Mongolia is in many ways a truly unique Asian country, bordering the largest (in terms of their area) countries of the world: Russia and China. Do not believe?
Then here are a few figures: in terms of size, Mongolia is in 18th place among the countries of our planet, and in terms of population - only in 137th.
Imagine the population density here is less than 2 people per square kilometer (in some areas of the country you can go for hours and not meet ANYONE!). Here for each person there are 13 horses (we are not talking about sheep yet).
In addition, Mongolia has a very rich natural diversity and abundance of various landscapes: in the north of the country there are dense coniferous forests and large turquoise lakes, and in the south there is a dry and lifeless desert, along which strong winds walk.
Here you will see velvet green hills, and picturesque cliffs, and high snowy mountains with deep ravines, and fast transparent rivers. As for the country's climate: the annual temperature difference here sometimes reaches 90 degrees Celsius - from -45º in the winter to + 45º in the summer.
What else can surprise Mongolia, besides nature? Of course, with its rich history and culture, carefully preserved and revered.
The Mongols remember very well that once they controlled most of Eurasia. (And it seems that they are nostalgic for those times, since recently Genghis Khan has been the most popular historical figure here).
In this country, high-rise buildings and traditional yurts are standing very harmoniously.
Right in the middle of the city you can find a large Buddhist monastery or datsan next to a modern shopping center.
Let's get acquainted with the main attractions of Mongolia.
10. Lake Ubsu-Nur (UVS Nur)
This salt-free drainage lake is located on the border of Mongolia and Russia (more precisely, a small part of it belongs to our Republic of Tyva).
Ubsu-Nur - the largest body of water in Mongolia. Its length is 84 km and its width is 79 km (although the depth does not exceed 20 meters). They say that the water in it is most similar in composition to the Black Sea.
The lake is part of the Ubsunursky Nature Reserve, on the territory of which there are dense taiga, and severe glaciers, and steppes, and even a desert with sand dunes.
Of course, there are a large number of animals and birds, including rare ones. The places here are completely deaf (there are no settlements on the banks of Ubsu-Nur, the surroundings are also practically uninhabited). But what excellent fishing on this lake!
In addition, in the immediate vicinity of Ubsu-Nur, you can see many ancient mounds, stones with runic inscriptions, petroglyphs and other archaeological sites, because once the tribes of Scythians, Huns, Yenisei Kyrgyz and other peoples roamed in these parts.
9. Hustain Nuruu National Park
Hustain-Nuruu is located about 100 km west of the capital of Mongolia, Ulan Bator. It was created in 1993 to preserve local natural ecosystems and historical monuments, as well as to restore the Przewalski horse population (which, by the 1960s, had been almost knocked out for poaching - poachers).
Today, about 200 individuals of these rare wild horses live in the park. There is a research center working with biologists from Europe and Japan and studying not only Przewalski’s horses, but also other animals found in the national park, for example, roe deer, bearded deer, golden eagles, black storks, etc. An interesting fact: local residents are not prohibited from wandering around the park with their herds, which from time to time creates a threat of hybridization of wild horses with domestic horses.
For tourists there are walking, horse and car routes. A special “trick” by Hustain Nuruu is that anyone for just $ 100 can give a name to a newborn foal of Przhevalsky’s horse. This is very honorable, because such horses are considered sacred animals by the Mongol Buddhists.
8. Amarbayasgalant Monastery
The Amarbayasgalant Buddhist monastery (one of the three largest in Mongolia) is located near the city of Erdenet, about 360 km north of Ulaanbaatar.
According to legend, once the monks, looking for a place for their future refuge, met two playing boys in the steppe. One of them was called Amar (“calm”), and the second was Bayasgalant (“joyful”). The monks considered this a lucky sign and founded Amarbayasgalant ("Monastery of serene joy") here. Its construction went on for 10 years - from 1727 to 1736.
The architecture of the monastery is mainly Chinese (with Tibetan elements). In addition to 14 temples, there used to be many residential and farm buildings - up to the beginning of the 20th century, up to 8 thousand monks lived in Amarbayasgalant. But in 1937, in the then already Soviet Mongolia, a wide anti-religious campaign began. Many Buddhist places of worship were destroyed.
Amarbayasgalant was a little luckier - all secondary buildings burned down here, but several main temples survived (and were abandoned and uninhabited until the end of the 1980s). In 1988, it was restored. Today, about 60 monks live in the monastery.
7. The ancient city of Karakoram and the Erdene-Zuu monastery
Almost in the very center of Mongolia, about 370 km south-west of Ulaanbaatar, is the modern city of Kharkhorin, in which about 9 thousand people live. And in the 1220-1260th years. in this place was the capital of the Mongol Empire Karakoram (Mong. "black stones") founded by Genghis Khan himself and built up by his son Khan Ugadei.
