Mongolia: ice under the Empire of the Sun

For: Diego Koran (text and photos)
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After a plane ride away from these long, Landed in Ulan Bator (means Red Hero) mid-morning. That unattractive city, if not ugly, and dirt and chaos everywhere you look. Let's get out of here as soon as possible, thought, and took a plane to Olgii, a town northwest of Mongolia, el Imperio de Genghis Khan!

Reaching Olgii is getting nowhere. Population is a powdery, away from everything and about nothing. Nunca he stay in Kabul, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when transiting through streets that do not let you indifferent.

They seem to immerse yourself in the black market of any city at war.

Before starting the journey to Altai range to do some shopping. The shops are almost a museum, uan eccentricity seem dive into the black market of any city at war. We finally got what we wanted ... sort of, that where there is little one learns to settle for anything.

But if after hours tickets, with their long hours in airports, we had not had enough, we stayed another seven hours by the endless Mongolian steppe and unpaved roads of course. It deserved dessert before reaching the lonely, wild and pristine Altai Mountains.

There, in the midst of nothing, the powder is a great food craved

We stopped on the way to lunch: some tablecloths, a tasting menu and the luxury of eating in the middle of nowhere. There, in the midst of nothing, the powder is a great food craved. Accurate remember those snacks while. Once just proceeded with a bellyful of those roads to get to our first camp in the foothills.

The camp was mounted: double tents and dining tent to offer a dinner on that long and exhausting day. The next day, after breakfast, began our trek to the Mount Khuiten sector and Malchin Peak, which we intended to climb. In about five hours we reached the slight rise in base camp, was a route delicious, walking through green meadows while we were approaching those huge mountains glaciers that appeared as if by magic in a landscape as desolate. The base camp is located next to two gigantic glaciers that have nothing to envy to those of Patagonia.

We decided not to mount the large dining tent and took advantage of a yurt already assembled for evening

Camels, that are responsible for carrying all the material back and forth during the expedition, decided to take a little longer than normal, but it is difficult to ask for an explanation for the delay in a timeless place. Any unforeseen event can cause delays in these latitudes. For dinner we decided not to ride the large dining tent and took advantage of a yurt already assembled for evening. The next day we wanted to ascend the Peak Malchin just over 4.000 meters.

Early in the morning we began the ascent, first skirt the moraine of the great glacier to quickly start climbing a quarry, that is endless and hard before reaching snow step just before the top. Not a Pretty ascension say, but the view from above anyone breath away. Countless peaks in the distance are, glaciers and two imposing size just below our ... We are at a point almost treading Mongolian border, but very close to see China, Russia and Kazakhstan.

It's like walking into another world, like sliding on a frozen sea

The descent despite the scree becomes more bearable and before reaching the base camp we stopped to eat and rest of this unforgettable day. The next day, I was in the program as mattress day if the day of ascent was bad Malchin Peak, is dedicated to making a beautiful journey through the glacier Alexander alongside our base camp. Walking on a glacier of this magnitude is a unique experience, is like walking into another world, like sliding on a frozen sea. After a few hours within this icy mass went out on his forehead, its uncomfortable ascending moraine before returning to our camp.

We stayed a few days mountain, in whom also ascended the sacred mount Shiveed of 3.500 m from where we enjoy too creepy views, including the peak we had come a few days before ... enjoyed most beautiful scenery in absolute solitude and when we wanted to account again we were stuck in those Russian vehicles took us to the town without law Olgii, to take the flight back to the terrible Ulan Bator. Anyone traveling today seems even lived in this strange dream empire under the sun. An empire of snow and fire.

http://www.koratrek.com/

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