Our stay in Binder was at an end and I got one last shot of the lake as we drove away. We were now heading northeast towards Dadal and, after that, south to Toson Hulstay Nature Reserve. But since the journey always is the destination in Mongolia, there was plenty to see and experience in between…
My lead driver, Erdenebat, who seems to have been everywhere in Mongolia during his 14 years as a professional driver, brought us to this recently built memorial to the Queens of Mongolia. I gather that the local people are hoping it will draw visitors. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the name of the Soum where it’s located, but will update this post when I do. It may have been Bayan-Adarga. As you’ll see, if you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth a stop!
Memorial to the Queens of MongoliaEntry gate with the hat-shaped memorial building within the enclosure.Each queen is represented by a portrait.The extensions on their hats were intended to bring them close to Tenger, the Eternal Blue Sky. The higher your rank, the higher the extension you were allowed.In the center were traditional white horsetail standards. White ones stand for peace, black ones for war.Decoration on the back of a throne.The main altar.Close-up of the offerings.En route through the Han Hentii Mountains.Wild liliesScenery. The white-trunked trees are birches.Golden eagle. The bird was right by the road and barely able to fly, with what looked like an injury to one wing. Erdenebat got this great photo.Our car had gotten quite a bit ahead and Erdenebat realized that we couldn’t see the others, so we back-tracked and found that Puugii’s car had a problem with the brake on one side, which involved a fluid leak. We were a LONG way from any town and there is no “roadside assistance” service. But the drivers are also, by necessity, excellent mechanics and they know their cars inside and out. In less than an hour the problem was fixed and we were on our way.We finally reached our goal for the day…the legendary Onon Gol, the center of the Mongol heartland.We camped on the river, using dung fires in the evening to hold the mosquitoes at bay. We stayed here for three nights, two full days. One morning a few horses came down to the river, adding a picturesque touch.We took a day trip into Dadal, well-known for the nearby sites connected with Chinggis Khan. Perhaps less known is the local museum. Don’t be fooled by the modest exterior. Wait till you see what’s inside.But first, one of the statues of animals nearby.Before they had enclosed stoves, this is how a ger was heated and food prepared.As a contrast….this old mechanical adding machine.There was also a small natural history section with taxidermy-mounted animals.It was hard to get back far enough to get everything in, but here is one of the display cases with everyday utensils. There was art all around the room, too.Traditional archery equipment mounted on a bearskin rug. The museum staff is trying to raise money to renovate the building and I was happy to contribute.
Our next two stops form part of the standard tour route in this area of the country. I generally avoid these places, but wasn’t going to miss anything connected with Chinggis Khan.
Posing in front of the Chinggis Khan monument.Inscription on the monument in Mongol vertical script, the UIgher alphabet that Chinggis Khan chose when the Mongols had acquired an empire that now had to be administered. It is taught in the schools today and has also become an important calligraphic art form. (I don’t know what it says, so would welcome a translation)The Expedition drivers: Erdenebat, Ogii and Puugii. And our guide, Tseegii. A great crew! They are standing in front of the ovoo that marks the area where Chinggis Khan was born.Chinggis Khan’s nutag (the place where he was born).We returned to camp and found that a violent storm had come through while we were gone.Including hail.After breaking camp the next morning we went into the soum center to go to the store. I stayed in the car and got some great photos of this local horseman.We stopped to visit this family on our way south. It started to seriously rain and they were kind enough to invite us into their summer cabin to have our lunch. The woman on the left is Khalkh Mongol. The woman on the right is Buryat Mongol. The man is the son of one of them.Gratuitous photo of Mongol horses. At this point we were coming down out of the mountains onto the steppe.We stopped at this ovoo and I learned that we had arrived in Toson Hulstay Nature Reserve, the largest steppe grassland reserve in the country.
I’m going to start a short series for the holidays of “albums” with images I’ve shot of various types of animals and species that I’ve seen on my travels to Mongolia.
First up are the birds I saw on this latest trip in August 2011. If you see a mis-identified bird, please let me know. The field guide situation for Mongolian birds is still not what it needs to be.
Finally, we didn’t go hunting for any of these birds. They are what I saw as we drove around or walked in the reserves and parks. Mongolia is an extraordinary birding destination that deserves to be better known.
