The lake is situated in a stunning landscape created by volcanic activities and a few hours away from Tsetserleg. On our way we saw trees! We had not seen tree-lined hills for quite some time and were getting very excited about this, turning into real tree-huggers :o) This is me looking idiotic doing the happy tree dance:
All guide books tell you that to get into the park you have to cross a bridge in the town of Dariat and the park entrance is apparently right at the bridge. So we stood there in this rather smallish town and the only bridge we could find had stones piled up in front of it, at least on one lane. Altogether the wooden construction looked kinda crooked and bend, bridging a gap created by a fast-flowing and, by the looks of it, ice cold river!?! The little hut beside the bridge, presumably the park entrance, was deserted. When asking the locals about the park and a river crossing they all pointed to the bridge, in all likeliness quite puzzled by our blindness to see the obvious. Then we saw a car crossing the bridge without further ado and decided that this must be the right spot, if looking a little precarious… Maybe the stones just indicated that only one car at a time should go – we never found out but after carefully and slowly approaching the bridge we safely reached the other side.
After another hour or so and very steep pass we reached the lake and because the season had finished the many ger camps along its eastern shores were already closed or in the process of being closed down. The lake looked very beautiful although the weather was rather stormy and windy and the lake's shores were adorned by many ovoos.
We drove out of sight of the ger camps and found a nice spot right beside the lake. The biggest task was now to get the tent out and erect it while a rather cold and strong wind was blowing us away. What usually takes about 30 minutes (it is a rather big tent) now took 90 minutes (although it felt like much longer) and the fact that we had some spectators did not help. As per usual, everybody who passed along had a quick look. One guy in particular was very interested in finding out the intricacies of how the inner and the outer tent connect which offset poor Holger a bit who was trying to tie the outer tent to the poles while not starting an involuntary episode of kite surfing. It was quite a funny scene (if you were not Holger, for that matter) :o) Anyway, at some point the tent stood and we could quickly set up camp inside and enjoy some pasta!
The next day started as grey and windy as the day before but by midday clouds were disappearing and the sun came out and we could enjoy the magnificent scenery.
In the area, you can climb some volcano tops and we decided to do so the next day. The scenery was quite fascinating as you have the black volcanic outcrops but also trees and shrubs of all sorts, in many colors ranging from green to yellow, orange and red. Again we fell prey to Mongolian signposting. A few k’s away from where we had camped sign told us that an ice cave and the Yellow Dog Hell Cave were 50 meters ahead of us. So we climbed the little volcano the signs had been put in front of. After a steep but well trodden ascend we stood on the brink of the crater with no caves in sight, and thought, ‘Well, maybe the caves are inside the crater’. So we followed the now less well trodden path down into the crater and searched this one in vain for the caves. Hence we ascended again, this time on the opposite side of the crater on an even steeper and a path that was hardly visible anymore. Again, no sign of any cave whatsoever. We finally decided to walk along the crest of the crater to get back to where we started and give up on finding the caves. While exploring the crest we saw a three people about 200 meters away in the opposite direction from where we had parked the car, standing in a rather flat field of volcanic outcrops staring down a hole in the ground… OK, you had turnaround and turn your back to the signs to look for the caves, who could have known that!?!… Anyway we had enjoyed our little up and down and came to enjoy very nice views over the park (and then down the caves) and it made for a really good laugh afterwards :o)
We then left the park driving along the lake, bathing in the fantastic landscapes and scenic passes. The initial idea had been to now venture towards the Altai Mountains, get a border permit and explore the Altai Tavan Bogd NP. However, while having a quick rest along the path we were again approached by a herder, who was sternly convinced that we’d now go up further north to visit Khovsgol Lake. This is the route many people, Mongolians as well as international travelers, take.So we sat down and had a thought. The last few nights had been cold and Altai Tavan Bogs is really high up (some Mountains reach heights well up into the 4000k’s) and we were hence wondering if maybe we should explore the northern parts of Mongolia known for their beautiful lakes and forests which might not be as cold. If heading straight for Altai Region many days of driving through parts of the Gobi were ahead of us again and we had truly enjoyed the forests… In a few minutes we revised plans and headed north!
A marmot we met on the way...
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