Last Friday we went camping in the Gurvan Saikhan (Three Beauties) mountains with Darkhuu and her extended family. We went to a valley area called Muhar Shivert Am (Мухар Шивэрт Ам) which is less visited than Yolin Am where we went to the Yak festival in May. Famous for its rocks that look like animals, it still had some winter ice left in the end of the canyon.
We arrived around 6 on Friday night and were warmly greeted by the park ranger who welcomed us to set up camp in her extra ger. Bayarlakh (her name is the infinitive form of the verb for being happy) was a very nice woman who spends her summers in a ger in that remote national park in the Gobi desert and her winters in Chicago.
After dropping off our stuff, the 15 of us (14 humans and 1 smelly dog) header up the canyon. We spotted lots of rocks that look like camels which you would expect in the Gobi,
but also saw eagles, lions, a snow leopard, and snake rocks. There was also a lot of stinging nettles (not fun) and kangaroo rats, voles, and pygmy jerboas (lots of fun). Santiago’s attempts to catch them were hilarious, and she only managed to get one that was already dead. Brian and Santi hiked up to the valley ridge but the rest of us stayed in the canyon.
Three Beauties in the Three Beauties Mountains: Tungalag, Darkhuu, and Handamaa
At the end of the valley we found a bit of ice, some very fresh stream water, and Morin doing some rock modeling.
Here is almost everyone (Baatar and Uka were busy taking pictures).
Back row left to right:
Me, “Big” Tsend-Ayoush, Morin, Brian, and Darkhuu
From row left to right:
Zaya and Togoldor, “Small” Tsend-Ayoush, Tungalag and Ugana, and Handarmaa and Huslee
Brian and Morin
and Huslee saying her prayers
For dinner Brian and I had a fresh quinoa salad and fruit, and everyone else had mutton soup. After dinner we all played with glow in the dark necklaces that my friend Angie sent. Uka, Baatar, and Santiago slept in the tent, the two Tsendees slept in one of the cars, and the rest of us slept in the ger.
On Saturday we slept in, watched the sheep and goats go by, enjoyed fresh airag (horse’s milk) from a neighboring family, and just took in the refreshing mountain air. Brian and I visited a bit with Bayarlakh which was fun as we had never discussed the pros and cons of Costco with anyone in Mongolia before.
It was a great trip to the countryside with our family.