Daurian partridges, Hustai National ParkCrested lark, Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature ReserveHoubara bustard, just outside the northern boundary of Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve (this may have been a rare sighting)Whooper swan, Gun-Galuut Nature ReserveDemoiselle cranes, coming into Erdenet soum; part of a large flockEurasian (or Common) cranes, somewhere near Hayrhan, Arkhangai AimagWhite-napped cranes, Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve (endangered)Grey wagtail, Tuul Gol, Jalman Meadows, Khan Khentii MountainsJapanese quail chick (?), Gun-Galuut Nature ReserveCommon magpie, east of Horgo Terhiyn Tsagaan Nuur National ParkDaurian jackdaw, Amarbayasgalant KhiidCinereous vultures, Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature ReserveSteppe eagle, Jalman Meadows, Khan Khentii MountainsGolden eagle, Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve
And now we come to the last leg of a wonderful two-week tour and a look at one last ecosytem, the mountain forest, which is the southermost extension of the boreal forest that circles the northern part of the Earth.
The Jalman Meadows ger camp, run on a seasonal basis by Nomadic Journeys, was set up high on a bluff overlooking the Tuul Gol.
While there is wildlife around, it’s the activities one can do here that are the main attraction and we took advantage of all of them!
As I came out of our ger after getting settled in, this memorable scene met my eye.Jalman Meadows ger camp with the Tuul Gol in the background.A local herder with his ox-drawn cart fetched water for the camp every day from the river.He also provided the means by which the inflatable boat on which we would take a river trip was transported. We walked about six kilometers to the launch site.This time our "helper" was a yak/cattle hybrid called a hainag.Inflating the boat.And then we were floating down this beautful river.The scenery wasn't flashy, but had a calm peacefulness.We saw a number of birds, including this grey wagtail.There were quite a few riffles to paddle through, which added a little excitement.Finally, the ger camp came into view and our half-day river trip was over.In the afternoon, it was time to go riding.There is nothing like riding through the Mongolian countryside on a Mongol horse.The next morning there was time for a hike up onto one of the hills near the camp. We walked up through the larch trees until we got to this view.The mountain wildflowers were still blooming. The white flowers are edelweiss.And the bees were still busy.We were packing to leave after lunch when Khatnaa stuck his head inside our ger and told us to come quickly, there was an eagle close by. We got some great photos of this big steppe eagle.He finally took off and circled once over our heads.It had started to rain on and off and we needed to get down out of the mountains, but when we saw this big herd of billy goats and rams, it was photo op time.They were all sizes, shapes, colors and horn designs. The young herder walked them back and forth past the car a couple of times, so we got lots of great pictures.Another herder we saw, tending his animals, rain or shine. It was raining.At last we approached the tarmac road, passing the spectacular statue of Chinggis Khan, facing east towards the Mongol homeland.One more wildlife sighting...golden eagles belonging to local a local Kazakh. They go up into the mountains and capture the young birds, using them to hunt with for a couple years and then releasing them.And then it was back into the wilds of Ulaanbaatar, now a city with over a million people. The noise was a shock after the quiet of the countryside.
Those of you who have followed this blog for awhile know that I’ve been going to Ikh Nart since my first trip in 2005. This time I had the pleasure of sharing the reserve with a fellow artist, Pokey Park.
Wildlife being what it is, one never knows what one will see on a given trip, or even if. But this visit exceeded our every reasonable expectation. For two of the four days, it seemed like we could hardly go an hour as we drove around the reserve without seeing argali, ibex, argali and ibex in the same place or cinereous vultures, a golden eagle or other birds. And we had sightings both other days, but not nearly as often.
The universe being what it is, on our way out of the reserve we drove through one of the areas where we had had multiple sightings of argali and ibex the previous morning and saw not a single animal.
We stayed at Nomadic Journey's Red Rock Ger CampIkh Nart landscapeScanning for argali and ibexBut I was the lucky one who first spotted a single ram, who then joined up with a big group making ten all together. What a sight they were!We maneuvered through the rocks, caught up and re-sighted them three timesThey've seen something, we had no idea whatGolden eagleA herder's winter shelter for his livestockOne of the pictographs on the rock cliffWe went to the valley where the research camp is located and got great sightings of a large group of ibexAnd for a bonus, a beautiful sunsetWe also were able to follow this group of ewes and lambsHow many sheep can you see?They are totally at home in these rocky uplandsBlack kiteWe drove south to see the pictographs and Tibetan inscriptions on the cliff in the backgroundPokey helped fill the troughs; it's a Mongol tradition that passersby will fill them if they are emptyIbex pictograph; researchers have just started to catalog and study the cultural resources of the reserve, of which there are manyArgali ewe and lambArgali ram
Susan Fox, American Artist 