Travel Blog Mongolia

Khovsgol Nuur in northern Mongolia is a pristine lake, sister to Lake Baikal just 200 km away in Russian Siberia. It contains 1% of the whole world's fresh water and is one of Mongolia's favourite tourist destinations. Surrounded by high mountains populated by numerous rare species of plants, animals and fish, the area is a designated National Park and horseback is more or less the only means of transport. In winter the lake freezes to a depth of nearly one metre making travel much easier - vehicles simply drive on top of the frozen water and can cover the 100km length of the lake in a single day. On 8th February two Ural trucks belonging to the NIC oil company, carrying a total of 13,250 litres of petrol, set out from Moron town headed for Tsagaan Nuur in Rinchenlumbe district in the far north of the province. Tragically, just 200 meters from the shore and not far from the place where the tankers should get off the ice and head up into the mountains over Jigleg Pass, the ice...

Soon it will be Tsagaan Sar  ("White Moon"),  the new year festival according to the Mongolian lunar calendar, which is based on a 12 year animal cycle. It marks the beginning of spring, so the worst of the winter must be over. All the ladies are busy preparing thousands of buuz,  steamed dumplings filled with mutton, and shopping for drinks and gifts to present to the expected visitors. Since it is the tradition to visit all your older relatives, it follows that the elders will get more visitors and therefore have to prepare the most buuz. Fortunately outside is minus 30 degrees Celcius, or thereabouts, so all the pre-prepared dumplings can be kept safely frozen outside  (on the balcony in the case of high rise city dwellers). Mongolian new year sometimes falls on the same day as the Chinese new year, but some years it is one month later. Tsagaan Sar is celebrated for three days on the new moon that occurs two months after the winter solstice. In 2011 this will b...

The 2011 Dakar Rally is done now with the Russian Kamaz teams coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the mighty truck section. Vladimir Chagin, known as "The Tsar" for his many excellent performance wins, was the fastest driver and won eight of the thirteen stages in this year's race. The Dakar rally is still the most dangerous and exciting rally of its kind. It started in 1978 with a route from Paris to Dakar in Senegal, but due to political and other problems, with fears of terrorist attacks, the race was moved to South America in 2009. The major leg across the Atacama desert has most severe climate and landscape conditions with daytime temperatures of 40 Celcius. The Kamaz cab has no air conditioning. Why don't people talk enough about Kamaz trucks ? They are built for extreme conditions like those found in Russia, Mongolia and South America and as Kamaz have proved for the tenth time, this is the fastest truck in the world. Chagin received a message of congratulations ...

12th January 2011, Tokyo Japan, Day 4

There are currently about 20 Mongolians competing in the upper levels of Japanese sumo competitions. Japan has long accepted foreigners into their exclusive sport in the interests of encouraging international interest and competition, but since 1992 when the Oshima stable recruited 6 Mongolians in one go, they have decided to restrict the number of foreigners. Mongolians have excelled in this full contact sport which is not dissimilar to traditional Mongolian wrestling.  In 1991 one of the great stable masters, Oshima-Oyakata, came to Mongolia with the intention of finding some young Mongolian wrestlers who might be suitable to train in Japan for sumo. One of the originals chosen included Batbayar  (sumo name Kyokushuzan) who reached the rank of komusubi, but has now retired from sumo to become a member of the Mongolian Democratic Party. Many other Mongolians have risen to great heights in the stables of the Japanese sumo, especially Asashurio, Hakuho, Haramafuji and Tokit...