Lincoln Peterson

I’ve never thought much about modern-day Mongolia until a few months ago. It suddenly became a trending travel destination, especially in Korea.

We booked our flight without any concrete plans, because you get a more fair price for tours if you find them within the country.

This ended up being true, we had no problem finding a tour with our hostel, Golden Gobi.

This was a company that was well recommended across many social media sites. But it seemed like for us, everything that could go wrong did… I would recommend finding another company.

First, a warning to Koreans desperate for Korean food on their trip to Mongolia. Make sure to properly store the gochujang.

I went with Jeju Air for this flight, as usual. The plane was a little delayed, but it was no problem.

I thought, wow, there’s really nothing here…

I would recommend taking the airport shuttle bus. It’s very easy, and you can avoid getting scammed by people in the airport claiming to be taxis.

But we spent an hour and a half in stop and go traffic once we arrived in the city. Why don’t they make bus lanes…?

We arrived at the hostel, but were a bit confused. We had let them know in advance we were coming and that we were going to do a desert tour in two days, but I guess that’s not how it works, because they didn’t seem to know what was going on. The owner was extremely busy, and we didn’t get any confirmation of what was going on or if we could go on our tour until the next day.

I think that Golden Gobi must have something going on with an Israeli tour company, because the guesthouse was well over 50% Israeli tourists. It was very hectic.

We went to the State Department Store to try some Mongolian food. Some camel and goat milk, and some kind of sour cheesy snack…? I wouldn’t eat it again, but it’s not terrible.

Anyways, we spent the day in the city and trying to book our bus tickets for Khuvsgul lake.

But this city is the worst city I’ve ever been to. It takes an hour to move 10 km, because the traffic is terrible. And the air smells polluted from cars. Taking a car is only slightly faster than walking, and sometimes slower.

Also, there are no official taxis. So most people will try to scam you into paying 2 or 3 times the price of a normal taxi. You should only be paying 2000-2500 Tugrik per kilometer.

And it’s said to be wary due to pickpockets.

It’s a culture shock to us both, coming from such an honest and efficient society.

Anyways, I’m going to a Buddhist temple.

And the next day, we finally get to go on our tour.

Due to some problem, we are sent without a group. But the company said that they had already found other people to go in the group…? We had paid for a group tour, but it ended up being private.

And once again, the traffic is terrible. Let me escape the city!!!

I heard there were a lot of animals in Mongolia, but I didn’t know they are all free ranged. There are no pens or cages for the animals, because the families have to move a few times a year.

And our lunch spot for the day..

Hyeonjeong asked if people drink horse milk, which was understood as a request by our guide and driver. They drive off the road and go to seemingly some random person’s house and ask for some. They have barrels full of uncovered fermented horse milk. Is this Mongolian culture … ?

It tastes like sour makgeolli, by the way.

After many hours of driving, we arrive at our camp in Baga Gazariin Chuluu. It was already so late, so we had to go to see the area the next morning.

It used to be the site of a temple, which was destroyed by communists when Mongolia was a USSR satellite state.

Mongolia was communist until the 1990s, which is why they still use the Cyrillic script.

But now, they are trying to get rid of the Russian influences, starting with readopting their old script, which looks a little bit like a mix between Thai and Arabic.

The next day, our car broke down, and we were stuck for hours.

But I made the best of it by catching lizards.

I told the guide that we can just walk to a far camp to get help, but he kept saying it was fine. Finally, he decided to walk to the camp.

And our lodging for today… つらい….

The goats all gather around the entrance, because this is where their food comes from. And in the night, there was a terrible windstorm, which caused all of the windows to suddenly burst open. The windstorms in the desert are no joke…

Our car got downgraded and we got a new driver as well.

Anyways, the next day is Baga Gazariin Chuluu. We were supposed to go yesterday, but our car broke down.

We have to go again right away, because there’s 2 places to see in one day.

So we stop at the driver’s house, and the food is really terrible. They don’t have access to clean water, so it has sand and dirt, and is an off color… And the food is really poor.

But… We paid a lot of money for the tour, so why can’t you use that money?

We decided the reason was that they were trying to cut costs because there were not enough people in the group. The owner told us that even if she is losing money, she would send us.

But compared to the quality of other people’s tours from the same company, ours is different. I understand that the owner is making less money from this tour, but we paid the same amount as everyone else… So it’s unfair.

And eating well is almost a virtue in Korea。

Next is the Dund Sayahani Nuruu. There’s little mice-rabbit things running about, which are apparently called Pikas.

On the way, some rock climbing goats.

And the next day, we finally get to stay in a Ger!

Clean water and a bed… So she is happy.

And this is a Mongolian dog. It’s almost the only kind of dog out in the country. They are friendly and incredibly dirty.

I think it’s not a good combination.

Three more days of the tour… next is the singing sand dunes.

It’s not just as easy as going up a tall mountain. The past year I have exercised a lot, so I don’t think I’m in bad health. I can climb mountains and bike, and it’s not so bad.

So I’m not really trying to exaggerate by saying it was some of the most difficult exercise I’ve done in my life. But it’s quite worth it!

Next stop is Flaming Cliffs.

At this point I was starting to feel like I had a mild flu. It didn’t get any worse, but according to the guide “people who drink Mongolian water get sick at first.”

It’s so windy, I feel like I’m going to fly off the cliff.

The last day is a really long drive, so our guide tells us that we have to get up early.

Finally, the last day. There aren’t as many people coming to see this area, but I really liked it.

And then, the next day, after much driving, we are back to the city.

In part 2, I’m going to Khuvsgul!

By the way, I will never use AI to write a blog. Even if you are a mediocre writer, or putting in little effort, you are still a better writer than AI, and you are still putting in more effort than AI.

Thanks for reading!