Mongolia | Fifth Nine-Nine | Tavisan Budaa Khöldökhgui

The Fifth of the Nine-Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather—begins today. This is Tavisan Budaa Khöldökhgui, the time when “Cooked Rice Cannot Be Frozen.” I must admit I really don’t understand the definition of this period. It seems to me that cooked rice would be frozen at any temperature below freezing, and we can certainly expect colder temperatures than that during the last week of January and beginning of February. Anyhow, the Fourth of the Nine-Nines was supposed to be coldest of the Nine-Nines, and the rest of the country is still reeling from the cold snap:  Extreme Weather Threatens Mongolians with Hunger and Poverty. Over one million head of livestock have reportedly died. Even wildlife has been affected: Mongolian Antelope Invasion Causes Alarm in Russia. True, it was up to 14ºF / Minus 10ºC yesterday afternoon, but Tsagaan Sar is coming up on the 14th of February and we often have really frigid weather for that. So there may be little if any relief in store for the countryside any time soon. I wish I could get out and see for myself what is happening, but unfortunately I am unable to travel at the moment. Maybe I will have some updates from the countryside around Tsagaan Sar.

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.

Mongolia | Ulaan Baatar | Tsagaan Sar 2007

The first day of Tsagaan Sar (White Month), the Mongolian New Year celebration, was on Sunday, February 18. Two years ago I had gotten up in the early pre-dawn hours and went out to Dambadarjaa Monastery in the suburb of Dambadarjaa, north of Ulaan Baatar proper, to Greet the Dawn at the Ovoo on Zonkov Uul. This year I went to Khiimoryn Ovoo, on the northern flanks of Bogd Khaan Uul, just to the west of the Zaisan Valley. This is a men-only ovoo; no women are allowed to go there, at least not on Tsagaan Sar. I went with my neighbor Ganaa and two of his friends. The actual moment of the New Moon was at 12:16 a.m. on the morning of the 18th. The official sunrise for Ulaan Baatar was at 7:55. We arrived at the base of the Khiimoryn Ovoo at about 6:30 to discover an immense traffic jam of several hundred cars jockeying for position in the parking lot. There was fee to visit the ovoo: 300 tögrögs for Mongolians and 3000 tögrögs for foreigners. Ganaa complained and got me in for 300 tögrögs. The climb to the ovoo is about 1000 vertical feet.

Ganaa (right) and one of his friends

Several thousand people climbing toward the ovoo. Chingeltei, one of the Four Sacred Mountains surrounding Ulaan Baatar, can be seen on the far horizon just left of center, beyond the city.

Another one of Ganaa’s friends (right), taking a breather

Approaching the ovoo
Still climbing to the ovoo

The Khiimoryn Ovoo. Notice milk offerings on the stone in foreground.

The sun actually rose over the eastern flanks of Bogd Khan Uul at 8:08. Another one of Ganaa’s friends who made the climb with us

That evening I attended a dinner party. I did not mention that I had been to Khiimoryn Ovoo that morning. Someone said that they had heard a rumor that “many foreign people dressed in deels” had been at Khiimoryn Ovoo at sunrise that day. I was there, and I was wearing my winter deel, but at the time I was struck by the fact that I appeared to be the only foreigner present. If there had been any others I think I would have noticed them. I could not help but wonder if I myself had been conflated via rumor into “many foreign people dressed in deels.”

See More Photos of Khiimoryn Ovoo