By Caton Langston of the University of Montana

The great trek to the Darhad valley for me began in Boise, Idaho. After a quick flight to San Francisco, I was soon aboard a 12-hour flight to Seoul, South Korea. After the long flight, I was pleased to arrive at the very nice Seoul airport and found a comfy place to sleep for the night. The next day I met my fellow students, and we boarded our last flight to Chinggis Khaan International Airport in the capital city, Ulaanbataar.

We were finally on the ground in Mongolia! Our instructors, Chris and Badmaa, along with our two drivers, picked us up, and we were on our way to the home base in Ulaanbataar. Navigating the traffic of the city was quite the experience. I was very glad to have a local behind the wheel to guide us through the swarms of Priuses (a very popular car here in Mongolia) and safely to our apartment. After settling in, we were all soon asleep and recovering from the long hours spent on planes and airports.

We spent the next two days in the big city. We strolled around to get to know the Mongolian cuisine and visited the capitol building, the history Museum, and Gandan, the largest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. It was fascinating to learn about the rich history and culture of this country and see the beautiful artifacts in the museum. The next day would start the real adventure on our way to The Darhad Valley.

We gathered some necessities before we left the city and made our way to the train station, where we would hop on an overnight train headed west on part of the trans-Siberian railway. Being slightly taller than the average Mongolian, I slept comfortably with my feet sticking out the window, and woke up many hours later in a small mining town called Erdenet.

Here two more drivers picked us up to continue the adventure; we were on our way to a Ger (yurt) camp on the banks of Lake Hovsgol. Lake Hovsgol is the largest lake in Mongolia and the 16th largest in the world. We planned to arrive at the lake in the afternoon and catch a boat ride to the Ger camp. Upon arriving at the lake, we found out the governor of the province had closed the lake to boating for that day, and we had to drive around. To account for this unplanned off-roading mission, we needed another van and, we had our first experience with the Furgon. The Furgon is basically the four-wheel-drive equivalent of a Volkswagen van, and I think we all wish we could have one back home.

It had been raining for the past week, and the ground was completely saturated, making this drive very interesting. The 12 mile of “road” that anywhere else would have been a quick trip took about three hours and lots of getting stuck in the mud. We arrived at the Ger camp late but in high spirits and were fed an awesome feast before spending our first night in a Mongolian Ger.

The boating restrictions on the lake were lifted the next morning, and after a quick Mongolian dance lesson with some local kids, we were on our way across the lake on a boat a much smoother and shorter ride than the night before. We were now on the last leg of our travels to the Darhad Valley. All that lay in front of us was a nice drive through the Mongolian countryside.

This is what the road looked like on our drive through the countryside. It certainly wasn’t like the dirts roads any of us were used to back home.
Before dropping into the Darhad valley, we came to this ovoo, a place of spiritual worship that welcomed us, the visitors. We made our offerings and descended into the beautiful valley.

In the valley, we were greeted with tea and snacks, and soon enough, we were setting up tents and moving into our new home. Since we have been at basecamp, we have been exploring our surroundings and getting to know the many beautiful flowers that are currently in bloom. Our front yard is stunning, with views of the Horidol Saridag Mountain Range and a very colorful meadow. I think we are all extremely excited to be here finally and to continue explor-ing this amazing place!