The valley of the Khan

After our windy night we continued East and spent the night on the coast of lake Terkhiin Tsagaan were we met our friends from Zürich again. The trio now complete again we climbed the volcanic crater the next day and then drove on. Cruising on the paved! road we made good progress all the way to Kharkhorin. Founded by Genghis Khan as the capital Karakorum of it's mighty empire, not much remains standing nowadays. It is said the location was chosen as the gigantic Orkhon valley was the only place Genghis could assemble and sustain his army before going to war.
Following the Orkhon river we decided to take the scenic route through the mountains instead of driving around it on the freeway to Bayankhongor. In hindsight one of the best decision we made as this turned out to be one of the highlights in Mongolia! 🤩

Typical Mongolian Family : Ger & Prius

Through sand and storm

Leaving the peninsula guess who we encountered? Our friends in their Defender 😆, together we drove further south east towards the Gobi desert.

First stop was at Muhartin Gol, a mighty dune where a spring emerges right at the edge of the desert.

To lake Khyargas

Shortly after leaving Ölgii we encountered a massiv thunderstorm, the sky turned black in mere minutes and it started to pour and hail as if there was no tomorrow. Pedal to the metal we raced on and could leave the worst of it behind us. The group of cyclists we met shortly before weren't as lucky. But I guess thats why you go by bike 🤷‍♂️

Not much later the sun was out again and everything was peaceful...

Western Mongolia

Mongolia didn't disappoint on its first morning. We were greeted by rolling hills under blue skies, dotted with some white yurts and the occasional sheep and yak herd. 😍

In the Altai mountains and into Mongolia

Our third time entering Russia went uneventful, knowing by now which forms to fill in and how the procedure works 😆