Tuesday, July 21, 2009


Playing cards with our wizard

Everyday life in Hatgal, Khuvsul aimaag


The people who live in this regions are called the "reindeer people." They live in tepees and hunt for all of their food. Shamins live among them. Shaminism is the second biggest religion in Mongolia. While Chinggis Khaan ruled the largest empire in the history of the world we relied on a Shamin for direction and guidance. When Bulganbat and I met with the Shamin she was applied to tell us our future.

One of the deepest and clearest lakes of Asia. It is 2760 sq km (1080 sq mi) alpine lake, with water so pure you can drink it and they do. The people in this area get all there drinking water right from the lake. It is the world's 14th largest source of fresh water. It is right on the border of Russia, and the lake is so sacred to local Mongolians, that they refer to it as 'mother.'
That's a big boat:)






In Balli fashion the first thing we did when we got to Hatgal was head for the boats on the lake:)



Inside of our ger...at least the beds were really soft after our long ride to Khuvsgul:)



Me and the wizard in front of the ger

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the ger we stayed at. The lady who rented it to us was amazing!! She was SO kind and SO much fun to be around!! Bulganbat and I called her our wizard because she would just appear out of nowhere with the best home-made food, or she'd come in the morning to start the fire in our ger so that we wouldn't be cold in the morning:) Truly a kind GOOD person!

After 33 hours riding on a dirt road in a 13 passenger van, packed with 20 people, and 5 flat tires we finally made it to Khuvsgul. They ran out of tires so they fill the ripped tire with dirt and scotched it, what an experience:) But the drive was worth the beautiful scenery that we got to see in Khuvsgul!!! I am glad we went!



The beautiful Khuvsgul lake:)


Here comes Santa's sleigh:)

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