Battsengul - White Lake6 Jun 2008
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Ger at Battsengul
White Lake
| Woke up early and took a stroll down to the river, startling a camel (all Bactrian camels here) along the way. There are a lot of cranes (Siberian cranes ?) in Mongolia but there were none this morning, only a flock of geese and a couple of kites. After a breakfast of tea and bread we set off for another long day (about 8 hours) to Terkhein Tsagaan Nuur, also known as White Lake which is a hell of a lot easier to pronounce. The tracks tend to go up valleys, then over small passes and down to the next valley. We passed loads of sheep and yaks along the more fertile valleys. We stopped for lunch at a basic ger near the roadside. Joints of meat were strung up on the inside walls of the ger but there were no flies, surprisingly. We had some Mongolian tea, which turned out to be diluted yak's milk. Then were treated to dried yak's cheese, which would break anyone's dentures; rock-hard with a taste that is vaguely cheesy mixed with steppe dust. In the afternoon we got to Chuluut Canyon, a pleasant spot where a river has gouged a deep gorge through the landscape, and about an hour later we got to the lake via a very rickety wooden bridge. The lake is an extinct volcanic area with plenty of old lava flows and a crater. Very picturesque spot. |
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