It was a warmer night – with no frost.  For the first time, I slept under the sleeping bag rather than in it.  Mind you, it was still only a few degrees above freezing.

Soft pre-sunrise hues over the bay beside our campsite.

Finally the sun hit the far side of the lake.

 …then it was our turn to receive some warmth from the sun

The sun highlighted these fluffy seed heads.

There was an option this morning to go for a walk and be picked up along the way… or to stay in camp.  This came about because we had to wait for two of our vehicles to return from Olgii where the con-rod in one and a broken leaf in the other car’s suspension were being fixed. Some of us decided to stay in camp and have some time-out.  We kicked the remains of the camp fire into life and sat around it, chatting and relaxing until midday. The vehicles reunited, we drove on until we found the walking group. Our destination for the day was Khovd where there’s an airport. This would be our point of departure from far west Mongolia; the end of our trek.

On the way, we came across a rather impressive, very Russian styled memorial.  As with many things with a Russian influence, there appeared to be plenty of money for building, but nothing ever set aside for maintenance.  Built and then forgotten.

Yaks grazed contentedly on the wide open steppe.

Our cars left a dust trail as we drove down into the town of Khovd.

(Elevation 1405m, 48.02N, 91.57E)

Khovd is the capital of Khovd Province, approximately 1580km (982mi.) from UB. The town’s population of  81,479 (in 2015) is made up of more than 17 nationalities and ethnicities all of which have their own traditional dwellings, dress and cultural differences.

The climate is harsh with the summer temperature regularly reaching 40°C (104°F) and falling to as low as -30°C (-22°F) in winter.  The weather is dry with an annual rainfall of only 122.8mm (4.8in.) per annum. Despite this harsh climate, over two million livestock are herded here and, quite amazingly, the area around Khovd is famous for its watermelon production.

At present Khovd is connected to the Russian electricity grid and its prone to blackouts if the town falls behind in its payments! So generation of hydro-electricity from the abundant snow melt is becoming more important.  It’s hoped that new projects will generate enough electricity not only for Khovd’s needs but also for the power needs of the adjacent aimags (Provinces) of Uvs and Bayan-Olgii.

We drove a short way out of town to find a camp site beside a swiftly flowing stream. This was our last camp site for this Mongolian trek with Tim Cope.

Dinner tonight was a bowl of soup followed by a lamb dinner with potatoes and carrots. It was cooked in a pot with hot stones.  Really delicious.

After dinner we were entertained by three Kazakh performers in national costumes.  

The instrument played was the traditional morin khuur. I say traditional, but under the Stalinist regime, musical instruments had to be standardised and ‘modernised’ using different materials and construction methods. The top and bottom of the traditional morin khuur was made of skins. The sides had ‘sound holes’. Today, the instrument has a wooden soundbox, f shaped holes and a soundpost. Bows were traditionally made of horse hair. Todays strings are made of nylon.

The firelight flickered over the face of the throat singer.

These performers brought to an end the final night of a memorable trip.

Before I turned in, I repacked my bag. And now, I have to let this biscuit have the final say in this diary of our trek.  I bought it in a pack of biscuits way back on my first day in China on 6th September.  That biscuit pack lived in my backpack, all day every day, one or two biscuits being nibbled at from time to time. They were not overly hard, nor overly sweet, yet at the same time rather nice in flavour.  I wasn’t hungry between meals during the Walk on the Wall, nor between meals in Mongolia. So now, after all of that time, there was still one biscuit left in my pack. And it was not broken! There must be something very special about those biscuits!!!

And there had certainly been many things special about our trek. I was able to muse over them as I fell asleep in my tent on my last night under the Mongolian stars.

David

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