After almost seven months of travelling, we fulfilled one of my biggest dreams and went to one of the most remote areas of the world – Darkhad vally and the Tsaatan people up in the mountains. I am still amazed that we made it there and it definitely was my favourite part of this journey so far. But let’s start at the beginning.
Day 1
Our trip started in Hatgal, a surprisingly big town at the southern end of Lake Khuvsgul. At that point we had already spent about 2 weeks there, this will be covered in another blog post. So, starting from the lake, we spent the first two days mainly driving north. The distance can be covered in one day, but we spent a night in a camp in the middle of nowhere, which made the schedule a bit more relaxed and allowed us to explore the nature there. While the Mongolian definition of “road” is creative at best, the landscapes and animals you see while passing by are absolutely stunning and definitely worth the bumpy drive. At our first stop, we walked up a hill and enjoyed the most intriguing cow drama, as one of them wanted to go into another direction and they just kind of bullied here into following the group. Also, I was crazy enough to go into the river there, which was next level cold.
Day 2
On the second day we drove up to Tsagaannuur and had lunch in the village. Afterwards, we went even further north, passing a bridge where military controlled our border permits, as you get really close to the Russian border. We then stayed the night in a tiny hut at a nomad family, which was an experience by itself. When we arrived only the lady of the house was there, as her husband was catching horses for us to ride on the next day. So, this 70-something-year-old woman chopped some firewood for us, quickfixed a door by ramming a nail into the wall, climbed over fences, milked the cows and looked after the animal, all in heels. I was amazed, that is a level of independence and mobility, many Europeans can only dream of. While we were going for a little afternoon scroll to another hill for a better view of the area, they killed and took apart a goat down at the family and cooked the belly for us for dinner. Now, as some of you might know, we were pretty vegetarian before coming to Mongolia, and while we have gotten used to eating meat here, organs are on a whole other level. But being the good tourists we are, we gave it a try. And I have to say… I’m never eating organs again. Why people like this stuff is beyond me, don’t try to make me eat it ever again. Luckily, our guide made us some noodles afterwards, otherwise, we would have gone to bed pretty hungry…
Day 3
On our third day the real adventure finally started – the ride up into the mountains. Packing and preparing everything took a while though and our start was further delayed by an incident when getting on the horses: during our first night, some Mongolian friends of our guide joined us, additionally to the one she already took, so we were 6 people plus 2 guides. One of the Mongolian guys got on his horse first and tried some stuff. Well, it wasn’t fond of that, threw him off and ran off like there was no tomorrow. I mean, it galloped through the other, tied-up horses, almost over us and off into the vast emptiness of the steppe. And if there is something in Mongolia, it’s space to run in. So, one of the guides had to re-catch that horse, which took about an hour. Then, when David got on his horse, it kind of had a mind of its own as well, wanting to snack a bit before going. As not everyone was ready yet, he let it, but the reins were a little short and as he leaned forward, the horse decided to lie down instead, throwing him off as well. Luckily, no one was hurt in either case and we still got started on that day.
It was an impressive ride through various landscapes, starting off in the steppe, going through forests and swamps, valleys and mountain passes. It took us almost ten hours to get to our goal, so we were pretty exhausted by then. The last part of the path leads down a relatively steep slope, so we had to walk next to the horses, which was quite interesting with our knees hurting from the long day in the saddle. But then, as we passed around a hill, we saw the valley. It was gorgeous, with a couple of smaller streams dividing patches of grass and bushland. Tipis are spread throughout it and everywhere there are reindeers. We were greeted by the cutest baby reindeers running after each other, almost as if playing catch, and a group of dogs loudly proclaiming our arrival. That evening, we got tea with reindeer milk, which is quite good, and some reindeer meat, which I couldn’t distinguish from any other meat if held at knifepoint. We were accommodated in our own tipi, which was surprisingly cosy once they had a fire going.
Day 4
Rest day! We spent the whole day with the reindeer herders, and it was amazing. In the morning, we went for a walk up one of the surrounding mountains and meditated there. While sitting completely still, we saw some of the cutest little rodents – maybe a local species of marmots? They were smaller than the ones I saw in Austria but had rather similar features otherwise. On the way back, we stopped by a stream to freshen up and get some water. Suddenly, David signed me to be silent and as I lift my head, we are surrounded by reindeers. They came incredibly close, as they are pretty curious, and some got into the water to have a drink as well. It was a rather magical moment.
Back in the camp, I even managed to pet a baby reindeer. Most of them are curious and will come to you to smell and occasionally lick your hand, as they get fed salt that way. But when you try to pet them, they back off. Well, except one. This one seemed to enjoy being petted and kept bumping its head against my hand and leg and ITS SO DAMN FLUFFY. The softest fur ever. Absolutely adorable.
In the afternoon the nomads prepared a little market for us and the other guests, where they sold handmade goods. They were mostly made from antlers, a never-ending resource when living with reindeers, as they lose them naturally. But there was also some jade stones and bones, mostly made into beautiful necklaces and small giveaways.
In the evening, we had the opportunity to join a shamanic ceremony performed for some of the other tourists. We were a bit disappointed, when we discovered that we would only be watching and were forced to leave early, as we were told something different when we paid, but that’s Mongolia. It was impressive nonetheless, the shaman wearing full gear and dancing and drumming in that tiny tipi, so I’d definitely do it again.
Day 5
After our beautiful day in the valley, it was already time to leave. We shortened the ride back, as most of the others were having some pain and the weather was questionable, so a Russian van picked us up after about 6hrs of riding. While in my opinion the ride itself was ok, there was hardly any wind, which led to us being swarmed by flies. And I mean swarmed. I’ve never seen this before; it could have been right out of a cartoon. Each of us had their own private little swarm following them around and frustratingly it was not only flies, but also mosquitoes and the far-worse horse fly, gigantic beast biting our horses until they were full of bloody spots. I also had my share of bites, as my leggings couldn’t deter them at all. The only time without flies, was when we got in some hail/rain, luckily it wasn’t heavy and didn’t last long, otherwise it might have gotten uncomfortable!
And remember how I mentioned that the area was quite swampy, which led to the horses occasionally tripping? One time, when my horse tripped, I couldn’t counterbalance it and fell off. Nothing really happened, but as I mentioned David falling off, this is only fair. Our guide also had a little accident. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly he was galloping by me and straight into a tree. He turned out to be fine as well but boy, did that cause a tumult! Personally, I believe it was the packhorse – they use young horses for that to get them used to being guided and it had a habit of biting his horse in the arse.
Either way, we made it to the Russian van and drove the last bit home. If you’ve never been inside one of these indestructible wonders, you should give it a try. It’s amazing what this car can drive through. In the end, we arrived back at the nomad family and stayed there for our final night of the trip.
Day 6
We spent the full last day driving back to Hatgal, which is why we know that it is possible to cover the full distance in one day. We didn’t even leave super early, as we were invited for some tea by a family of reindeer herders that had ridden back to town with us. As we took the same road back, we had come on, there isn’t much new to tell. There are other roads, which lead more through the mountains, but due to the heavy rainfall of the last couple of days, these weren’t an option for us.
All in all, we had an incredible time on our adventure and experienced many of the things we had hoped for. It is an honour to get to see an area this remote and see this different way of life, close to nature and interlinked with the cutest animals ever – reindeers.
Have you ever petted a reindeer? Would you be willing to spend 10hrs riding to get to try? Let us know in the comments below!
xxx
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