This is not the long-overdue mass update that will cover my last days in Myanmar, final month+ in Bangkok, quick visit to Beijing, China and my first few days in Ulaanbatar, Mongolia. I’m just putting a quick note here to let you know that I’ll be out of touch for the next two weeks or so.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be leaving Ulaanbatar with a small group of travelers to visit Khovsgol lake in the north of Mongolia (6 days of travel). When I get to the lake, I’ll leave the group and hire a horse and guide to take me on a trek in the area around the lake for a few days, then return to Ulaanbatar via local van, which will take another couple days. I may have internet access in a couple places along the way, but its not likely.

When I return I’ll throw down the giant multi-volume update.

Until then, check out some photos from Beijing:

It’s not been easy.

Spring is not a very hospitable season here. The tourist trail that is normally well-beaten in later months is just seeing a trickle of travelers. Supplies are low, the weather is rough and the tourist-friendly establishments are generally closed. In a way, its a good time to be here. The busy spots are quiet, the prices are a little lower. But the seasons here, across the vast, dry, empty plains, bring drastic changes. Right now, the otherwise green hills are brown. What precious little rain Mongolia sees has yet to come and the snow has only just begun to melt. The livestock have grown thin without fresh grass to eat and the people are waiting until summer arrives to slaughter them for meat. The horses, now mostly turned loose to survive on their own, are also weak. The country is still recovering from the hard winter.

I joined a small tour group of 6 organized by UB guesthouse rather than trying to make my own way as I normally do. There is no public transportation outside of Ulaanbator aside from a tiny length of train tracks in the center of the country. To get somewhere, there are few options: walk, ride a horse or camel, or buy a seat in a Russian van. For my first excursion, the tourist van looked like a good choice. The tour was headed for Khovsgol National Park, home of the great frozen Lake Khovsgol, with stops in Karakorum, the White Lakes and Moron. I planned to leave the group in Khovsgol and do an extended trip on horseback to the far north.

The line-up: Inge and Joan from Antwerp, Belgium, Basil and Flavie from Lioux, France and another Frenchman, Greg. And me.

Day 1 brought us to the ancient capital of the Mongolian empire. Before I came to Mongolia, I didn’t realize that at one point Chengis Khan’s rule extended to every corner of continental Asia and even a bit beyond to form what was the largest empire in history. What was probably an impressive sight during the 13th and 14th centuries is now not much to write home about. A complex of crumbling temples and a (still active) monastery enclosed within 4 long walls is all that remains after the Russians demolished most everything else. We spent the night in a ger (traditional Mongolian home) and walked the grounds in the morning before continuing to the White Lakes.

About 9 hours later we arrived at a ger camp a few kms from the lake. The arrangement was the same as before - one that I would become rather accustomed to over the next few weeks - no running water, no electricity, pit toilet. In the evening when we arrived, the ground was bare but the sky was grey. We awoke to a blanket of fresh snow, which continued to fall all of the next day which we spent at the camp.

Four of us opted to take a guided horse trip to the lake. The camp family dressed us up in thick traditional Mongolian coats and sent us off on 4 of their slowest horses. Because of the weather, visibility was low and there wasn’t much to see at the lake. It is still frozen so we walked out onto the edge of it, but didn’t stay long since we were all freezing. I spent the rest of the day by the fire.

In the evening we celebrated the birthday of another traveler staying in the ger next-door with a few bottles of vodka.

The next day brought us to the town of Moron after just 12 short hours on the road. Actually, I’m using the word “road” loosely because there are no roads between the White Lakes and Moron. We bounced through fields and over countless hills, most of the time surrounded by absolutely nothing but miles and miles of wilderness. I ran my camera out of batteries on the way - the views were incredible.

The air in Mongolia is crystal-clear. High winds keep the pollution to a minimum, and there aren’t many smokestacks to begin with. The landscape is a brown carpet stained only by the shadows of clouds.

Moron is just a much-needed rest-stop on the long journey north to Lake Khovsgol National Park for most, as it was for us. We did enjoy the first shower in 5 days there, though, which would be my last for some time.