Unique Places in Mongolia

Kharkhorin is ‘only’ 8 hours away from Ulaan Baator. That is near compared to how spread out the rest of Mongolian civilisations are.

Karakorum, the name of the old town, was Chinggis Khan's capital in the 13th century but it only served as the capital for 40 years. After the capital was moved to Beijing by Kublai Khan, Krakorum was abandoned and destroyed by the Manchurians.

The present town of Kharkhorin was built on the same spot and is now just a dusty little town, with wooden houses and a few abandoned containers that are converted into shops and eateries.

The weather here can be harsh. The houses are surrounded by wooden fences to protect them against the fierce, vicious wind. The day we were there, we experienced a sand storm.

The claim to fame here is the Erdene Zuu Monastery which was the first centre of Lamaism in Mongolia. The monastery was also destroyed by Manchurians and Stalinist purges during the 1930s.

It probably had between 60 to 100 temples but now, only 3 remained. It is set in a large monastery ground surrounded by 108 stupas (lucky number for Buddhists).

To go there, take a minivan in front of Sukhbaator Square to Dragon Centre. Ask someone who knows English and Mongolian (Nassan’s family) to write down on a piece of paper so that you can show to the passing minivans until you find the right one.

At Dragon Centre, there is a sign that reads ‘Kharkhorin’ and the minivans leave when full. Get there before 8am. The minivans are in questionable conditions and the journey is on harsh road conditions but you get there, somehow…

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This village was just next door from our fancy hotel. While walking around we ran into the horse guide we had met earlier. He was so excited to see us venture into the village. He gathered a few friends, his girlfriend and invited us to a "club" that was in the village for some beers and dancing. We went to the village to go to a local small grocery- that was it. This "club" wasn't even open as it was 3 p.m. but wanted to show us some local hospitality, how could we say no. It was probably one of the best traveling experiences I've ever had...namely for the fact, that we could barely communicate with these people (smiles and nodding goes a long way), that they were so happy we weren't intimidated to venture into the village (it was intimidating) and the fact he went and got his friend to open up his bar for us. The people were so friendly and thrilled to show us a good time.

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Ogyi Nuur, or Ogii Lake, is a large lake located about 65km north of Harhorin and about 300km west of Ulaanbaatar on the road to the Arhangay provincial capital of Tsetserleg. I came here on the 4th day of my 12-day tour around Mongolia and stayed the night in a tourist ger camp beside the lake surrounded by horses. The lake measures a length of about 8km by a width of 5km and has a surface area of 25.7 sq km. The lake is very beautiful and still with no boats on it.

Mongolia is a unique fly fishing destination, a rolling green pasture, snow capped mountains , clearly blue sky, streams and glaciers ,purely pristine rivers. In the early times Mongolians say Fish is the animals of the heaven, and abstain fishing. But now fishing and rafting, floating become one of the adventure sport in Mongolia. Grayling, Lenok, Trout, and the Legendary Taimen are abundant in Wild rivers.
You can fly fish for the Taimen, which is very fascinating fish well known by the largest member of the Salmon family.
There are many places which is possible for fishing famous Darhad valleys, Ogii , TerhiinTtsagaan lake , Pristine Khovsgol lake Chuluut river in Arhangai province are noted for the best tropies. Bring your own fishing stuffs it’s difficult to fund them in the countryside,
The best time for fishing is September and October.

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Are you the sort who likes a challenging hunt? If so, challenges don't come much more difficult than wolf hunting. Mongolia is probably one of the only places on earth where a foreigner can sign up for such a hunt without a month or three of advance planning or an expensive permit.

If you are pinching pennies, this is the cheapest 'international' hunting on earth.

I made arrangements in Mongolia the day before a two day hunt. You need nnly bring yourself because EVERYTHING else will be provided. Not only will you get some downright fun shooting and stalking in, but you will stay overnight in a local yurt and enjoy the legendary hospitality of the Mongolian nomads.

Cost: Negotiable, but roughly $200 per day. Depends how far you go from Ulan Bator, etc...

The website will give you full details: www.Offroad.mn

OFFROAD EXPIDITIONS
Mr. Ganabaatar
Ulaan Bataar

The Marshall Zhukov Museum isn't exactly off the beaten path, but does fall under the catagory of randomness...The Russians don't even have a museum for there greatest general of all time, yet the Mongolians do...That is because Zhukov moved here to live out the remainder of his days after he fell out of favor with Stalin. (Stalin was jealous of Zhukov's populartiy with the people after the close of WWII, and Zhukov "volunteered" to move to Mongolia.) He had helped the Mongolians a few years before defeat the invading Japanese and this was a familiar city for him. The musuem is housed in Zhukov's old residence, and the guide speaks russian as well.

This stone, which our guide told us was a Turkish grave, was situated in the countryside a short walk from where the first nomadic family that we stayed with lived. This was between Ulaanbaatar and Tsetserleg and near what they called the Fake Gobi.
The head of this stone figure had been knocked off and was lying on the ground. Our guide said it was from around 700-800AD. I don't really have much more information but it was an interesting site.

If you end up taking local transportation to the far reaches of the country, you should be warned that the promiscuous English backpacker chicks normally found scattered about the world are in short supply in places like Kharkarim. You would do best to bring your own from Ulan Baatar, where they can be found in abundance.