Erdenet and the hidden monastery

Beginning to say goodbye

We drove on to Mongolia’s second city, Erdenet today, to learn about the history and very present practice of copper mining there, and visit a carpet warehouse, interspersed by visiting a hip little cafe and having cheese pizza for lunch. It was a bit of a culture shock for all four of us to emerge from the wide open steppes and forests into a hot and crowded city, it felt quite bizarre and unreal. Especially the mining museum part, where the enthusiastic guide extolled the virtues of copper extraction with the help of dizzying simulations and VR headsets, and was not at all receptive to any questions or concerns around denuding the mountains all around of their precious stones…of course it was bringing the city and country a lot of wealth, but at such cost.

We were relieved to head back out on another ‘endless mountains’ off-road adventure towards the very hidden monastery of Amarbayasgalant after lunch. People were selling little cups of bird cherries at the side of the road, and the Monastery itself was stunningly beautiful, with over 30 temples of varying sizes. This Monastery due to its hiddenness - I thought we would never find it at one point - had not been destroyed by the Soviets, and houses a thriving community of ten resident monks today, with guest accommodation and a kind of retreat resort nearby, where local Buddhists and families come to meditate and be in nature. It was beautiful to wander around and soak it all in, before slithering down through a beginning thunderstorm over muddy roads to our nearby last ger camp.

In the evening we said goodbye to our driver Bakhaa who won’t be able to join our last dinner together in UB this evening; he wants to set off to the South Gobi and his family as soon as he can tomorrow morning. It was very moving and poignant to exchange impressions and presents - we did form a warm and supportive team together over more than 2000 miles of winding road through all kinds of territories. Bakhaa’s most lasting impression was of the blueness of Khusgvul Lake and the fertility of the land there; he had joined Nara in preparing hay for her animals whilst there and they learnt from each other about how to look after animals in their so different landscapes. He described sometimes not seeing a living or moving thing except maybe a grasshopper or a couple of birds in the Gobi when herding his camels, and its emptiness and dryness at times feeling very stark, ‘like being in a dead place without life’. The difference of the water-rich lake are in the north had clearly made a big impression on him; but Nara had also been very impressed that it was possible to tend animals and make a life in a place without water.

Bakhaa asked us what our most memorable moments had been, and whether the journey had met our expectations. We said we would need some time to absorb it all first as there had been so many impressions - but that there were many magical moments, especially around the continuing auspiciousness of the weather and elements having been with us - we have seen so many different rainbows along the way! Amanda and I walked around the camp perimeter at sunset, and there were lines of animals moving purposefully in lines all around us, presumably to their chosen sheltering places for what promised to be a night of thunderstorms and showers. It was lovely to spend one more night in a round space and fall asleep to the sound of the rain on the ger roof, wrapped into many blankets.

After breakfast we have a long drive back to UB, starting with finding our way back out of the off road endless mountains onto the tarred highway. My stomach is still a bit dodgy, but I will try to savour our last off-road adventure together.