Harhorin Things to Do

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Erdene Zuu, (meaning "Hundred Treasures"), was the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. The monastery was started in 1586 by Abtai Khaan, but wasn't entirely finished until about 300 years later. It had between 60 and 100 temples, about 300 gers were set up inside the walls and, at its height, up to 1000 monks were in residence.

Like Karakorum, the monastery was abandoned and then vandalised by the invading Manchu’s. Attempts at restoration were made in about 1760 and, again, in 1808 under the direction of the famous architect Manzshir, but then came the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. All but three of the temples in Erdene Zuu were destroyed and an unknown number of monks were either killed or shipped off to Siberia and never heard from again.

However, a surprising number of statues, tsam masks and scroll paintings were saved from the monastery at the time of the purges - possibly with the help of a few sympathetic military officers. These were buried in nearby mountains, or stored in local homes (at great risk to the residents). The monastery remained closed until 1965 when it was permitted to reopen as a museum, but not as a place of worship. It was only with the collapse of communism in 1990 that religious freedom was restored and the monastery became active again. Today, Erdene Zuu still retains much of its former glory and is the largest tourist draw outside Ulaanbaatar.

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In order to drive to the Erdene Zuu Monastery, we had to drive through the town from our tourist ger camp and so passed by the building in the town. The town itself is pretty bleak, as most towns I saw in Mongolia tend to be, serving more for practicality and function than being aesthetically pleasing on the eye. Virtually every house has a ger and the plot of land is bordered with wooden fence panels. There also, or were, some industrial buildings located on the northern suburbs which are, and indeed some have, falling into disrepair.

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We stayed at the Anar Ger Camp which is one of a few located beside the Orkhon River that flows past the town. If you walk to the river you'll get some lovely views of it flowing over a long weir.