On The Road Updates – Where Eagles Dare

Last updated 8 months ago by Jessica Brooks | Published: December 19, 2021

On The Road Updates – Where Eagles Dare

Our ‘On The Road Updates’ are short memories from some of our previous tour experiences. To set the scene for this one, we were driving from Ulaanbaatar to Bayan-Ulgii Aimag – Mongolia’s westernmost province – on one of our research trips. These trips allow us to explore and discover parts of Mongolia that we know and want to know better, with the possibility of incorporating this knowledge into our small group and tailor-made experiences. It’s also a chance for the local Mongolian people we work with to show us the hidden sides of their home. On this trip, we were joined by a couple of long-term friends of EL – Ross and John.

The following excerpt is from John. Having visited in 2009 and 2012, he enjoyed “the remoteness, the feeling of immense space, the secluded camping, and the great balance between programmed experiences and the freedom to explore independently.” John decided he had time to make a final visit to Mongolia on our trip to the Altai, saying, “the prospect of the ‘unknown’ certainly excites me.”

We spent the night in the small settlement of Erdenekhairkhan (Jewel Mountain), which didn’t quite live up to its name. We stayed in a small hotel that was quite comfortable by our standards but was a culture shock for our Italian friends experiencing a Mongolian hotel for the first time. After a drink or two, they settled in for a warm and comfortable night. There are only six beds in the hotel – the rest had been taken to the hospital for some elderly folk to have a week or two of respite – so Jess and Turuu slept on the floor.

Capturing Mongolia’s Essence: An Excerpt from Our Eternal Landscapes Blog

This image of Uvs Aimag in western Mongolia was taken by our guest John Holman. The excerpt below is from my Eternal Landscapes blog post during that trip. We were traveling from Kyargas Nuur in Uvs Aimag to Olgii for the start of the Kazakh Eagle Festival. Although the eagle festival was meant to be the focal point of this research trip, for me, it was these driving days that often provided the most memorable highlights.

“Wow! What a journey. We’re currently driving through the Great Lakes Depression en route to the mighty Altai. The landscapes we are passing through are immense and immeasurable, weathered and stark – made up of sunlight and shadow, rock, scrub, part iced-over streams, and fast-flowing rivers. For a majority of visitors, making contact with the local people is an important element of their trip to Mongolia – for a moment or two, crossing the cultural divide.

For me, though, the power of the landscapes is also an integral part of any journey. It is time spent exploring and ‘just being’ in the landscapes which I continue to find the most uplifting and enlightening. Traveling through the vast landscapes of Mongolia allows you to witness the local way of life without being too intrusive. It’s a chance to remove your watch, take a break from the modern world, and let each day and each journey unfold. Traveling in this way gives you time to think and gain a fresh perspective. As Tiziano Terrazani wrote in A Fortune Teller Told Me: ‘…the rhythm of my days changed completely. Distances became read again, and I reacquired the taste of discovery and adventure.’”

The next 180 kilometres of our journey takes us across a vast expanse of high, remote plains which become more and more arid the further we go. We see only one other vehicle on the road, no more than a dozen gers and very few livestock. Probably as numerous as the gers are small pump houses with concrete troughs for stock as there appears to be no evidence of surface water. Great excitement is aroused at one point when I think I see a pack of wolves in the distance. I am only a little disappointed to discover that they are in fact black-tailed gazelle. While widely distributed, their numbers are small and they are a rare sighting.

We are constantly fascinated by the immense range of colours in the distant bordering hills, from black through various shades of grey, brown, orange and beige to almost pure white, often mingled together in the one range. Occasionally, away to the east, are glimpses of the Khangiy River still bordered by yellow sand dunes.

We eventually cross the river on another ‘interesting’ bridge at the small town of Urgamal. The river is now quite broad and although mostly quite shallow is flowing strongly and we follow its northerly course into the Great Lake Depression to camp the night on the stony shore of Lake Khyargas, the second largest of the areas salty lakes.

 Next morning sees us crossing a huge expanse of Gobi-like gravel with the spectacular permanently snow-capped peaks within the Tsambagarav Uul National Park as a backdrop. At up to 4200 metres, they give rise to a number of glaciers which can be clearly seen as we get closer. Our route eventually picks up the large river Khovd and we also pick up a couple of hitch-hikers whose motorbike has broken down. The river leads us through a steep-sided gorge before opening out onto broad river flats densely clothed in trees resplendent in late autumn colours. We again cross the Khovd where it emerges from the RAMSAR listed freshwater Lake Achit which still has many birds even this late into autumn, and head southwest towards the town of Olgiy, home of the now quite famous Eagle Festival. The people from this region, while Mongolian, are Kazaks, and we notice subtle differences in the shape of the gers –more pointed roofs – and the character of the town with many flat-roofed dwellings so typical of central Asia.

Travelling through Mongolia is about more than just reaching your destination; it’s about embracing the journey, the landscapes, and the moments of reflection along the way. If you would like to journey with us, take a look at the range of experiences we offer.

Jess @ Eternal Landscapes