It was here that the sovereigns of neighboring countries, including Russian princes, came as a sign of humility and veneration. In 1260, after the conquest of China, Khan Khubilai moved his capital to Shandu, and in 1264 to Beijing. Soon after, the Karakorum was almost destroyed by the Manchus. To date, little remains of it, but the Mongols still consider this place a saint.
In the summer of 2011, a museum was organized on the site of the ancient city, where tourists can see the restored palace of Khan Ugedei, the artisans quarter, several temples, etc. Valuable archaeological artifacts of the 13th-14th centuries are delivered here from the territory of the whole aimak Uverhangay. The museum is very interesting, and it is equipped with the latest modern museum technologies.
By the way, the place of the ancient Mongolian capital (before the appearance of Kharkhorin) was once again inhabited in 1585, when, at the behest of Khan Abatay, the first stationary Buddhist monastery Erdene-Zuu in Mongolia (translated from the Mongolian “Hundred Treasures”) was founded here.
Once upon a time there were really 100 temples in it (and more than 10 thousand monks lived on the territory of the monastery). Today there are only 3 of them, since Erdene-Zuu has been destroyed more than once in its long history (including in the 1930s, during the anti-religious campaign).
Now in Erdene-Zuu there is only one temple - Lavran. The rest are museum exhibits that display valuable relics, including a statue of Buddha Ihe-Zuu. And here there is a small Buddhist school.
6. Lake Hubsugul
Khubsugul is the deepest and most beautiful lake in Mongolia. He is often called the “younger brother of Lake Baikal” for the similarity of form (long and slightly curved), as well as for the purity and transparency of the water — like from Lake Baikal, you can safely drink from Khubsugul directly from the side of the boat.
The picturesque coastal landscape of these two crystal lakes (low mountains covered with dense taiga) is very similar. By the way, they are located in the same fault of the earth's crust, and the distance between the southern tip of Lake Baikal and the northern edge of Khubsugul is only 230 km.
Khubsugul is located near the Russian-Mongolian border (22 km). The length of the lake is 136 km, the width is 36.5 km, and the greatest depth is more than 260 meters. And, unlike Ubsu-Nur, there are residential settlements. In addition, about 30 camp sites are located on the shores of the lake (in which yurts are installed instead of houses), and they are almost never empty.
Mostly tourists, including from Russia, come here for the sake of kayaking, hiking in the most beautiful places and, of course, excellent fishing, because
Khubsugul is fabulously rich in fish (including Lenok, grayling, whitefish, omul, minnow, taimen, etc. are caught here). Well, where else can you ride in a cart pulled by a real furry yak-sarlik?
5. Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
In Mongolia today there are 22 national parks. But the most beautiful of them (both according to tourists and the Mongols themselves) is Gorkhi-Terelzh.
It is located just 60 km from Ulaanbaatar, on the ridges of the Khentei Highlands, and is best known for its bizarre rock formations, many of which resemble living creatures in form: a huge turtle, a hare, a sleeping dinosaur, etc. Residents of the capital love to go to these places on weekends - about 60 camp sites (with traditional yurts) and 5 rest houses have been built here.
Gorkhi-Terelj is really very beautiful. Lynxes, wolves, bears and other wild animals are found in the park, and large herds of domestic yaks and horses graze.
Here you can stroll around the area on a camel ride, climb a long staircase with steep steps to the Buddhist Aryabal meditation temple (which offers a magnificent view of the picturesque valley surrounded by cliffs), and also visit the special "trick" of Gorkhi-Terelzh - the dinosaur park, where their powerful figures are recreated in full size from reinforced concrete (although recently, they have somehow “put on a touch”).
4. The Gobi Desert
Gobi is the greatest desert of Asia, and most of it is located in Mongolia. But, if you imagine the Gobi, as a huge continuous mass of sand without end and edge, covered with dunes, then, to put it mildly, you are mistaken.
In fact, here you can find a variety of landscapes: and low mountains with labyrinths of narrow gorges; and the green steppe with hard grass, along which such a wind walks that it is difficult to stand on one’s feet; and red sand cliffs (for example, the Bayanzag massif, famous among tourists, very reminiscent of Arizona cliffs in the USA); and quite fertile oases with small rivers or picturesque lakes; and, yes, real - unexpectedly high - dunes of fine-fine white sand. And the Gobi is not so lifeless as is commonly believed.
Saigas, wild camels, gazelles, argali rams, wolves, and even bears live here. In addition, several dozen camps with their herds roam its steppe areas.
And Gobi is the largest dinosaur cemetery in the world. Due to the dry climate, their bones are perfectly preserved here to our time. From time to time, new valuable pieces for paleontologists are found in these places (they are "blown" out of the sand - in the most literal sense - a constant wind).
