I had already reported about the trip to Ulaagchiin Khar Lake (Улаагчийн Хар Нуур) [1]. And from there our trip continued just as difficult. However, this has the advantage that you don't meet many travelers there. That day we continued our arduous journey from Khar Lake to the Muhart River (Мухартын гол). In between we were crossing the sand desert, driving past Gers, where the nomads had to protect their animals from wolves, quite steeply uphill, through the rock gate, then again through sand with another another time getting stuck, through a canyon with a rock relief and finally into the sand desert, where the Muhart River originates.
Only small groups travel to this area as it isn't possible to know in advance how the route will be managed. We met a Russian couple who had driven through the rock gate in 10-15 cm of snow just two days before us. When we arrived there wasn't any snow left because the sun had melted it away. Rain can make the sand firmer, but then there is a risk of slipping on the grass slopes.
At first we made very good progress, even over the sandy stretches. Finally we passed a few gers, behind which strange sticks had been sunk into the ground on a boulder edge and some scraps of fabric were hanging from them. It was done to keep the wolves away by the smell of humans in order to deter the wolves from tearing animals from the herds. From there the grass track went up very steeply. Then we came to the rock gate or rock arch, which is called Senjit Khad (Сэнжит хад).
The gate is part of a larger rock formation that is altogether called Senjit Khad (Сэнжит хад) and extends over about 15x2km. You have a very good view of the desert. The gate itself measures around 6m wide and 3.5m high. This natural spectacle is not mentioned in my two travel guides [2]. Lonely Planet writes on the Internet [3]: “An impressive rock arch rises from the desert about 95km northeast of Sainshand in Altanshiree sum. If you're on the hunt for all of the Gobi's treasures, find it. Otherwise, you can skip it.” I mean, you could look at it and here are the coordinates [4]
The desert that you can see from above belongs to the Bor Khyar Desert (Бор хярын элс) or also called Bor Khyar Sand Dunes (Бор хярын элсэн манхан). The dunes extend over 200 km and satellite images have shown that this desert is expanding [5].
Then we drove down from this massive mountain again and continued over desert sand. The truck got stuck there again and while we were waiting, we saw that vehicles were constantly getting stuck in this area, as remnants of the (successful) attempts to get out of the sand could be seen. Interestingly, rhubarb, desert rhubarb, also grew there.
After this involuntary but interesting break, we drove through a canyon that offered a beautiful view of the desert. There was a relief and in front an altar-like stone table and an ovoo (Овоо). I transcribed the inscriptions and then had them translated by a program. The upper inscription means [6]: “Out of all the miracles that happen in human life, it is a wonderful thing because of my mother who raised me to be a blessing.” I thought I could get an explanation about the darker inscription, but the translation is something like [7]: “This work is to the memory of the holy spirit of our mother. R. Dugar's children, created by her grandchildren.” In any case, we can assume a Buddhist background, because the woman who lifts the child up to the sun is kneeling on a lotus base. There is also a Tibetan inscription – ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ – om mani padme hum.
We passed Muhart River Camp (Мухартын голын кэмп), camp being a bit of an exaggeration; at least there is a shop with supplies in the area. We drove on to a place in nature and pitched our tents there. It cooled down again at night and the sun greeted us in the morning, but that's a completely different story.
Links and Annotations:
[1] Mongolia – An Exhausting Trip from Songino to Ulaagchiin Khar Nuur
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/02/mongolia-exhausting-trip-from-songino.html
[2a] Michael Walther and Peter Woeste: Mongolia. DuMont travel manual. Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2019. ISBN: 3770181417.
[2b] Michael Kohn: Mongolia. Lonely Planet Publications Ltd, 2008. ISBN: 101741045789.
[3] https://www.lonelyplanet.com/mongolia/the-gobi/dornogov/attractions/senjit-khad/a/poi-sig/1579726/357056
[4] Senjit khad - Сэнжит хад N48.215463409173914 E96.14998245724391
[5] http://www.touristinfocenter.mn/cate1_more.aspx?ItemID=138
[6] Transcribed from the original: “хүмүүний амьлдралд тохиолдох түмэн гаихамшгийн дотроос ерөөл таөин өс гөсөн мимий эхийн ачлад юхтаи ч эүирлэмгүй гайхам”.
[7] Transcribed from the original: “Энээхүү бүтээлийг бидний хаирт ээж / дугарын цэрмаа таны гэгээн / Дурсгалд зриулан / р. Дугар агсаны үр хүүхэд, / ач зээ нараас нь хамтран бүтээв”.
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