MONGOLIA 2005
	Sain bain uu! (Hello!) Come with me to the "Land of Blue Skies"! In April-May of 2005, I went on an Earthwatch Institute project, "Mongolian Argali," and then visited Hustai National Park to see reintroduced tahki (Przewalski's horses). This is a sampling of the over 2000 images that I shot during my 21 day trip to the home of Chinggis Khan. See My 2005 Trip to Mongolia for more information about the project. EN ROUTE FROM ULAANBAATAR TO THE IKH NARTIIN CHULUU NATURE RESERVE There was still snow on the ground when we left Ulaanbaatar (UB), the capital of Mongolia. One of the colorful houses we saw during our 7-1/2 hour train ride Motorcycles are sometimes replacing horses for trips into town. But Mongolians love their horses. The motorcycle does carry more and go faster, though. A substantial home, but they still have a ger out back. A town scene with bactrian camel cart. Local folk in traditional clothes; the robes are called "del" in Mongolian and can be plain, brocade, lined with sheepskin or a lightweight fabric. Very practical. A train station in fine, Mongolian architectural style. Off the train and into the van for the 1 hour drive to the reserve. The train continued on across the steppe to Beijing. A bactrian camel we saw by the road. Ready for her close-up. IKH NARTIIN CHULUU NATURE RESERVE Established in 1996, "Ikh Nart" protects 43,740 hectares (108,080 acres) of rocky terrain. It is high upland with semi-arid steppe vegetation. The project site for "Mongolian Argali." It is run by Dr. Richard Reading, Director of Conservation Biology, Denver Zoological Foundation. See Links page for more information. Sunrise at "Ikh Nart" (Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve). Our traditional accommodation, a ger. It was also the dining tent. The spring-fed valley. The first day we were visited by some local camels. Basic training in radio telemetry. Amgaa (Sukhiin Amgalabaatar, M.S.) searches for radio-collared argali. The terrain we worked and walked (and walked and walked...) in. I quickly grew to love it. Argali sheep (Ovis ammon), the world's largest wild sheep. Rams can weigh over 400 lbs. and their horns can be 65" long. A lot of mutton on the hoof. A radio collar minus the lamb who was supposed to be wearing it. Never did find out what happened. Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutterosa) Argali ram and ibex nanny (Capra sibirica) with domestic cattle. Nursery group of argali ewes and lambs Argali ewe Me in the "Land of Blue Skies" near the border of the reserve. Measuring the horns on an argali carcass Jed Murdoch inspects a rock cleft where foxes had been denning. He's studying Mongolian small carnivores, such as corsac fox, red fox, Pallas cat & badger, as very little is known about them. See Links page for more information. A visiting Russian scientist, Maxim, poses in front of an old inscription in Tibetan. Me in front of the same inscription. Mongolia was, and is somewhat becoming again, a Buddhist country which follows Tibetan practice. A map showing the locations in the reserve of the nests of endangered cinereous vultures, the world's largest. Inspecting a nest. Dr. Reading is also doing a study on cinereous vulture nesting success. The vultures seem to have a liking for places with spectacular views. The nest is above the white area. Ikh Nart as a dust storm comes in We were all in the ger and suddenly the world turned orange and the wind really started to howl. Unretouched photo taken from doorway of ger. Dr. Reading rated this storm a "3" on a scale of 1 to 5. We still had the scheduled Mongolian BBQ (roast goat) and passed around the hot rocks (that had been in the body cavity) for good health. Afterwards, each nationality (Americans, Mongolians and one Brit) took turns singing songs. Jed dusts off the solar panels the next morning. Same view from doorway as during the storm. Very little evidence of its occurrence. Scientists' ger with solar panels for powering the indispensable laptop computers. Love that door. All the water had to be hauled by hand up from the spring. We used sun shower bags for bathing and pit privies. The inside of our ger with the water bags that provided filtered, potable water in two enamel buckets. Another interior shot with our traditionally painted door and a sink that trickled a little running water. The floor is sheet vinyl on wood boards. The metal heating stove, which used wood and coal, kept us toasty warm. A local herder brought his flock of sheep and cashmere goats down to the spring to drink. An interesting set of rock formations More interesting rocks Good light on great rocks Cinereous vulture on nest Golden eagle leaving nest Argali rams Argali ram. They seem to like to take one last look before moving out of sight. Male ibex Local herdsman with horses Cashmere goats Foal being caught with an "uurga", the traditional wooden lasso or catchpole The mare was not amused Posing with Tscho (sic) and his horse The Earthwatch group shot. I'm on the far