Going to the middle of nowhere in another country with strangers can be scary, however I assure you these ‘strangers’ will feel like family by the end of any trip in Mongolia. 

A few days ago I went with some strangers to a place north east of Terelj called Lake Khar, I only knew one of the people I went with and I was the only non Mongolian so I was quite nervous. The planned adventure was horse camping, a few days of riding and sleeping in tents, singing round fires and (lots of) drinking. Its safe to say they were not strangers for long. 

We started off in an old Russian van called форгон/ поргон (purgon) on a long and bumpy ride squished in like kids on a family road trip. It sounds unpleasant but very quickly became a lovley bonding opportunity. Sharing food, resting on eachother and singing all together felt natural in such a friendly and community driven country. 

Seeing the locals on the way riding horses and herding their stock with their family all piled on to one horse or motobike, sharing food and drink with nomads passing through and helping one another without want for anything in return was when I realised, oh yeah this is Mongolia. 

I cannot overstate how beutiful and peacful the Mongolian countryside is, also how diverse the scenes are, you can drive through a desert one day and a lush green forest the next. You can and will find everything here. Do you like snowy peaks and hights? Bayan Ulgii and Altai, you like cammels and deserts, Bayan Hongor and Gobi, rivers and green hills? Khovsgol and Selenge. 

Anyway, back to the trip. 

After a few hours we arrived in a forgotten valley, no signal, no signs of people or modern life for miles and miles around, true wild Mongolia. We had some food and relaxed in what was basically the Garden of Eden. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sounds of hooves and yipping, “Chuu!”. The riders who will accompany us on this short adventure had arived with about 20 horses. Even though it was a relatively small herd I could still hear the thunder from a long way away, it alowed me, if only for a second, to transfer myself into the past and imagine what it must have sounded like to hear a true 12th century horde on the march. The power of these horses and people atop them really struck me. 

We loaded up the saddle bags, jumped on our steeds and away we go. Embarrassingly I had missunderstood the riders commands and was a bit too strong with one of the horses and it bucked and kicked me off, of course for me it was very embarrassing and I became quite annoyed with myself, however it quickly turned into a joke for the locals and I couldn’t help but laugh with them later.

Its impossible to have any kind of negative emotions in such a beutiful place anyway. 

The trek was tough and took us through a variety of terrain, mountains, bogs, forest, river, swamp and plains. Hours went by and pain became the norm, something that of course is just part of the job. You really come to apreciate the effort and skill people put into their everyday life here, something I think we could learn alot from.

The hardship made the destination so much more gratifying to reach. 

While slowly trudging through mud and ducking and dodging trees and brances there was a hint of wind, the distant sound of seagulls and the horses knew. Suddenly the whole group, horses and riders, perked up and started galloping with new found energy. Yipping and chuu’ing (the sound to get horses to move), thundering hooves and the sounds of horses filled the forest as we burst out of the woods like Mongolian part popper, to the most beutiful scene one could imagine. 

Gold beaches, the tranquillity of a sapphire blue lake and mountains in the distance greeted us with open arms and a soft breeze, it was like a scene from Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Such peace can only be found in Mongolia by locals. We had arrived at Lake Khar (black lake). 

Pitching tents at night is always ‘fun’ luckily there was no rain, not too hot and not too cold. Perfect conditions for getting super drunk lol. 

We spent two nights there, chilling out, alowing the horses to graze and rest, swimming, taking pictures, drinking, eating and meeting people. We ended up staying near a small group of offroaders who were very kind and joined us with some songs and food.

I was worried about litter as I have been living in Mongolia for almost a year now and have noticed a lack of understanding when it comes to plastic polution and cigarette butts. There was a pile of litter to the side from some previous, ungrateful and disrespectful guests, however to my very pleasant surprise, the offroader club were actually eco warriors and had bags at the ready. The two groups, the Horse Riders and the Offroaders joined forces and worked together to clean the whole area of any litter. This really lifted my whole attitude of the trip and made me realise, there are lots of great people in this world and we will be okay. 

On one side of Lake Khar was a very interesting anomaly that intrigued us all, a small area of permafrost sat to the west of our camp. Keep in mind this was mid June and the average temperature during the day is about 27°C yet, there sat a glacier about the area of an apartment block. Not massive but very noticeable.

I had no idea horses could get brain freeze. 

On the bitter sweet last day at the lake we packed up our stuff, (cleaned the area of litter), said our farewells and set off on our way back to normality. As we rode back through the rough terrain, I really felt an improvement in my riding skills just over the few days. We all had a renewed energy and were racing and cheering the whole way back. 

Of course its sad when you must part with the horse you have bonded with this whole time but you get a sense that they really must have a great fulfilling life living in the embrace of this beutiful country, roaming free and cared for, as Mother Mongolia intended. 

I think that is the main thing I take back with me from every visit to the countryside of Mongolia, it is in our blood as humans to be free from the concrete and plastic distractions of the city and modern life and just to roam as un tethered beings in our natural environment of this beutiful planet. 

This is the effect Mongolia has on us as people, to me Mongolian countryside means freedom, family, gratitude and peace. Don’t just listen to me though. Go do it yourself, you wont regret it. 

Written by Theo Keightly for (Ariya’s journalist friend)