Stories to tell . . .: Mongolia - Zavkhan Trek, Horses

July 2010

Horse Trek

All photos courtesy of Debra, Lauren, Toni, and Sherry!

In July 2010 I traveled to Mongolia for a 21 day journey with guide John Williamson and his Zavkhan Trekking team.

I spent a couple days in Ulaanbaatar (capital) for the Naadam Festival that features the "three games of men"; wrestling, horse racing, archery. Then we traveled by mighty Furgon, a Russian overland van westward to Karakorum, and the Erden Zhu monastery. We reached our horses and wranglers at our first camp near Tosontsengal - stocked up on supplies and then headed out on horseback for 10 glorious days on the steppes of the Zavkhan Province. Next - 3 days on camels heading toward the western edges of the Gobi Desert to reach the Khar Nuur desert lake. This was the most spectacular experience I have had - traveling across wildflower covered steppes by day, sleeping under the stars at night.

http://www.zavkhan.co.uk/

Trip Summary

July 2010 I spent trekking through a small province in western Mongolia. The journey combined a 500 mile 4 wheel drive road trip west from the capital of Ulaanbataar to the Zavkhan Aimag, a 10 day horse trek, a 3 day camel trek, & 3 days of kayaking & relaxing at the Khar Nuur lake on the western edge of the Gobi.

Our small group of 5 trekkers were from the US, Canada, & Australia. Each of us came inspired to experience the nomadic culture on the Mongolian steppe. Along with John, our leader from New Zealand; the Mongolian crew of horse & camel wranglers, interpreter, & camp cook, our group transformed into our own nomadic family. Within a day or so novice riders settled confidently in the saddle while the more expert riders played round-up with stray horses & yaks. Each morning we ventured out onto the steppe on the horses or camels for a day of cross-country riding. We would sing songs on the trail, set up camp, collect fire wood with the wranglers, chop veggies for dinner, count stars & name constellations, & stay up late with Nara the cook until her famous camp fire bread was baked. Did I mention shower? Sure didn’t! The routines were simple, there were no expectations, but we all contributed where we could…life was so easy.

Enveloping this simple life was the intense beauty of the Mongolian steppes – some broad, lush & stream crossed, others forested with high meadows, & of course the magnificent desert steppe of the Gobi. They all shared a magnificent display of wildflowers under the “eternal blue sky” of Mongolia.

To add to the experience within this amazing country are the steppe families who, spread far & wide, invited us into their traveling home, the ger (you may know it by the Russian name, “yert”). They offered butter tea, cheese curds, & sweet coddled cream along with stories & songs. We brought cookies & chocolate and shared our novelty since we were often the first foreigners they had met. Most days the steppe wranglers would find us on the trail or nomadic families would come for a visit to our camp. They would offer to share a little snuff & to guide us along to the best trails. During one of our favorite evenings on the trip, an extended family of about 12 stopped by for a late evening visit. Though they had never before met foreigners, they joyfully and without hesitation trooped into our camp bringing sweet yoghurt and fresh milk as neighborly gifts. Through our interpreter Oltzii, we tentatively stumbled through simple conversations but when we asked the family to sing, the evening became magical. This large family of aunts, uncles and cousins moved easily from one folk song to another before asking us to sing! With a little effort we settled on “Sweet Charity” as the one song that we could sing a few verses of. The Mongolian family seemed really pleased and thanked us for the visit with one more traditional song to elegantly close our simple steppe gathering. This was the Mongolia we were inspired to visit and, thanks to John and his crew, this was our life for 3 exceptional weeks.