MONGOLIA 2006

ILH NARTIIN CHULUU NATURE RESERVE
Rested and ready to go, my guide, Baaska, and our driver and cook headed south out of UB for Ikh Nartiin Chuluu. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. This is the Tuul Gol again, which originates in the northern mountains, flows through UB and on past Hustai National Park. A spiffy newish gas station near the town of Choir, which is pronounced something like "chore"
Back at Ikh Nart. The research camp is in a valley surrounded by very picturesque rocks. The shipping container is used for secure storage. When the Soviets pulled out, the Mongolian economy collapsed, so the foreign aid poured in, largely in these shipping containers. Mongolia had nothing to export so there was no reason ship them back out. Now you see them everywhere. In UB, there is a grocery district with all the shops in containers. Ditto the area of the big Naran Tuul Market where you can buy all or any part of a ger. Looking down the valley to the steppe. Late afternoon light. It was calm and warm, just lovely.
That little speck on the top and almost in the middle is Baaska. I think it took him a whole five minutes to get up there. Sunset at Ikh Nart. While I had firm arrangements to stay at the research camp, it wasn't clear who else would be there. When we arrived, as it turned out, it was no one else and the gers were locked. Not even the ranger and his wife. So we just kicked back and waited and a couple of hours later, one of the grad students came rolling in from his day of fieldwork and opened everything up. Then the ranger Maikhant and his wife, Tuya, drove up on his motorbike. Tuya and I had exchanged gifts at the end of the Earthwatch project in 2005 and it was wonderful to see her again. Lots of hugs and smiles since I know only a smidgeon of Mongolian and she knows no English. But we managed just fine.
Well, the next morning was freezing (literally) and windy. We had caught the very last day of warm weather apparently. I bundled up and walked out by myself on foot to wander around the reserve looking for argali. I had a GPS, plenty of water and protein bars. I couldn't believe it. I ended walking almost straight out to one of my favorite rock formations from last time, which I think of as "the ship" - if the ship was an aircraft carrier.
A cinereous vulture nest. Nothing like a room with a view. In the early afternoon I started to see what looked like dust in the distance, very similar to what ended up being the precursor to the dust storm in 2005. Not wanting to take any chances, I headed back to camp. Fortunately it was a false alarm. It wasn't too cold, but it was really, really windy. Baaska was very interested in seeing the Tibetan inscriptions that are found in the reserve since he want to show them to some clients in the summer of 2007. One of the rangers offered to take us with him as he did his observation routine. So we spent the late afternoon tooling around in the van.
One of the inscriptions. Another set. We found five and they were all on the lee side of the rocks, out of the wind.
A small herd of argali, including one with a radio collar. They ran straight up the cliff in the back as soon as they saw us. A tolai hare being invisible. I was within six feet of it before it took off.
The next morning one of the scientists, Sukhiin Amgalanbaatar (Amgaa) arrived with Susan Antenen and her husband, Sam. She is the Mongolian Project Manager for The Nature Conservancy. Except that there aren't any Mongolian projects yet. She was researching what her organization might get involved with. The previous two weeks, while I was happily trapsing around the Mongolian countryside, she was sitting in meetings in UB. This was her and her husband's one chance to get out of town for a couple of days before going home. So, here we all are, at one of the highest points in the reserve. Amgaa tries to get a radio telemetry fix on an argali.
This was shocking to all of us. Right in the middle of the reserve, a big trench was dug to mine gemstones. I think it must have been over 100 feet long and over six feet deep. Illegal and in broad daylight. There hasn't been enough money to hire enough rangers to keep an eye on things, but that recently changed. Some of the broken granite drill bits used to dig the mine.
Leavings from the mine. Mostly amythyst and citrine. The world's best cashmere on the hoof.
These goats have a lot of individual character. One of the students adding an extra layer of felt to one of the gers.
It didn't take long at all. Once the cover is back on and fastened with straps, they're done. The ger I stayed in the first three nights had one layer and it got pretty chilly, even with a coal fire in the stove. The second night, it was possibly going to snow, and Tuya, bless her heart, came over with a maroon del with a thick sheepskin lining which she tucked around the foot of my 20 degree rated sleeping bag. So there was no chance that my feet were going to get cold! It was a wonderfully thoughtful thing for her to do and I really appreciated it. The last night I slept in the scientist's ger with Amgaa, Susan and Sam since the one I'd been in was packed away for the season while we were out in the field.. The second layer of felt made an amazing difference in how well the ger held the heat. It was almost too warm. Almost.
Why do I love Mongolia?
Moonrise at Ikh Nartiin Chuluu.
Time for goodbyes. Amgaa and I. He did his darndest, but I hardly saw any argali at all. So, I guess I'll just have to go back again (grin). My friend Tuya and I. Always smiling and cheerful. Always one step ahead if there's something that needs doing. I wish we didn't live so far apart. I wear the copper ring she gave me in 2005 every day.
Since she was having camera problems, I volunteered to take some photographs for Susan Antenen of things that pose environmental and conservation challenges for Mongolia, like this enormous coal mine, on my way back to Ulaanbaatar. The Mongolians rely on coal for heat in the winter when the temperatures can reach 40F below zero. But the pollution it creates over Ulaanbaatar is causing serious health problems. It seems like Mongolia would be a natural for solar power, considering that the sun shines over 200 days a year. And, in fact, it looks like an increasing number of herders have bought small solar panels for powering televisions and other equipment.
A single rail line runs mostly next to the road from the northern border with Russia, through Ulaanbaatar and on south to Beijing, bisecting the country. This has separated the population of Mongolian gazelle since two of the very, very few fences in the country run in a parallel line on either side of the railroad tracks. There is a lot of research being done to understand how to address this issue. A typical village adjacent to the railroad.
A not even remotely typical house. I have no idea what the story is with this building. A few of the many horses freely grazing in the countryside. I liked the flashy pinto.
There is a stretch of road between UB and Choir that I now think of as "Raptor Alley". This is one of eight or ten golden eagles that I saw just standing by the side of the road like feathered hitchhikers. There were also an abundance of kites and hawks. A bird watcher's paradise A local herder moving his flock.
On the outskirts of UB, this scene had an almost Old West feel to it, except for the bright blue paint and Cyrillic alphabet sign. Saw quite a few of these hay trucks and also trucks carrying coal into the capital. Clearly, preparations for winter were well underway.
This mode of transportation seems very dangerous given how many cars there are now in UB. Mongolian women are about as stylish as you'll find anywhere. I was particularly struck by the boots. I can't begin to imagine wearing them all day. But then, Birkenstocks are more my speed.
Waiting for the bus for the trip home at the end of the day. The view from my hotel room of Peace Ave. on my last evening in Mongolia.
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