After a busy week in Ulaanbaatar, we exchanged the hubbub for the tranquil surrounds of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. Bayka, our guide, arranged for a young driver (again with massive hand tattoos – what is it with those?) to take us to “Terelj village”, which is the last inhabited area in the park.
There we hired some bikes (which were in much better condition than the ones we borrowed in Poland, thank god) and set off across the Steppe.
To our horror, it quickly emerged that we had forgotten the suncream! At an altitude of 2000m, with a cloudless sky, and away from the protective smog of the city, we were in for a treat!
To add to our trouble, within minutes we are being followed by two big, lolloping Alsatian-like dogs. We knew that dog attacks are the main danger in rural Mongolia, where nomadic families keep guard dogs to keep wolves and bears at bay.
The Mongolian command to “hold the dog” (“no-khoi-gor!”), was completely beyond our pronunciation, so our canine companions had us a little alarmed. The girls made a death-pact to wrestle the dogs if one of them attacked, while Alex naively reckoned that his dog-whispering skills would see him through.
Luckily, at the next bridge we met an even larger dog who took a liking to us, and scared the other two away.
The rest of the bike ride was amazing. Wide open steppe, clear blue sky, beating sun, bumpy but obvious paths, and the occasional Toyota Prius fording a river. Honestly.
We lunched in the shade by a river, and turned round after 15km or so. There was ample opportunity to practice cycling with no hands, a craft honed by six years in Oxford. Alex related his story of seeing Richard Dawkins fall of his bike on Queen’s Lane and shouting after him: “There is a God!”
Our accommodation for the weekend was at a tourist camp: somewhere between family ger and Western accommodation. The theme of the place was newborn creatures: puppies, calves, children. It was brilliant!
We played frisbee and volleyball with the kids. Emily tonked a boy in the face with the firsbee after he climbed on the roof of a ger. He took it like a trooper.
It was at this point that our sunburn manifested, having been palliated by the cool breeze on the bikes. We’re still peeling a week later!
Our hosts started a delighted run of form in their cooking, starting with mutton soup. We then settled down to our first night in a ger! These round huts are insulated with a massive blanket of felt, decoratively painted with low doors and have a central fire place. We will be staying in a lot of these in the coming weeks.
Next day, we went horse riding to explore the hilly, picturesque surroundings of the national park. With the sunburn really starting to flare, we covered up completely. I must say that we totally bossed the desert warrior look.
Naturally, we couldn’t communicate with our horse guide, so it was hard to express that I had ridden before, Alex a small amount, and Emily not at all. Inevitably Emily was landed with the psychotic horse. She named him Snowflake, and he had quite a temper! Bob and Jerry on the other hand were quite well behaved.
We could see more of the park on horseback, but were glad to only be out for two hours – we got away with only a hint of saddle-soreness!
To round off the day, we went on a walk to the nearby Turtle Rock. Emily and I picnicked in the shadow of the rock, napped, and scouted for bouldering projects. Alex meanwhile explored the area on foot.
There is SO MUCH potential rock climbing in Terelj, it’s hard to know where to start. The stuff around Turtle rock wasn’t great because there was a lot of broken glass, grace au tourisme. Nevertheless, I found a V1 and V2 to do, and took photos of some other stuff that had potential.
With perfect timing we bumped into Alex three hours later, on the way back to the camp.
That night was dark, with a new moon, so we had our first Mongolian star-gazing experience! Needless to say, the sky was absolutely stunning. We’re sorry not to have good photos of it. We spotted Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Leo, Leo Minor, Cancer, Draco and the Hydra. Looking forward to our next opportunity!
With a midday bus to UB planned on Sunday, we made an early start for a nearby hilltop, monastery. It was situated with a majestic view of the valley, and a fun path surrounded by hundreds of Buddhist proverbs. We returned to UB uneventfully, glad to have had another glimpse of the Mongolian countryside!
The Mongolia Ambulance Project 