The summer school holidays in Korea are only about 4 weeks long, but we made the most of them with another amazing adventure: Mongolia! Landing in the capital city of Ulaan Baatar at midnight, we found ourselves in a tiny airport where the driver our hostel sent for us was able to park right at the curb. Right from the start, Jake and I felt like we were back in Kazakhstan (where we lived for awhile right after college), and all the similarities made this a trip down memory lane for the two of us.
We spent the first couple days exploring the city of about 1 million. Mongolia is the home of Genghis Khan, the warlord/emperor who united central Asia and essentially invented modern diplomacy before his death in 1227. Isolated, Mongolia has been open to tourists only since the 1990's, and we didn't exactly have to fight any crowds! We did some shopping and saw the sites, including Buddhist temples, an art museum, the Museum of Natural History (Mongolia is home of some of the best dinosaur finds in the world), and a small amusement park.
The next morning we visited the market (more memories of Kazakhstan!), and after lunch met up with the group of runners and families heading for the Mongolian Sunrise to Sunset Marathon and 100km race. Security was surprisingly tight as our group filled a plane for the 90-minute flight to Maron in northwest Mongolia, where we actually had to show our baggage claim tickets to retrieve our luggage.
We climbed into several vans for the 3-hour drive straight north over gravel, and then grass, roads, to Lake Khovsgol. We then spent a week living in a yurt (which is called a "ger" in Mongolian) with nothing more taxing to do than decide if we wanted to hike, kayak, canoe, throw stones into the lake, take a horseback ride, play on the swingset, read, or draw pictures. We met some very interesting people from all over the world, and were especially excited to discover some other kids were along for the trip. Hans taught several people how to play "Uno", and Miriam got a kick out of herding the yaks and the cows out of the living areas.
This was truly "Outer Mongolia" -- we were remote and it was quiet! No phones, no computers, no planes flying overhead. There was electricity from 8-11PM, showers with trickling water, and flush toilets that emptied into a holding tank which daily was driven 100 miles to be dumped. We were fed two meals each day in the dining hall and received box lunches, and all included homemade bread and jam, plus fresh-from-the-cow milk and yogurt for breakfast. On the evening before the race, the staff gave a concert of traditional Mongolian music and talked a little bit about the animistic religion they traditionally follow as they offered prayers for our safety to the forest, lake, and mountains.
Most of us assembled at Camp Toilogt on Lake Khovsgol were there for the marathon and ultramarathon, billed as the world's most beautiful 100km race. We were awakened by the sounds of traditional Mongolian music at 3:30am. (Miriam and Hans thankfully slept through the commotion and enjoyed another day of relaxing around the camp). Jake and I didn't know how far we'd end up running, but were eager to join our new friends and greet the day.
We began the race at precisely 4:30, the only thing on the clock for the entire week. The first couple of miles were rather a slow hike for most of us as it was pitch dark and we were climbing over logs and ducking under low branches by the light of our headlamps, but once the sun came out, we had a very beautiful day, not too warm, but not chilly, either. Due to the remote nature of the race, all participants were required to carry a pack with not only food and water, but also raingear and even a compass! But the trails were well marked, and we didn't need to dig into any emergency supplies. Much of the first part of the course is not runnable, with extremely steep mountain passes. We climbed above the tree-line, and then of course had to come back down! We ran along the lake through alpine meadows, through tundra and pine forests, on springy moss and dry creek beds, and along dirt and gravel roads. It was so amazing to realize that we were walking where very few people had ever stood, and the last time these trails were used was probably during the previous year's race. Those trees have stood hundreds of years without being disturbed, and many without ever having been seen before! The views were all gorgeous, and the mosquitoes were hungry. The people working the water and aid stations got there on horseback, and they boiled the water over camp fires! It was a very tough race, but also incredibly fun. I stopped after the marathon and Jake continued for the ultra, completing his first 100km (62 mile) foot-race in 17 hours and 40 minutes.
After another day of relaxation and celebration at the camp, our group returned to Ulan Baatar, and we continued on to Seoul. Now that we've experienced two very different running trips, we continue to be devoted to marathons and ultras, and are enjoying using running as an excellent way to see the world. And hey, now that we've taken our kids to Outer Mongolia, everywhere else may seem pretty tame in comparison!
No comments:
Post a Comment