The Mighty Khövsgöl Nuur

The Mongolian dance party was off the chain and after sleeping off the excitement that came with it on a dusty old mattress on the floor I woke up to feel slightly rejuvenated and a little less feverish. Jackie was equally amped that she got to cut a rug, a long lost activity that hasn’t been as predominant as it once was in good old Canada. We chomped on some bread, which we later discovered was moldy, and cruised out to catch a glimpse at the impossibly blue waters of Khosvgol Nuur.

THE SHORES OF KHOSVGOL NUUR

Jackie and I jetted towards the aqua waters with open jaws, the lake was about three hundred meters from our cabin and to get there we had to walk through herds of goats, groups of yaks and by horses casually dining on the lush green grass by the rocky shores of the lake. We got to the edge of the lake and were immediately amazed by the mirror like reflection of the sun upon the water, this was a huge body of water and there wasn’t a ripple on it. A calm lake day like this is one in a million at home and we really had no way of getting out on the water, until we decided to meet up with our old friend the kayak.

Hanging with the GOATS

Crystal Clear water of Lake Khosvgol

We chomped on some delicious horshorr (fried meat and potato dumplings) for lunch and got the Wizard to drive us to a peninsula where we picked up a beat up and rudderless kayak that looked like it had been down one too many waterfalls the wrong way and set out onto the pristinely clear waters of the lake. I can’t really explain it, but the lake is so clean and clear that you can see fish swimming amongst the rocky bottom in twenty to thirty feet of water. We were thousands of kilometres from the ocean but this was easily the most beautiful body of water we have seen on the trip since Lake Mackenzie on Fraser Island, and for once our kayak adventure was going according to plan. Little did we know that was about to change real quick, and after taking in amazing scenery things went haywire, but you are gonna have to wait to see that little piece of action.

The Calm Before the Storm, F'N KAYAKS!!

After dodging a bullet in the kayak we headed back to camp and kicked back watching the sun set over the lake and mountains. On my way to the pisser I came across family that was tenaciously scrubbing a blackened goat head. Initially surprised, I tried to speak a little Mongol to the girl scrubbing the goat dome and to my surprise she spoke perfect English. She explained that the goats head is a delicacy in Mongolia and after burning off the hair the head is cleaned thoroughly and boiled with everything that a head would include being cooked inside the skull. Apparently the best part is the tongue and the eyeballs, but the brain and all other matter is usually eaten as well. I was intrigued to try some but was too scared to ask if I could crash their dinner party and just as we were wrapping up the conversation the girls mother came out of their ger and offered us some goats neck. This was as close as I was getting to the head so Jackie and I both grabbed a slice of meat and chomped on it, to be honest, it wasn’t that bad. It tasted like a hybrid between Big Chief/truck stop beef jerky and a New Zealand meat pie, really chewy and full of muscle but surprisingly tasty. I said my bayarlaas (thank yous) and went back to our camp wondering what the rest if the goat tasted like and if we would get a chance to give it a go.

The Wizard let me rock his duster for a little while

Day two at Khosvgol was spent skipping rocks and snapping shots of the blue pearl of Mongolia and kicking back while enjoying frosty malt beverages. Around mid-afternoon a group of travelling Mongols pulled up to our site with CHinese made trailbikes and began unpacking a plethora of goods. Everything from reindeer hoofs to yak wool socks was on display and for sale. After peering through the magnitude of goods I caught a glmpse of a small white fang. I Immediately asked what it was and got the response of “wolf tooth”. The words weren’t even out of the lady’s mouth and she had me sold. I ended up buying every single one she had on sale for under twenty dollars and Jackie hooked herself up with a hand made yak wool toque that was touted as “stylish and warm”. As the day waned we knew what was in store for us and accepted our fate honourably: more time in the Russian van. After blowing a kiss goodbye to the lake we made our way to the city of Möron where we got a pleasant night in a ger with a little electricity.

Jackie hanging at Khosvgol Nuur, dreading the van trip to Moron

MORON

I was hyped cuz my stupid ass forgot to charge all our cam cam batteries and we were dangerously approaching critical battery levels. We wiled the night away getting our asses kicked at UNO by a cute and seemingly innocent looking Mongolian girl of about eight or nine. After throwing me some nasty +4 pickups I started plotting my revenge on her, that little smile had no idea what was coming her way and there was no way she was gonna charm me out of the evil plan I had concocted. As she squeaked “UNO” I knew it was time, and as fate would have it my plan would be amplified to the nth degree. After her it went to Matt who threw down a +4 to Jackie who threw down a +4 to me. Normally I would be pissed because I would have to pick up eight and likely lose (which I do sorely) but in this situation this was sweeter than a cherry candy cane on Christmas eve. I threw down a +4 which was severely amplified by Matt and Jackie’s throw downs and the little cutie had to pick up +12 and I couldn’t help but let a diabolical laugh as I dropped the UNO equivalent of an atomic bomb on the game. She had to pick up twelve cards and took it like a champ, flashed me a look that said “payback’s a bitch sonny” and proceeded to eventually kick my ass at UNO for the next ten or so games. If UNO hits the world stage this girl will be champ and queen ambassador, mark my words.

I left the hangout ger puzzled by the fact that I was schooled by the little girl and was equally astonished that so much communication and connection can be done with very little verbal effort. We fell asleep to the charming sounds of the provincial capital which included dog fights and drunken ramblings of the neighbours, we had no clue what kind of hijinx we would get into tomorrow, because as we were told by our pal  Noya “anything is possible in Mongolia”.

See more pictures of Khsvgol Here