By the way, in Bayanzag, the American scientist Chapman Andrews in 1920 for the first time in the world found whole dinosaur eggs (before that, only pieces of shell were found).
3. Gurvansayhan National Park
Gurvansayhan, in fact, is part of the Gobi. But we singled it out separately, since in this desert region the concentration of sights “goes off scale”.
Firstly, a special variety of flora and fauna is observed in the national park (especially for such arid places). And you just can’t imagine how beautiful the desert is after the long-awaited rain, when everything at the same time and very rapidly blooms, finally acquiring the brightest colors!
Secondly, it is in this area that the largest number of primitive fossils is found. And thirdly, there are several unique natural places in Gurvansaikhan: Singing Sands, Yolyn-Am Gorge, Hermin-Tsav Canyon and Tsagaan-Aguy Cave.
Singing sands (Mong. Hongoryn Els) are the most impressive dunes in the desert. The width of this sandy section is about 12 km, the length is about 100 km, and the height is from 80 to 300 meters. With a strong wind, grains of sand rubbing against each other make a strange sound, sometimes very loud and even eerie. At the bottom of the Yolyn-Am gorge, even in the hot summers, thick ice does not melt.
The red canyon of Hermin-Tsav is famous for its bizarre relief, as well as numerous Falcon falcons and black vultures. And Tsagaan-Agui cave - walls covered with calcite crystals and many paleolithic artifacts found here.
2. Monument to Genghis Khan in Tsongzhin-Boldog
Want to see the largest equestrian statue in the world? Ok, then you have to drive 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar. Believe me, you will not miss her for anything, for the silver, shining in the sun of Genghis Khan can be seen from afar.
The height of the statue itself is 40 meters, in addition, it stands on a high pedestal (which is a small museum dedicated, of course, to Genghis Khan and the times when the Mongol empire spread to the floor of Eurasia).
This impressive monument opened in September 2008. Gradually around him, more and more new statues of mounted Mongolian horsemen appeared. According to the plan of its creators, there will be an extensive theme park dedicated to the life and military affairs of the 13th century Mongols.
By the way, 36 columns of the pedestal symbolize 36 khans who ruled Mongolia after Genghis Khan. And on the head of the horse, on which the great warrior sits, there is an observation deck with a magnificent view.
Why was the monument installed here? According to legend, young Temuchin found in these steppes, on the banks of the Tuul River, a golden whip, which, supposedly, became a sign of the special favor of the gods to him and predicted his great destiny.
By the way, from the observation deck of the statue of Genghis Khan, one can quite clearly see another huge monument, being built a few kilometers from here - a statue of the mother of Temuchin Oelun (who is also very revered by the Mongols).
1. Ulaanbaatar
And finally, the main attraction of Mongolia is its capital, Ulan Bator.
You can talk about him for hours, but, alas, we have to mention only the most basic.
Firstly, the city is interesting even externally: it is located in the picturesque valley of the Tuul River, surrounded by mountains, and from one of its highest points (from the Zaysan memorial, established in honor of the victory of the Soviet-Mongolian army at Khalkhin Gol), one can see how much it is harmonious and diverse: for example, in the center of Ulan Bator, modern high-rises rise (and some of them are very interesting in architectural terms), the vibrant Viva-City area specially built for young and promising specialists is visible nearby; the greater part of the city is practically no different from the cities of the Russian province - here are the same panel “Khrushchevs” (more precisely, “tsedenbalovki”) with playgrounds for children and benches in the courtyards; but the outskirts are a continuous “sea” of traditional yurts (often surrounded by fences that indicate sections of individual owners).
On a busy street in a stream of cars you can see a man on a horse. And all this looks quite natural and “uniquely”.
Ulan Bator has 45% of the total population of Mongolia (1.4 million people). Most of the city center is a solid cultural monument. From what you can see here, we highly recommend the following attractions:
• Genghis Khan Square (formerly Sukhbaatar Square) with a monument to the leader of the Mongolian People’s Revolution Damdin Sukhbaatar on a horse and the impressive Genghis Khan monument “built” into the building of the Government Palace;
• A nearby monument to the famous Marco Polo;
• Monument to the Silk Road (a whole caravan of bronze camels);
• Buddha Park (with a "golden" 23-meter statue of Shakyamuni Buddha);
• The Beatles Square with a monument to this group (opposite the local Central Department Store);
• A real Buddhist monastery Gandan (founded in 1835);
• The Palace of Bogdan Khan (Bogdogan) - the head of the Buddhist community of Mongolia;
• The temple complex Choyzhin Lamyn Sum - a museum of Buddhist art.