right, second row in the green baseball cap. There are Mongolians, Americans, a Brit and three visiting Russians. I loved it! The Mongolian scientists and camp staff, who were unfailingly friendly, helpful & cheerful. Thanks to you all! HUSTAI NATIONAL PARK Hustai is a 50,620 hectare reserve about 100 km southwest of Ulaanbaatar. Its main attraction is the reintroduced wild horses, the takhi (Przewalski's horse). Takhi are the only remaining species of true wild horse. The current total population of approximately 1200 animals is descended from 13 captive animals. The last wild takhi was a stallion seen in 1969. It was wonderful photographing and sketching them in their natural habitat. I was able to spend 1-1/2 days in the park. The entrance to Hustai National Park The ger camp near the headquarters building. I stayed in the middle front one. My first sight of wild takhi. (I'd seen a group in Oct. 2004 at the Tiergarten in Berlin.) A takhi stallion. (Takhi means "spirit" in Mongolian.) Takhi mare & foal. There are around 120 horses living in the park today. The goal is 300-500. The takhi live amidst some spectacular scenary. Their heads are right out of a stone age cave painting A passing snow shower on May 3rd. A herd of maral (Cervus elaphus). Called red deer in Europe and elk in the U.S. Siberian marmot (Marmota sibirica). There are approximately 25,000 in the park. Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo) An "ovoo" or stone pile made from the remains of a small tower. Part of Mongolia's shamanistic tradition. One adds an offering and circles it clockwise three times. Gers belonging to a nomad family who also work for the park as camp hosts. They served a lovely salt tea. A park ranger and my driver, who is a young lawyer and a Star Wars fan. A 1200-1400 year old Turkic grave site with an on-coming dust storm that we managed to dodge Human figures A lion A phallic figure? A herder's ger near the entrance to the park Another view of the compound A Tibetan mastiff-type dog. The traditional greeting when approaching a nomad ger is "Hold the dog." They're not kidding. Two puppies. The overturned basket is a child-sized version of the ones the adult women use to collect dung for fuel. A new baby kid, held by my guide Manda One of my favorite photos from the whole trip. The father loved the fact that I was wearing Mongolian boots. (It had been really cold that morning and the boots with my thick wool socks were so much warmer than my walking shoes.) I got a demonstration of how the cashmere wool is combed from the goat (loudly protesting). GORKHI-TERELJ NATIONAL PARK I was able to take a short drive into this park which is not far to the northeast of Ulaanbaatar. It has a variety of ger camps, really interesting rock formations and adjoins the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area. Together, the two areas conserve over 1.2 million hectares of land. Rocky hills seen through snow flurries The Tuul River, which also flows near Hustai National Park (with snow flurries) A well-known Mongolian created this ger camp, called "Jurassic Park" after the movie. I'd love to stay there sometime. A domestic yak. I brought home a lovely brown yak wool blanket. ULAANBAATAR (OOlan BAA-ter) The capital of Mongolia. Over 1/3 of the total population of about 2.3 million live there. One of the many "ger districts" surrounding Ulaanbaatar (UB). Families can now get 1.36 hectare leaseholds. Some are building wooden houses, but they still keep their gers for vacation escapes to the countryside. Pretty nifty, I say. Horse cart passing a gas station. Sükhbaatar Square: the Palace of Culture, which houses the truly excellent Mongolian National Modern Art gallery. Sükhbaatar Square: State Parliament House, Soviet era. The National Academic Drama Theater Downtown UB. Yes, we're about to make a left turn. Mongolian Artists' Exhibition Hall with plastic palm trees. Trés cool. Everything ger at the Khar Zakh (Black Market or Central Market) Rolls of felt ready to be used to cover the ger framework. Multiple layers are used depending on how cold it is. (It gets down to -40F in the winter!) Vertical supports, a door and central roof piece, ready to go. A full suite of ger furniture I got to visit a ger factory. This one is set up outside. Factory scene. Making a central roof circle. Factory scene. Vertical supports and door frames. Lattice wall sections and central roof circles. The number of lattice sections a ger uses corresponds to the number of walls it's said to have. An average ger is 4-8 walls. This factory does custom work and has sent gers to Saudi Arabia & Korea. The buyers in both places needed Mongolian help sent to show them how to put them up. Two Mongolians can set up an average ger in an hour or less. This is a central roof piece. A close-up of the elaborate carving. Many Mongolians are extremely talented artists and craftspeople. A local herder at Ikh Nart rides off into the sunset, bringing to a close this look at my wonderful journey to Mongolia.