Don Croner’s World Wide Wanders

Winged out 534 miles to Uliastai, capital of Zavkhan Aimag, and then took a van 20 miles east ATCF to the well-known children’s camp located to the west of the Otgon Tenger Massif. Here we hired horses and two horsemen for a circumnavigation of 13,192-foot Otgon Tenger Mountain, one of the three sacred mountains of Mongolia officially recognized by the Mongolian government. I had already done an eighty mile circumnavigation, or khora, of Burkhan Khaldun and climbed to the summit of Bogd Khan Uul, the other two officially recognized sacred mountains.

Otgon Tenger from the Children's Camp

From the Children's Camp we crossed the Bodgyn Gol, which begins on the western flanks of Otgon Tenger, and headed northeast up the Rashaan Gol. Locals say they had been experiencing a drought and that there had been no significant rains for several weeks, but only a few hours into our trip we experienced a torrential downpour. We popped into a ger for tea and waited for this to pass and then continued on to the hotspring complex of Otgon Amralt Rashaan, where we camped for the night. This complex can be reached by road and is quite popular with locals. Probably a hundred people were in residence. We camped by ourself near a small stream flowing out of the mountains.

Western edge of the Otgon Tenger Massif from the Rashaan Valley

Camp at Otgon Rashaan

The next day we continued up the Rashaan Gol. Batbayar, one of our horsemen, pointed out that to our left was a pass leading to the headwaters of the Ider River, the beginning of which is the ultimate source of the Yenisei River System, the fifth longest river system in the world. In 1997 I had located the source of the Ider, as described in my Travels in Northern Mongolia. Then we turned eastward on the Ard Chuluutiyn Gol and soon passed by 11,952-foot Baga Bogd Uul, also known to locals as Baga (Little) Otgon Tenger.

11,952-foot Baga Bogd Uul

We followed the Ard Chuluutiyn Gol to its source and camped for the night just below the pass leading to the Övör Chuluutiyn Gol. It started raining heavily and we were just able to get a fire started using wood from the waist-high willows along the creek. It rained hard all night and was still raining next morning. We decided to wait until the rain stopped before crossing the pass, but it keep raining for most of the day and we ended up spending another night at this camp. I really did not care, because I spent most the day in my tent engrossed in Gurdieff: Making a New World by J. G Bennett. The deluge continued on through the night, but at dawn the next morning a window appeared in the clouds and soon patches of azure sky were visible. I rousted the horsemen and soon we were climbing to 10,070-foot Chuluutiyn Davaa. Here we got our first look at majestic Otgon Tenger off to our right.

Ovoo at 10,070-foot Chuluutiyn Davaa

Glacier-capped Otgon Tenger from Chuluutiyn Davaa

From the pass we dropped down to the Övör Chuluutiyn Gol and after passing by several small lakes finally arrived at the Övör Bodgyn Gol. On a bluff above the river is a statue of Ochirvani (Vajrapani), the Protector Deity of the mountain. Chingis Khan and several Kings of Shambhala are believed to be emanations of Ochirvani.