The Altai Mountains

 July 22-23, 2024

Altay Mountains

As we are leaving the desert and going into the Altay Mountains, I took a screenshot of the problems Google Maps was having on my phone.  Before coming I had downloaded the map of all of Mongolia, so the app knew where we were.  The problem was, there are no roads on the map, and we’re not following any real roads either. 

 

We passed into the beginnings of grasslands again, and came across a well which had been dug on the border of the desert.  Buckets of water are pulled out of the well using a rope, and poured into a trough.  A man with a herd of horses was watering them as we arrived: 

We arrived at Yolyn Am, the “Valley of the Eagles” and stopped for a hike: 

It was quite beautiful.  There were enormous spiders (palm-sized):


 And enormous butterflies: 

The views were stunning: 

We stayed that night at the Khanbogd Tourist Camp, and broke out the Chinggis Vodka we had bought at the Soum Center for $6 a bottle.  Note that the label says, “Man of the Millennium.”  Despite the beautiful label, it was borderline drinkable, but they had Fresca at the ger camp, and it didn’t make the Fresca taste too bad.  

The next morning we continued on towards the highway, stopping at the Choiriin Khiid Monastery, once the home of 500 monks, but now, after the Stalinist purges of the 1930s, only a dozen or so live there: 

The temple doors are beautiful: 

For reasons not made clear, there is a life-sized statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar, a Communist revolutionary of the early 20th century at the monastery.  I think he was instrumental in the expulsion of the Manchus from Mongolia.  More research needed: 

Tomorrow we return to Ulaanbaatar and will have a final celebratory dinner together (and a night in a real hotel).

Comments

  1. xctravelerAugust 20, 2024 at 1:21 PM

    I'm hungry tired and feel filthy after reading your posts on Mongolia, also jealous that you were able to do it. It is good to know you are writing after returning. Can't wait for your next adventure!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ann Carol GoldbergAugust 21, 2024 at 1:32 PM

    What a contrast their lives are rough and tough, contracted with our privileged and pampered life tyles

    ReplyDelete

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