Huvsgul, all by legs (starter)

Finally! I’m going to Huvsgul! In this trip, I’m going to use a week trekking from Huvsgul Lake to Tsagaannuur. Huvsgul Lake is the second biggest lake in Mongolia. I’m going to walk along west shore, pass Jiglegiin Am, cross mountains, to Renchinlhumbe and Tsagaannuur.

At first I’d submitted this project for some grants, but I didn’t get it. Maybe my dream is not great enough for them to pay attention. But for me, learning more about this beautiful and interesting country is definitely important. Because of this little shock, I start to rethink that how to get my people knowing some more about Mongolia. While on the plane, I started to read “Wild East: travels in the new Mongolia” (2000) by Jill Lawless. She writes her own experiences while she lived in Mongolia. She makes fun of herself and telling some common cultural shocks when a foreigner encounter wild Mongolia. I really like her words, simple, fun, but also make readers think and learn. Maybe, I say maybe, I can also write something like this book to introduce this country, which I love so much, to Chinese world.

So who cares one doesn’t get grants? Mongolia is a place I’d visit again and again. And Huvsgul, after last winter’s visit, I’ve been always wondering of seeing her blue and watery appearance. At last I still bought the ticket to Huvsgul and experience this extraordinary place by my legs.

Huvsgul is a humid place. Unlike other parts of grassland and dessert Mongolia, here you can see green forests, lakes and rivers. Mongolians call here “taiga”, which means forest. There is a border between Huvsgul and Siberian Russia. And the deepest lake on the Earth, Lake Baikal, is just nearby. Sadly this border only allows Russians and Mongolians pass by, otherwise I’d really like to go through here, directly going to Lake Baikal, saving some time and money going back to Ulaanbaatar again.

Here is my trip:

15 Aug  Khatgal—Jiankhai C1

16 Aug  C1—about 25km northern somewhere near the lake C2

17 Aug  C2—6km before Jiglegiin Am, picked up by a motorcyclist—Renchinlhumbe village C3

18 Aug  C3—Tsagaannuur lakes’ side C4

19 Aug  C4—Tsagaannuur village