Mongolia - Arkhangai - July 2004

Mongolia, land of contrasts. You've aleardy heard that ? And yet, this overused expression, really suits this country. How could you describe otherwise a place where you walk under a drizzle then, after half an hour, where you sweat under a blazing sun and then, where after half an hour again, you're freezing under a hailstorm ? How could you describe a place where a horse-riding drunkard obstinately bars your way (even if it's to invite you to his tent to find a good reason to go on drinking) but where, half an hour later, a family welcomes you with kindness and curiosity, offering you their dairy products. In mongolia, half an hour is the time unit : beyhond that, nothing is certain.

It's hard to describe Mongolia in one word : what do the high mountains of Altai, the softer ones of Arkhangai, the steppes and the Gobi desert have in common ? However, there is a common point : from one side of Mongolia to the other one, for some time at least, nomadism is king. In this country, with a culture so different than ours, Arkhangai is a nice place for a hike. Let's visit it through these pictures.

Photo galleries

You can see the photo gallery of the trek on distant trails (also works on iPhone and iPad).

You will need Adobe Flash Player to see this gallery (unless you use an iPhone or iPad). The lower right button of the gallery navigation bar will allow you to see the images full screen.

If you don't want to install Adobe Flash Player, you can see the trek photos on Flickr. You can also download there pictures in their original size.

Map

Thanks to Google Maps, you will see below the trek map.

Click on "View on a larger map" to see a full screen map and to be able to load it in Google Earth plug-in and see a 3D view. The trek trace you see is not coming from a GPS, so do not try to use the coordinates to perform some actual navigation.