Archaeological Treasures of Mongolia - the first half

I always knew that Mongolia would be extraordinary in an already ambitious overland trip. However, I did not know exactly what to expect. And a few days in Ulaanbaatar was interesting but not all that inspiring. But the first excursion out of Ulaanbaatar to the Tonyukuk Monument, gave a hint of what was to come. This monument was erected in 744AD and was from the Turkic nation, the second of the three empires that came out of Mongolia. The monument talks of the states man Tonyukuk and has a brief history of the Turkic state. As monuments go, this is quite a simple one. But it is set in the middle of a plain and in the distance mountains go as far as the eye can see, and a blue sky with expansive clouds cover it all.

By choosing the Nomadic Expeditions' tour, Archaeological Treasures of Mongolia, I had chosen a journey through the history of Mongolia. The journey would take me to look at deer stones that date from the bronze age, to the old capital Kharakhorum to new sites like the huge statue of Chinggis Khan, erected just outside Ulaanbaatar. I would also get to see dessert, steppes and mountains, the three main types of landscape in Mongolia.

I am writing this at Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake, a lake created when the Khorgo volcano erupted two thousand years ago. This is part of a two week loop around central Mongolia and I am at the half way point.

On the first day out of Ulaanbaatar, we went to the Hogno Han mountains and stayed at a ger at the bottom of a mountain. We went to visit a monastery around the corner of the mountain. The sun was hot and I was rapidly getting a sun tan. I thought that two weeks of this and I would be burnt to a crisp. The monastery was actually a few temples built on the remains of a larger temple that was destroyed during the communist purge of religion. The caretaker suggested that we visit the ruins of an even earlier monastery in the mountain called Uugun Khiid (Old Man Monastery). My guide Odnoo, suggested we take a leisurely stroll up to the site. I thought it would be a short jaunt and then back to the van to go visit a herder family. But it took about forty-five minutes up a rocky path. I was very thirsty, having left my water in the van. But when we got to the ruins, it was pretty impressive. It was a relatively large monastery. And then my guide suggested we go over the mountain pass to return to the ger instead of going back to the van. I protested saying that I was thirsty. And she showed me a stream that looked like it flowed into mud and horse dung. By myself I would never have drunk the water, but she showed me how to scoop the top of the running water from head of the stream. The water really tasted delicious, almost sweet. I was waiting for another attack of the runs that would send me home to Singapore again, but it never happened. Refreshed, we tackled the mountain pass and Odon was right, the ger camp was on the other side. However, the descent was a bit of a climb. This Mongolian trip was turning out to be a real adventure.

There are more stories but the highlights include taking a bath in the hot springs, horse riding with an opera singing horse guide and an out of this world sunset at a ger camp next to Taikhar Chuluu. The monuments like the black ruins (Har Balgas), deer stones and the Erdene Zuu monastery are all quite spectacular in their own right. And getting caught in a sandstorm that looked like a scene out of the mummy.

It was a long, hard winter for Mongolia and there were many dead carcasses. And amongst all the beauty that I saw, I also saw the vulnerability of life. And also because of the long hard winter, I had another surprising experience, snow in June. I visited the extinct volcano, Khorgo, this morning in what can only be called a snow storm. Oddly enough, with the proper clothing, it was not that cold.

At the half way point, I have already been through very different landscapes, gone back in time and been summer crisped to winter frozen. I have made full use of all the clothes I packed including the swimming trunks and thermal underwear. What will the next half of the journey bring?