Mongolia | Khentii Aimag | Khökh Nuur

After fording the Kherlen Gol near the Old Man’s Bushes we rode for another three hours through open steppe without a sign of water or firewood. Zevgee said we would soon reach a small tributary of the Kherlen where we would camp for the night. But when we got there the tributary was dry. Zevgee said this was the first time he had ever seen this. The nearest water was the Kherlen Gol, at least an hour's ride off to the west. While we took a break to decide what to do a local herdsman came by. He said there was a well at his ger about a mile away and that he would loan us a water container for the night. So we dispatched Zevgee's grandson for some water and set up our tents. There was a winter camp nearby and Zevgee was able to salvage some old logs there for firewood. Soon we enjoying a pot of Yunnan Gold Tea and later a big pot of sheep ribs and soup.

The next morning we followed the tributary east into the mountains, passing several large meadows where herdsmen were cutting wild hay for the winter with scythes. Larch forest creep down lower and lower on the flanks of the mountains until we were riding through park-like woods. Crossing a low pass we emerged on an upland of steppe interspersed by forested hills and ridges. Hidden among these hills was Khökh Nuur, the Blue Lake of the Black Heart Mountain where Temüjin, the future Chingis Khan, had lived with his family when he was a youngster. The family had fallen on hard times and when they lived here the only livestock they owned was nine horses. They surviving on marmots and other wild game. (see Paragraph 89 of The Secret History of the Mongols). Later, in 1189, when Temujin’s fortunes had taken a complete turnabout, he was declared Khan of all the Mongols here (see Paragraph 123 of the Secret History). It may be at this time that he received the title of Chingis Khan, although some sources maintain that he did not get the title of Chingis until later, in 1206. In any case Khökh Nuur is a hallowed site in the early life of Chingis.

Soon we spotted in the distance a large lodge surrounded by half a dozen or more small guest houses. I was a bit surprise to see this resort out here, but even more surprised when we rode a bit farther and saw that the resort was on the shores of Khökh Nuur. We rode a bit farther and saw at one end of the lake what was either another fancy two-story guesthouse or a private home surrounded by a wooden fence encompassing several acres.

Khökh Nuur

This was hardly what I was expecting. When I had first been to Khökh Nuur the first time in 1998 there had been no development of any kind around the lake and we even had a bit of trouble finding the place. We had come not by horse through the mountains from the Kherlen River but via a jeep trail from the süm center of Tsenkhermandal. When I returned again in 2002 someone had set up two gers and was living in one and renting the other one out to visitors. Now it appeared the area had been turned into a major tourist resort. Zevgee, who also had not been here for many years, was a bit nonplussed and not even sure he wanted to camp here. We rode along the side of lake across from the resort and found what looked like a heavily used campsite which was empty at the moment. So we decided to spend the night.

As we were setting up our tents a man in a uniform and wearing a badge arrived on a motorcycle. Now it appeared the lake had been declared a State Protected Area and you had to buy a permit to camp here. The permit was 3000 tögrögs. The ranger stayed for tea. He said the resort was a favorite of members of the Mongolian Parliament who often came here for the weekend. Many of them hoped, he said, to commune with the spirit of Chingis Khan while here and thus gain worldly power. The building in the fenced-in compound was the private residence of a gold miner who was reputed to be the richest man in Khentii Aimag. He came here on weekends and often hosted parties for high-rollers from Ulaan Baatar. When we asked the ranger how this guy could build a house in a State-Protected Area he just laughed and rubbed his thumb and fingers together.

All this was a bit hard to take in. On my first trip here we had camped right where the resort was now. We were the only people there and it seemed like a pretty wild place. Our jeep driver said a few people did come in the fall to pick the plentiful berries on the nearby hillsides, but that was about it. While we were eating breakfast three men who we assumed were local herdsmen, although we had not seen any gers in the area, arrived on horse. They sat down to chat and we offered them tea and soup, bread, and cheese. I noticed that the men wolfed the food down as if they had not eaten in days. Finally they left and a bit later we took the jeep trail back to Tsenkhermandal. After a couple of miles a jeep sped up from behind and flagged us over. Two men in police uniforms jumped out and asked if we had seen three men on horseback. We said we had. They said the three men were escapees from prison who had stolen three horses and were now hiding out in the woods around Khökh Nuur. No wonder they were so hungry. Whatever trouble they were in before they were in more now, since horse rustling in Mongolia carries an automatic five-year sentence.

On the side of the lake with the resort is a new monument to Chingis Khan created by the artist Ugtaabayar. By sheer coincidence I had arrived here on the day when Ugtaabayar was putting on the final touches to his work. We had spend the morning at celebrating the 840th Birthday of Chingis Khan at Khodoo Aral and then decided to move on and spend the night at Khôkh Nuur.

New Chingis Monument at Khökh Nuur

Close-up of relief on new monument

Earlier, at the time of my 1998 visit here, there had been a different monument on the same spot as the new one. This older monument had a relief portrait by artist Khurtsgerel which was probably the most reproduced image of Chingis, appearing in dozens, or not hundreds of different places. Once when walking down a street in Graz, Austria, the Dharma Wear Capital of the World, I was startled to see this image staring down at me from a billboard advertising a museum exhibition of Mongolian artwork. This monument has now been moved to a pass a mile or two from the lake.

Older monument with relief of Chingis

Detail of relief

It also appears of the copy of Juvaini’s monumental History of the World Conqueror.

Juvaini’s History of the World Conqueror

The relief appears yet again on John Man’s Genghis Khan: Life, Death, and Resurrection.

The same artist Khurtsgerel also did the relief now found on the Summit of Burkhan Khaldun, the Mountain Worshipped By Chingis Khan, as portrayed on the cover of the most recent edition of my Travels in Northern Mongolia.

Khurtsgerel’s relief on the summit of Burkhan Khaldun

Zevgee and his wife Tumen-Ölzii at Khökh Nuur

The heart-poundingly luscious Enkha gracing Khökh Nuur with her ineffable presence

Khökh Nuur, the Blue Lake of the Black Heart Mountain