On our first full day in Mongolia, we made our way to Terelj National Park, just a short distance from the capital, Ulaanbaatar. There was a direct bus at midday, but we wanted to make the most of the day so we opted to depart at 7am and take three separate buses.
The first city bus had a couple of drunk men on board who seemed to use the bus as a cheap place to sleep the drink off.
We booked to stay at a Ger camp that was walkable from the main road, but after 1km a car rumbled past us on the dirt road, slammed on its brakes and offered us a free ride.
As we got out of his car, I walked around the back to access our camp, just as he engaged reverse and floored it. I had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit!
We ended up choosing a great camp where our ger was decorated in a typical Mongolian style with wooden furniture painted bright orange and finished with colourful detailing.
The national park was a bit disappointing to begin with as there were clearly no regulations and people were building hotels and camps wherever they pleased.
The day was still young so we set off on a hike, and after spending two months in China where national parks have very controlled routes to follow, we now had complete freedom to go wherever we wanted.
We passed free-roaming horses and lots of moose scat which was exciting – but sadly we didn’t end up finding any moose. Once we reached the top we continued along a stunning meadow filled with vibrant orange flowers and abandoned wooden huts used by nomads.
When it was time to head back down we picked an area on my map where the forest seemed to be interspersed with meadows. It turned out to be quite dense forest with a lot of downed trees to climb over so we spent ages navigating our way over the obstacle course.
Eventually, we made it down to the valley where all the ger camps were located, just in time for a simple home-cooked meal at our camp.
The following morning we were treated to an incredible breakfast which fuelled us for the day’s hike. This time we wanted to explore the other side of the valley, and that’s where we unexpectedly came across a small group of camels. These big, double-humped camels were in the process of losing their winter coats, making them look rather shabby in the process. They stormed past us, on a mission to reach a little pool of water in the grass where they all proceeded to take a sip and swing their heads sideways, causing their lips to slap across their face.
We couldn’t hike too long today as we planned to take a night bus to our next destination, so we couldn’t get as far into the wilderness as we’d hoped. We spent a lot of time walking past ger camps and hideous concrete hotels, but eventually we made it to the high hills where large boulders appeared out of nowhere.
Once we’d taken in the sights from an elevated spot, it was time to hike back down to the road where we stuck our thumbs out in an attempt to get a ride out of the park. In a stroke of luck, the second car stopped and inside was a Swiss man dressed in traditional Mongolian wear with knee-high leather boots and a robe. He was in his 60s and had always dreamed of visiting Mongolia and when he finally did it just felt like home, so he never left.
He now spent his life as a horse guide and translator for a herding family, living a semi-nomadic life. The nice chap ended up driving all the way to Ulaanbaatar which saved us from taking the bus and then we just had to grab some lunch, pick up our backpacks from the hostel, and make our way to the bus station for our night bus.
