Mongolia | Töv Aimag | Chingis’s Table | Old Man’s Bushes

From Zevgee’s ger on the Terelj Gol (a tributary of the Kherlen Gol, not be be confused with the Terelj Gol north of Ulaan Baatar), to Khökh Nuur is a distance of 21.9 miles as the crow flies. Unfortunately we were riding horses and so had to take a more roundabout route. We rode south along the west bank of the Kherlen Gol to Nomkhan Khairkhan Uul, where according to legend Mongols during the time of Chingis Khan used to gather to pay their respects to Burkhan Khaldun, which can be seen from here far off to the north. Burkhan Khaldun was quite visible today and its summit and upper flanks were covered with snow. Zevgee says this snow just fell in the last two or three days. Indeed, it is surprising chilly even here in the lower Kherlen Valley. I had planted this trip at this time to enjoy the last balmy days of summer, hopefully without flies or mosquitoes, but now autumn was definitely in the air. And there was a sharp wind out of the east which made everyone don their deels.

At the southern end of Nomkhan Khairkhan we stop at a place known locally as Chingis Khan’s Table. This is a big slab of rock which locals claim was used as a table by Chingis Khan personally. Chingis Khan certainly spent a lot of time in this area but the story about him using this rock as a table is no doubt apocryphal. In any case, it is a well-known local landmark, and many people stop here to down a bottle or two of vodka, as evidenced by the many empties nearby.

Chingis’s Table

Just past here is a place known as “Old Man's Bushes.” The story of this place dates back to 1688, when the Zungarian chieftain Galdan Boshigt invaded Khalkh Mongolia. He and his men trashed Erdene Zuu and Khögno Tarnyn Khiid, castrating and/or beheading numerous monks at the latter, then moved on farther east to attack and destroy Saridgiin Khiid, the monastery founded by Zanabazar, the First Bogd Gegeen of Mongolia. By then Zanabazar and his Khalkh Mongol followers were fleeing en masse to eastern Mongolia with Galdan and his army in hot pursuit. Many were traveling in ox-drawn carts with whatever possessions they had managed to take with them. They tried to cross the Kherlen River at a ford here but due to recent rains the river was very high and the carts had trouble crossing. They threw rocks into the river and then drove their carts across the river on the rocks. In the confusion an old man got left behind on the west bank of the river. He was still there when Galdan’s men arrived there the next day. In their fury at not being able to catch the Khalkh Mongols they killed the man, cut him up into manageable pieces, and made bortz, or dried meat, from his flesh. These strips of flesh were hung up to dry on bushes along the river bank. Every since then this ford has had the name of Old Man’s Bushes. There are still bushes along the river bank here, and a pathway of stones can still be discerned across the river.

The River Ford at Old Man’s Bushes

Mongolia | Töv Aimag | Horse and Camel Trips

Skipped out to Töv Aimag to meet up with Zevgee and his family. The general idea was to make an eight-day horse trip east into Khentii Aimag with stops at Khökh Nuur and Baltan Bereeven Khiid. This would be the 10th horse or camel trip I have done with Zevgee.

Let’s see: there was my first trip with Zevgee and his son Bayaraa in 1997, described in my Travels in Northern Mongolia. Then a 10-day 160-mile horse trip from Zevgee’s ger on Terelj Gol to the Minj River in the Khentii Mountains, just south of the Siberian border, retracing the route used by Temüjin, Chingis Khan, when he went to Siberia to capture his wife Börte back from the Merkits.

Looking north from the pass leading to the Minj River.

The extremely remote Minj River Valley near the Siberian border

Irises in bloom along the Minj River

Zevgee, momentarily befuddled, getting directions from Irina

On the way back from the Minj River we crossed Ongoljiin Davaa to the beginning of Ongoljiin Gol. This is the ultimate source of the 2,728 mile-long Ongoljiin-Onon-Shilka-Amur River System, according the National Geographic Altas of the World the 9th longest river system in the world.

Zevgee at the ultimate source of the Ongoljiin-Onon-Shilka-Amur River System

A year or two later Zegvee, his son Bayara, and I traveled to Bayankhongor Aimag, where Zevgee was born and where his brothers still live, and did a 124-mile camel trip from near the süm center of Shinejinst to the Sacred Mountain of Segs Tsagaan Bogd Uul near the Chinese border.

That was followed by a 109 mile horse trip Circumnavigating Burkhan Khaldun Uul, the mountain worshipped by Chingis Khan, with a stop at the Onon Hot Springs.

Then a 118 mile horse trip to Yestiin Rashaan the Hotsprings studied by Zanabazar, First Bogd Gegeen of Mongolia, with a stop at the ruins of Saridgiin Khiid, the monastery constructed by Zanabazar.

A year later we returned to Bayankhongor Aimag for a 272 mile camel trip following the Route of the 13th Dalai Lama from Shar Khuls Oasis to Amarbuyant Monastery.

Then back to Töv Aimag for a 168 mile horse trip to Asralt Khairkhan, the highest peak in the Khentii Range and after that yet another trip (my third) to the Summit of Burkhan Khaldun, the mountain worshipped by Chingis.

And just last year we did a Trip to Khargiin Khar Nuur with Gunj, the International Adventuress. I also visited Zevgee and Tümen Olzii for Tsagaan Sar Last Year in Baga Nuur.

Zevgee is a keen collector of photos for his family album so every year I take a family photo for him.

2008 Family Photo

Zevgee’s newest grandson, Kherlenbat

Then I bought a sheep and we prepared it for the upcoming horse trip. The first sheep I bought from Zevgee in 1997 cost $10. For this one I paid $55. And of course I did not claim the innards, the head, or the skin. The next morning we packed up our horses and left for Khökh Nuur.