The Ham Nomads

8 Jun 2019. <MN> Kharkorin & Hustai National Park, Mongolia —

Woke up in the ger and went for a pleasant breakfast with Uni and Ganbold in the camp restaurant.

We then left for Hustai National Park, about half-way back to Ulaanbaatar. Shortly after leaving the camp, Ganbold unexpectedly went off the highway and up a hill near Erdene Zuu to show us 'penis rock'. This stone 'monument' was set up by the head of the monastery after one of the monks was caught womanizing. This was to be a warning to the monks to remain celibate, but has now become a symbol of fertility, and is visited regularly by couples wishing to have children. This also explains the number of penises available in souvenir shops!

About 200 km later, we went off on a tortuous, multi-tracked path in to the Hustai National Park. This park is the home of the famed Przewalski horses — Mongolian тахь (takhi). These were native to Mongolia, but went extinct in the wild early last century. A programme of breeding from zoo animals, and reintroducing them into the wild in this somewhat protected Park has resulted in the 80 or so introduced animals breeding themselves up to over 400.

We had lunch at the Park, and waited until Ganbold, an experienced hunter, decided that it would be a good time to find the horses coming down to drink as the afternoon started to draw to a close. He is amazing. He picked a spot where he knew the horses were likely to come down and, lo and behold, he was proven right. You don't get to see them up close — these are WILD horses — but with the help of a pair of binoculars we were able to get a good look. The zoom lens on the camera was somewhat stretched, but we did get a few long distance pictures.

Other animals we spied in the park were Siberian Marmots, the smaller and more agile Sousliks, and the even smaller taliin tsagaan agotno (талын цагаан аготно — Steppe White Rat) which is considered a pest and which skittered across the road in front of our van as it went along. We also caught sight of a few Maral Deer.

After a time, we decided to leave the park and continue on to Mongol Nomadic, another ger tourist camp, to spend another night in a ger before returning to Ulaanbaatar.

Needless to say, we had continual animated conversations with Uni and Ganbold along the way. We must admit that we were somewhat concerned for Uni during mealtimes as, with the continuing flow of conversation, and with her keeping up a translation for Ganbold's benefit, the poor girl hardly had time to eat! But she seemed to be enjoying it.

Anyway, it was off to bed in the ger after another exhilarating day!