A week away at Lake Khovsgol (part 1)

I went away for a week to visit Lake Khovsgol, located in the north western part of Mongolia. I've decided to break this week into three parts so as not to bore my readers with too many pictures.

I ventured up with 2 Aussie guy friends of Jocelyn's (Pete and Carl) and an Aussie girl who was friends with one of the guys. Jane, the girl, left on tuesday but another Aussie girl, Rebekah came in on that day. We also picked up a Japanese girl, Mai, who was traveling by herself, rounding up a nice group of 5 traveling fools.

The lake is one of seventeen ancient lakes worldwide more than 2 million years old and is the most significant drinking water reserve of Mongolia. Its water is potable without any treatment. That said, I didn't brave trying to drink it from the source. I did however jump in to the freezing cold water very briefly, (and very naked) and then walked quickly to my ger to warm up. brr....

Flying from UB to Moron. The ground beneath a vast array of steppe mountains and planes

The land and sky from the plane as the sun begins to set.

The landing strip of Moron Airport. a small paved strip in the middle of nowhere.

We spent the night at a tourist ger camp. In the morning we met some of the other travelers. These girls were from Slovenia. The bottle that the one in purple is holding is of homemade plum schnapps. It may have been 8am, but it's never too early to try homemade local spirits. It was quite strong, but tasty. I mixed it with some fruit tea which really offered a nice combination of flavor and sensations.

Carl and I in Moron on the way from buying water for the drive to Hatgal, near the lake

Shake your face. a game in which you shake your face very fast and capture the results in photos. Carl was great at this. The fists were added to make it look like he was getting in a fight.

Me, sitting by the lake. Reading in my book and contemplating the meaning of life. Notice how clear and blue the lake is.

Nature's door, the camp we stayed at for the first two days on the lake. notice the mountains in the background. Later you'll see two different views of them.

Mai went horseback riding while the rest of us went for a walk in the woods.

well, not so much a walk in the woods as much as a hike up those mountains I previously showed. Once on top, a nap was much needed.

Not a bad place to rest.

Coming back down near the end of the hike. Notice how monstrous I look compared to the Aussies. Sometimes I forget who big I really am.

Sun sets on the lake.

At breakfast I was getting very warm from sitting in the sun, so i took my shirt off. No one seemed to mind until hairs started showing up in the butter.

We headed back down to Hatgal to plan a trip to a different part of the lake. At the Ger camp we stayed at I met a formidable opponent. The very young wrestler wanted a piece of the giant Amerik. I was game.

We started off with the usual rustle and tussle.

but he quickly showed his strength in slamming me to the ground.

But I wasn't one to give up easily, even if he was fearless and rugged.

He had a grip like a giant eagle, never letting loose.

But I quickly changed momentum

And with my amazing ups, was able to hop over him in single bounds. This threw him for a loop.

and I then got him on the run...

and I left him on the ger for about 3 seconds before he started to cry miserably... oh well, game over. I actually wrestled with him for nearly an hour. Dirty and tired I was ready for dinner. yet he wasn't tired and proceeded to play with other tourists. Clearly he was the winner.