Orkhon Valley

Our long ride from Kharkhorin took us all the way to the Orkhon Valley, the terrain here was very different with high mountains and a frozen river. Plenty of animals to see from goats, sheep, horses, camels, vultures and even an eagle. We picked up a random hitchhiker and drove him all the way towards the valley. At one point, were trying to find our camp and Gana seemed to have gotten a bit lost and asked a random ger for directions.

We eventually found the right place and got situated inside the nomadic family's tent. It was our first time in one, even for Emily who had done the Gobi trip and she said that this was one of her highlights. I enjoyed their hospitality as well and ate some of their delicious bread. Emily tried talking to them via Google Translate and the grandma cooked some food for us. They had an adorable dog and four horses, one of them was quite skittish and I had to earn its trust slowly but it eventually let me pet it and when I stopped, it asked for more.

We then went to the Orkhon Waterfall which was the main spot for the day, except that it still didn't have water so it was just this frozen wall with icicles and the lake below was also half frozen. Instead, Emily and I had a walk around the area which was breathtaking with a lot of rock formations and so much space (and poop). I meditated on a boulder for sometime before Gana's car came my way, I had wanted to wait for sunset here but it seems like we were going back.

For dinner, I had some delicious potatoes and rice and this special relish that they put on it which was absolutely amazing, I got seconds. I didn't want to miss the sunset so I went out to scout for a place to hike, I ran towards it with the dog who seemed to accompany me all the way up where I saw just how beautiful the land was. A meandering river flowed right across the grasslands while surrounded by mountains on both side, all the while during sunset was such a power moment that I felt my soul shedding a lot of baggage. I went back to our ger, the had put some wood in and it was getting quite hot, I squeezed in my sleeping bag which was on a hard bed and hoped to get some sleep. In the morning when the fire died out, it got really cold to the point where I had to go into a fetal position and cover my entire head with the sleeping bag.Read more