From Ikh Gazriin Chuluu I drove north back to Ulaanbaatar for one night. I’ve officially ended my loop of eastern Mongolia and now it’s time to start my loop of the north central region of Mongolia. I left Ulaanbaatar headed for the Khögnö Khan Uul Nature Reserve. On the way and due west about 130ish miles from Ulaanbaatar, I stopped at the ruins of Tsogt Taijiin Tsagaan Balgas (N 48.023346, E 104.351773). This was the home of the mother of…
The drive from Chinggis southwest to Sainshand was surprisingly easy. I had the wide open steppe with the usual animal herds in the first half. The second half of the trip was paved all the way. I did hit a pretty nasty thunder storm on the way, but I was happy about it since it cleaned a lot of the dust off the LandCruiser. I can actually see out the front window again, still not the back window, however. I…
I left Choibalsan early for another loooong day of driving south. Not much happened along the drive. Just the usual herds of cattle, goats, and horses occasionally blocking the road. I made a quick stop about half way in dusty Baruun-urt for gas. I did see a fox late in the afternoon that was a bit too quick to get a picture of. I also saw a huge herd of gazelle shortly after that. I managed to get a long…
The drive from Dadal to Choibalsan was a very long slog. The muddy conditions didn’t last too long thankfully. As I got further south the ground got a little drier and the roads got a little smoother, relatively speaking anyway. At the risk of boring you with endless road pics, that really is what half or more of this trip is about. Seeing and experiencing the infinite expanse of grasslands that is Mongolia. I’ve been to some pretty remote out…
It’s time to start exploring the rest of Mongolia. I decided to start by heading east into Khentii province. But first just a bit outside of Ulaanbaatar is Mongolias easiest national park to access, Gorkhi Terelj. The main draw here it seems is to stay in a resort type camp and go on extended horse back riding trips. Which would probably be amazing, but it also seemed like a bit of a tourist trap to me. There were a couple…
I’m at it again! Greetings and salutations from Mongolia in the central Asian steppe! After roughly 38 hours of flights and layovers I finally arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capitol of Mongolia, extremely tired. The ride from the airport took a little over an hour in Ulaanbaatars notorious traffic, but I made it to my hostel, checked in and headed to the main square, Sükhbaatar Sq, just a couple of blocks away to wander around with what was left of the…
I think I’m pretty well known for refusing to work on my birthday, but this year I took it a step further and took the whole week off to visit Yucatan, Mexico. Yucatan is a pretty small state and I know I can accomplish a lot on what is definitely the shortest international trip I’ve ever taken. I based myself in the Yucatan capitol of Mérida, dubbed the safest city in Mexico. Let’s hope so. Here’s a funny speculative story…
Greetings from Lebanon! I’ve left the relative calm oasis of Jordan and landed in loud, fast paced, chaotic Beirut. The very first thing I noticed about this place is that the Lebanese are hands down the most insane drivers in the world. No joke! The taxi ride from the airport to my hotel was absolutely terrifying. It’s gas all the way to the floor or brake all the way to the floor, weaving around everyone and everything, and three times…
A short bus ride to the northwest takes me to the village of Ajlun, nestled in some hills surrounded by pine and olive groves. Beautiful! Ajlun really has only one attraction, a huge castle on the highest hilltop, Mt Auf. It was built in the 12th century to defend against Christian crusaders and apparently saw a lot of action. You can see everything from up there. It’s definitely one of the better castles I’ve been to in my travels. And…
My departure from Jeju Island is yet another example of the awesomeness that is Korean public transport. An early bus from Seogwipo to the airport in Jeju City, a plane from there to Gwangju, a taxi across town from the airport to the Gwangju bus station, then a bus to Gochang, then another bus to Seonunsan Provincial Park. Once again it sounds very confusing, but once again, it was super easy. Before I talk about Seonunsan, though, here’s a picture…