Mongolia Expedition: The Beginning

As the plane crossed the skies towards Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, I was struck by a landscape that stretched towards the horizon – limitless. A seemingly endless expanse of rolling hills, mighty sand dunes, snow capped mountains and boundless seas of green. A land that seemed as though time had forgotten it, passed over on its inexorable march towards the modern age. Although impossible to truly discern from the height I occupied, I knew the thousands of moving dots I could see were sheep, horses and camels, a cornerstone of the nomadic herders who’ve survived this rugged land for millennia. Cut from the same cloth that had at one time in history conquered much of Asia before slowly retreating back to their homes on the plains, these people were both incredibly resilient and undeniably resourceful. I often thought of Mongolia as though it were some mythical place long ago forgotten by the rest of the world. A truly unspoiled and untouched land that begged to be explored…

Chinggis Khaan International Airport is not the huge sprawling affair that you might see in more developed and touristed destinations. My immediate impression was that I had landed somewhere in the Canadian Territories rather than a nation’s capital. It is, however, well organized and although we waited a considerable amount of time to get through customs and immigration, we didn’t have any problems.

The first two days of our trip to Mongolia involved staying in Ulaanbaatar and getting our feet under us before heading south into the Gobi. We had booked into the Modern Mongol Hostel right in the center of the city and after dropping off our bags, we headed off to see what the city had to offer. Our first stop would was for a cold local beer at the Grand Khan Irish Pub.

Ulaanbaatar is, I would later come to realize, a stark contrast to the rest of Mongolia. It’s quite modern and we could see development in the form of tall buildings and shopping centers taking root around us. Mongols dressed in business attire and talking on cell phones bustled around the city, along with scores of fashionable youth hanging out in parks and hawkers selling wares could be seen everywhere. The city has a vibrant, welcoming feel to it, and is easy and comfortable to navigate.

Our walk took us to the Gandan Temple – the city’s main Buddhist center, the central city square with a grand statue of Genghis Khan and the Zaisan Memorial, ending with a traditional dinner and a throat singing show.

Ulaanbaatar is a nice city to visit for a day or two, but our real reason for coming to Mongolia was to see the vast countryside and explore off the beaten path. To help facilitate this, we’d enlisted the help of Batsuren from Mongolia Expeditions. Our journey would take us 2000 km across the plains and desert, over immense sand dunes, through mountains on horseback and rocky trails, across rivers and through tiny villages, and past countless gers before landing back in Ulaanbaatar in time for the 900 year old Naadam Festival.

We awoke on our second morning in Mongolia to the sound of rain on the windows, and a slight chill in the room as the temperatures in June can fall as low as 10°C. I had to remind myself how far north the country actually is and how unexpectedly cold it can be in the summer months.

We were met at Modern Mongol Hostel by Uuree and Tumuruu, our guide and driver, who would be our companions and become good friends over the 15 days we’d be spending in Mongolia. Uuree was studying tourism and hospitality at a local university. This was a summer job for her. She was something of a chess prodigy who’d competed in international tournaments and we’d come to learn that she also knew an incredible amount about Mongolia’s traditions, culture and history.

Tumuruu was a Captain in the army and looked the part. A large and imposing man with the kind of muscles that aren’t gained in a gym, but rather from a life of hard physical labour. He used his holiday time in the summer to drive for Mongolia Expeditions to earn a little extra income for his family. Over the course of our journey traversing the Gobi and Hangayn Mountain range, Tumuruu shared his wealth of information on the wildlife and nature of the area, learned from years growing up as a camel herder in the desert.

The first leg of our journey was possibly the easiest going of the entire trip as it was on a paved highway, albeit a very bumpy one with much time spent avoiding pot holes. After about 100 kilometers or so we veered off the road and into the desert. From then on most of the trip was off-road, far from signs of civilization except the occasional ger and herder with their flock. We were heading towards Baga Gazriin Chuluu, a 15km long and 10 km wide stone massif located 30 km to the south east of Adaatsag Sum.

There are over 20 kinds of medical herbs and many animal species such as wild sheep, ibex and marmot that can be seen here. Tumuruu had excellent eyes, likely trained from his years manning anti-artillery placements and living in the desert plains. This undoubtedly helped him to spot animals over incredible distances. Our interest in learning more about the local wildlife led Tumuruu to become our nature guide and he seemed to relish the role. He was truly an encyclopedia of local plants and animals and was an invaluable source of information during our trip.

A highlight of the first couple of days on the road was Tsagaan Suvarga (White Stupa). The views from here were stunning! We could see rolling clouds shedding raining against a blue sky and golden hills stretching towards the horizon. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the gorgeous landscape. Tumuruu even spotted a small herd of gazelles far off in the distance. The trip was just getting started and already I was blown away by the immensity of the Gobi and near total absence of humanity. We were truly off the beaten path.