A day walking in the (Bodg Khan) forest

Yesterday was probably the best day I've had so far in Mongolia. I joined the Mongol Hiking Club for a 19km one-way trek from the province South of UB back to Zaisan through the Bogh Khan National Park.

The Bogd Khan is the tallest of the four sacred mountains surrounding Ulaanbaatar. Looking out of the office window, you can see the massif along the southern skyline of the city – at the moment a brown rolling mass. It actually turns out that it is covered in pine forest, currently with snow underfoot, with large sections of brown spring grass emerging, only recently buried beneath the snow.

I met the hiking group outside the bright pink Drama Theatre and we packed into a mini-bus. It was a bit squished with 14 of us, but cosy given the cold outside. We set off, south, towards Zaisan on the lower slopes of Bogd Khan. As we passed by Zaisan Tuugi explained that the area was actually a sacred reserve (national park), but the attractiveness of living just high enough to be out of the city pollution meant that much of this lower landscape was now covered with new apartments housing expats, with more cranes and construction on the way for this summer.

All aboard the mini-bus (first round)

Not far out of town we stopped by a ger camp and I thought we had reached the start, but no, we were picking up another 4 hikers. A bit more cozy now, we continued along the road towards the airport, where we stopped, once again, to pick up our final 2 passengers. 20 people in a 12 seater. Yeah!

I think we drove on for about another 45min - I couldn't see my watch as my arms were firmly pinned to my sides by a mix of humans, bags and hiking poles, somewhat cushioned by the puffy jackets everyone was wearing. We caught glimpses of the countryside through the fogged up windows of the bus. A man on a horse trotting along the frozen river, another man shepherding his flock of goats, the odd scruffy looking cow. We passed through the main town of the aimag, a cluster of brightly coloured homes. It seemed much cheerier than drab UB.

The tyre of the bus went flat, so we clanged and jolted along the dirt road for the last 15min finally arriving at the beginning of the hike. The rest of the day was spent meandering through the snowy undergrowth of the pine forest, occasionally breaking through to a more open brown, grassy plain. I found it difficult to get my bearings, but we headed uphill for quite a while, then appeared to loop round back towards UB.

We took a short break at “mushroom rock”. Good to see you find these kind of land features everywhere in the world.

Break at Mushroom Rock (photo by Mongol Hiking Club)

Then a longer break at “the happiness tree”. I couldn’t quite figure out why it was called that, but we picked up a couple of empty vodka bottles beneath the tree, so it appears a few others agreed.

Happily beneath the Happiness tree

At one point we had to cross an icy, frozen spring. The leader of the group, Bayarsaikhan, flourished out his crampons and scuttled across whilst the rest of us went slipping and sliding over the ice. I struggled with this a bit, but at the first sign of difficulty, had a couple of people either side of me to help shuffle across.

Slipping and sliding on the ice (photo by Mongol Hiking Club)

On the other side of the spring, we stopped for a moment to soak up the “solar energy” of the place. One of the guys called out “Uuhai” as we walked. I thought it was the Mongolian version of “cooee”, but it turns out it means “hooray”. Well said.

Soaking up the sunshine

Lunch was at the edge of the forest in a sunny spot overlooking a deep, golden valley. A very communal affair, with everyone pulling out their thermos containers of Mongolian stew and meat dumplings and sharing with the group. My tuna and salad sandwich seemed highly inadequate, but the Mongolians were more than happy to share their delights with me. I’m not sure if it was the food, the fresh air, or the 12km we’d already hiked, but it was delicious!

A tasty lunch - Mongolian dumplings, potato and beef casserole, milky tea - mmm delicious

As the sun drifted towards the horizon, we descended carefully down the steep, eastern shady side of the slopes towards UB, eventually emerging on a ger camp overlooking the city. I think it was a tourist camp, because we stopped for cups of milky tea at a “conference” ger – basically a large, permanent ger filled with tables and chairs and decorations. Mongolian tea is an acquired taste – based on a kind of green tea, with lots of milk…and salt. Nonetheless, it was hot, and my hands and insides appreciated the warmth.

Descending towards UB

My GPS recorded 19.3km for the day. Not bad!

Am still weary this morning, which is a good feeling – it was great to get some exercise. Unfortunately, running in UB is turning out to be almost impossible – icy air that burns my lungs, no pavements and shonky roads with crazy drivers. I’ve now tried a couple of times, dressed in gloves, beanie, scarf around my neck, trackpants and jumper. I think the sweat froze on my eyelashes and my hands started to ache from the cold after 15min, so I had to go back. So wasn’t very successful. A Sydney lifestyle is very special. I'm looking forward to swimming in the ocean, regardless of weather, when I get back.

Something hot to share when back in camp