When I was twenty-five, I lived in Ulaanbaatar for six weeks and worked as an intern journalist. The country of Mongolia had fascinated me for the longest time. Pico Iyer describes Mongolia as “moving ahead by embracing modernity and rediscovering its own history”. I pictured myself in that country and parts of me began to align. So I took the necessary steps to turn my vision into reality. Ulaanbaatar is a chaotic city: the multistorey buildings are brutalist, the streetside trees are scraggly, and drivers barely follow the rules. Even though I had a transport card to take the bus to and from work, I chose to walk. Ailsa Piper, author of ‘Sinning Across Spain’, said at an author event in Sydney that “the nice thing about walking is that you’re small”. It’s true. I really enjoyed being small in the hustle of Ulaanbaatar.
South of Ulaanbaatar is Bogd Khan Uul National Park, a strictly protected nature reserve. The park was declared a protected site by the local government in late 1700s, and then declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1996. I visited the park three times during my six weeks in Ulaanbaatar. The most memorable time was with a fellow intern. We wanted to climb a mountain. According to Trip Advisor, you can book a hiking tour, but we wanted to climb a mountain without a guide, without a map. So we did. We started south-east of the Zaisan Monument and followed a track that wound its way across grassland, alpine tundra, and coniferous forest. According to UNESCO, musk deer (moschus moschiferus), roe deer (capreolus capreolus), sable (martes zibellina) and arctic hare (lepus timidus) are animals that live in the biosphere reserve. We weren’t lucky enough to see any of these creatures. We did see some wild horses, though. Here’s what I wrote in my travel journal the day after our hike:
“There are two things I really want to remember about yesterday’s exploration. First, the start of it. We climbed the first slope we saw, deciding it would allow us to follow the ridgeline to the target peak. ‘Climbed’ is not quite the right word; ‘crawled’ is what we did. The incline was almost vertical and the snow that polkadotted the slope made it that much more dangerous. I want to remember how hard it was, the start of yesterday’s exploration, because I made it. I f--cking made it. I had faith in my hands and feet. Second, the final peak. It wasn’t Tsetseegun Uul, the one we wanted to reach, but it was more than okay. It was so peaceful on the peak we did reach. Before we made the final ascent, we stopped on a flat section of snow-covered track that was lined with gold-soaked pines. Glorious. No sounds except for deep breathing, birds, the occasional plane, the brightness and bigness of it all echoing. The final ascent was a little bit dangerous as well, but I made it. I f--cking made it.”
Details:
LENGTH: approx. 5km
START POINT: south-east of Zaisan Monument
END POINT: south-south-east of Zaisan Monument
TIPS: If hiking in winter, bring sunglasses, a thermos of warm tea/coffee, and a spare pair of socks. Make sure you stay on the track. Straying off the track could lead to detainment by government officials (as my fellow intern learned the hard way during one of his solo explorations).
by Shirley Lu
