“BENEATH TRACKLESS SKIES”
In the mid twelfth century, there was a mysterious letter circulating around Western Europe. It told the tale of a magical kingdom far to the East that was no longer in danger of being overrun by infidels and barbarians. The letter had supposedly been written by a powerful Christian king known as Prester John. At around about that same time, a caravan traveling from the trackless wastes of Mongolia into the fabulous Persian Empire was stopped by the Persian governor of what is today Uzbekistan. He ordered the caravan massacred and its rich cache of trade goods seized. To the Mongols, ambassadors and caravans under safe-conduct were inviolate, and this violation was unforgivable. Their leader, Genghis Khan, responded the only way he could, by declaring war. His Mongols obliterated resistance wherever they encountered it, sacking magnificent Persian cities at will and carving a bloody track across Armenia and Georgia. In Europe, Genghis Khan’s brutal conquest of the mighty Persia Empire was thought to be the start of Prester John's campaign to help his fellow Christians destroy Islam. Before long, the Great Khan’s follow up invasions would teach a bitter lesson of just how wrong they’d been to believe that he was a savior. Today, that bloody descent of the Mongol Horde upon unsuspecting civilization forms the bulk of what most of us know about the land that gave birth to it . . . Mongolia.
Modern day Mongolia, though only about half the size of its pre-twentieth century self, is an enormous landlocked nation sandwiched between Russia and China and topographically dominated by the Gobi Desert, the permanently snowcapped Mongol Altai Nuruu Mountains and the Khövsgöl Nuur—a pristine blue lake so large that it contains two percent of the world’s fresh water. For visitors, the land boasts the stark tangible vistas of the steppe, taiga, glacial valleys and golden wastes and more importantly a visceral connection to the enigmatic mists of its untamed history. That’s all true, but it’s also my evocative way of saying that Mongolia is one of our shrinking world’s premier
adventure travel destinations. Offering opportunities for trophy hunting, hiking, fishing, kayaking, amazing photography and the wildest horseback riding you’ll ever be treated to. But first, you’ll have to either fly into its capital city of Ulaan Baatar from Beijing, Moscow, Berlin, Osaka or Seoul or if you’re lucky and ambiance addict like myself, you’ll hop the Trans-Mongolian Railway that links Moscow to Beijing and ride it on in.
Ulaan Battar is a weather-riddled city plucked right out one of those euro-spy films from the 1960s situated on the Tuul River and ringed not only by picaresque mountains but throngs of ger-tent suburbs as well. Before heading out into the countryside you’ll want to pay visits to both its Museum of Natural History—for its excellent collection of dinosaur bones and to The Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts—for its displays of rare Buddhist art. You’ll also want to check out the nineteenth century artifact that’s The Winter Palace of Bogd Khaan (The Living Buddha) and the six temples that adorn its grounds. Be sure to see the Gandantegchinlen Khiid (“the great palace of complete joy”), a golden and bejeweled Tibetan Buddhist Monastery so beautiful that not even Stalin’s purge could bring itself to destroy it. And those who’ve found their way in country to indulge in some hiking will find themselves unable to resist trekking out to and through the larch forests and wild grasslands of the Tsetseegum, Bayansurkh, Chingelti and Songino Kairkhan—the four holy peaks that crown Ulaan Baatar with their towering scenery and magnificent displays of bird and animal life.
To best experience that horseback ridding I mentioned before, you’ll want to head out to the Khustain Nuruu Nature Reserve, located sixty-two miles south-west of Ulaan Baatar, as it was established back in 1993 to preserve both the wild takhi horses that Genghis Khan’s Mongol Hordes rode to victory and steppes they call home. During the 1960s they almost slipped beneath the extinction line but now, thanks to the preserve, there are many living both in the park and in the unprotected wilderness.
For most of us, even speaking of the Gobi Desert conjures images of exotic mysticism and storied isolation that the place has well earned. I’d recommend taking the two-hundred and eleven mile trek out from Ulaan Baatar to see the Gurvansaikhan National Park—for an experience that will immerse travelers in some of all that. It boasts famous dinosaur fossil beds, extraordinary rock formations and sand dunes, startling mountain vistas and an almost otherworldly valley that stays blanketed in ice for most of the year. Over two-hundred species of birds, wild camels, argali sheep, ibex, black-tailed gazelle and snow leopards call the park home. And, unlike many other areas of the Gobi, the park’s road and ger camps are reasonably hospitable.
Head out during mid July, for the best weather and to catch the Eriyn Gurvan Naadam, the national festival of horse racing, archery and wrestling, and to avoid the extreme cold and sudden sandstorms that pock mark the rest of its year. Plan your transportation modes around the Mongolian interior just as carefully as you can—snagging a reliable jeep with a reliable four-wheel drive and just going with it however and whenever you can.
