Day 39: Ulaanbaatar to Kharkhorin , The van tour (Day 1)

White buildings with red trim at a petrol station.
Refueling our van at Erdenesant.

Today

  1. It’s a date!
  2. Itinerary and costs
  3. Leaving Ulaanbaatar
  4. Kharkhorin
  5. Erdene Zuu Khiid
  6. Monastery grounds
  7. Tourist Ger Camp
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Map showing the co-ordinates latitude 47.20168897825187 and longitude 102.84092577694388.

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Day 39/298
Tour progress 13%

Kharkhorin is not the grand medieval city that I expected, but the sprawling monastery of Erdene Zuu is a worthy substitute.

It’s a date!

I’m woken by my French room mate. He’s asking on behalf of the Dutch-Irish couple: am I still coming?

I check my phone and there is a short but positive message from my employer – we’re on!

After yummy hostel porridge I rush to repack my gear into my new 40L dry bag (₮ 97,400 / NZD 74.90). The rest of my gear is thrown into the storage cupboard.

I grab ₮ 800,000 ($480) from the ATM to prepay the driver and cover the three days I’ve stayed at the hostel so far.

Itinerary and costs

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Handwritten prices in Mongolian Tugriks.
The cost ran into the thousands.

Our trip should take five days, so we should be back on Wednesday.

Van tour itinerary
Day Location Activity
One Kharkhorin & Erdene Zuu monastery Ruins
Two ? Waterfall & horse riding
Three Tövkhön temple Hiking and horse riding
Four Ugii Lake Ruins
Five Return to Ulaanbaatar -

I say should, because from what I’ve read, the cute but boxy Russian tourist vans are reliably unreliable. There’s a high likelihood that our van will either get one or more flat tyres, and/or overheat, and/or crap out in some remote location. Help could be some hours away and so it’s best to go prepared with this eventuality in mind.

The trip is also going to be reasonably expensive, I guess that’s the price of convenience. We’re self-catering, so our main cost is the driver, followed by petrol, then food, accommodation and activities.

Van tour costs (each)
Item ₮ NZD
Driver 266,000 $204
Petrol 101,000 $77
Food 90,000 $69
Accommodation 42,000 $32
Activities 29,000 $22

Leaving Ulaanbaatar

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Houses on the hillside.
The UB sprawl.
A four lane highway.
4 lane blacktop.
White buildings with red trim at a petrol station.
Refueling our van at Erdenesant.
A two lane highway.
2 lane blacktop.
A man photographs steppes and distant hills.
Love those hills.

Our van arrives and I’m disappointed to find that it’s a newer model, and probably won’t break down at all.

Our driver, Zirka, is friendly, though he speaks minimal English.

It’s 360km from Ulaanbaatar to Kharkhorin, our first stop for the day.

We’ve got lots of time to kill. I’m riding shotgun and want to ask him so many questions. But as his replies inevitably require hand gestures, I decide that it’s better to let him drive.

The sprawl accompanies us on our exit from town. But soon we are driving down wide highways, accompanied by nothing but the steppes – and the hills.

The hills are beautifully gentle. Their slopes rise ever so gradually from the flat earth. Their peaks are undefined, soft, black and shadowy. I love them.

Kharkhorin

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I look at the eagle perching on my forearm.
Having a moment.
I look at the camera while an eagle perches on my forearm.
What an awesome bird.
A lady in a blue cloak and brown hat waves her arms to scare the eagle.
Forced flapping.
The eagle extends its wings to take flight.
Taking flight.
The eagleʼs feet are tied to a wooden post.
Or not.

Kharkhorin is not what I expected.

I was expecting Karakorum, a grand medieval city. But that’s not what’s here. Thankfully my disappointment is offset by the realisation that the place we have come to see, the Erdene Zuu Khiid (monastery) is pretty awesome.

At the entrance to Erdene Zuu Khiid, I’m not really surprised to find a row of shops.

But there is also an eagle. Tethered to a wooden perch, an entrepreneurial woman in a brimmed hat and shiny blue coat approaches us.

It’s a big bird, majestic. Eagles are used to aid Mongol hunters in the country’s far west. The popular Eagle Festival definitely came up on my radar during my trip planning, but the host town of Ulgii is almost on the border with Kazakhstan and would have been a considerable detour.

For a fee we can hold this eagle on our arm. We all do this, and it’s wonderful. But the woman, intent on giving us the full experience, scares the bird into taking flight. It extends its huge wings in preparation to flee, but the rope prevents it from actually escaping. I’d be impressed if it wasn’t so painfully cruel.

Erdene Zuu Khiid

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Squat white stone monuments topped with pointed domes.
Stupas!
A stone monument is adorned with golden swirls and the figure of a white lion.
White lion.
A plaque at the top of a stone monument features geometric shapes, and a yin and yang symbol.
Soyombo symbol representing fire, sun, moon, earth, water, yin and yang.
Barren steppes and distant hills.
No distractions.

Rows of bright white stupas mark the boundary between the barren steppes and the monastery complex within.

A spiritual outpost, Erdene Zuu Khiid is one of the earliest surviving Buddhist monasteries in Mongolia.

The blue skies definitely help the appreciation factor and I’m very glad that I brought a real camera (thanks Dave!).

Monastery grounds

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In a red entrance way, blue cloth hangs from two golden lion door handles.
Entering Erdene-Zuu-Khild.
A small red building sits on top of a tall stone battlement containing a doorway.
Entranceway.
A walled area containing two story buildings with smiling eaves.
Monastery buildings.
A long stone path leads to a walled area.
Stone pathway.
A red single story building with ornate smiling eaves.
The temple of the Dalai Lama.
Rooftops are just visible over the top of a red wall.
Inner wall.
Remnants of red paint peel off a long brick wall.
Peeling paint.
A cluster of stupas in the middle of the complex.
Stupa central.
Prayer wheels and flags outside a two story stone building.
Place of prayer.
A long wall on the far side of a grassy field.
Distant wall.
White stone monuments at equal intervals on the perimeter wall.
Stupas stand watch.

Inside, there are various buildings but only a handful of signs to explain what they all are.

Maybe a Google search can make sense of all of this. For now, I forget about understanding and focus on what I can see and feel.

Tourist Ger Camp

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Our group is reflected in the window of the camp cafe.
Tourist ger camp at Kharkhorin.
Numbers written in the sand.
Wi-Fi password.
Blue sky and black land.
Sunset.

As the day comes to a close we drive a short distance to our accommodation at a nearby ger camp.

First written 10th October 2015.

Last updated 10th December 2023.

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