L,D)
August 8 Tour of Great Wall and Ming Tomb. (B,L,D)
August 9 BEIJING TO LOS ANGELES Transfer to the airport for flight to Los Angeles.
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Updated July 8, 2001