When horsemen become engine-driven...
- Sain baina yy...
- Sain...
In the north.
After two hours by train and this long trek, here we are ... Galtsog was awaiting us. He came to us. Our luggage, under Bayandordj's vigilance, will come later, carried by horse-drawn carriage.
What to be found in this northern valley: our tents, two yurts; one belonging to BatDordj, the other for Galtsog and Tsetskee.
A large smile, an offer to sit down, we feel very welcome. Tsetskee gives us airak, a slightly fermented drink made with mare milk and we exchange our snuffboxes in friendly marks of greetings. Lifelong friends, Tsetskee and Galtsog have us get to know their nomad lives, the mare milking, the airak production ...
Tomorrow, we are going to share a common and genuine Mongol meal: they will prepare a goat for us.
Since now ten days, we have been discovering the country driving a 4-wheel drive, laying our bivouac in the steppe, being invited inside gers (yurts in Mongol). After our visit of Karakorum, capital city in the times of Genghis Khan, we have been tailing the Orkhon river up to the waterfalls in order to plant tents over there and spend the night 2,000m high. Tsertseleg Trail; the wooden bridge is shattered. We can all but avoid crossing the Orkhon at a ford. A strong stream calls for a reconnaissance by foot. Our 4-wheel drive eventually crosses it without wincing...
Leaving passing encounters and landscapes behind, the trail leads us to Lake Tserkhiin Tsagaan bordered by lava fields. The sunset greets us together with a nice bath for the bravest ones. Heading for the North East. Trails, steppes and outstanding landscapes. The second car keeps us waiting. What are they doing?...
We see them coming an hour later. fully smiling. With Djerah, their driver, they had a stop for picking up edelweiss and having a chat with some marmot hunters they met on the trail.
Night by Djerah's family. Evening spent with a settled Mongol family.
On the following morning, we keep on our way to Erdenet, an industrial town, one of the ten biggest opencast copper mines in the world. Djerah and Ouré, our painstaking drivers, do not miss the path. On our side, we marvel at the scenery: steppes dotted with few scarce white yurts, even scarcer flocks, one motorbike crossed on the way: Mr, Mrs and their three kids...
We must be close to Erdenet, third city of the country. The trail improves in drivability, as slight maintenance signs are emerging. A roadside restaurant appears at the crossroad between several trails and the "main road" connecting Erdenet and Bulgan. In this insider Mongolia, we are having lunch just like roadies: salt tea and meat offers limited to. today's offer. delicious!
Erdenet: we are going to spend the night in a hotel, after a diner in a restaurant. Tomorrow, direction Amarbayasgalant, an architectural pick, a monastery complex which has hardly suffered from the revolution.
Belted by mountains, the monastery exposes its august might to the surrounding landscapes. Here as well, monks knew how to choose sites suiting at best their meditation needs.
Tonight, we'll sleep in a yurt just next to the monastery.
Main road to UlaanBaatar; back to the "civilisation". Sightseeing in the capital city; monasteries, museums, general atmosphere. UlaanBaatar, stunning city with a lively traffic siding with horses and horsemen, mobile phones with traditional costumes, modernism with customs. Within two days, comeback to Paris. We have experienced here a memorable and supportive journey...
