Mongolia II: Mukhar Shivert & Yol Valley

Starting day two right with a beautiful breakfast setup in front of our UAZ, made by our lovely tour guide. Those toasties with goat(?) cheese are to die for!

With our host and her grandkids before we left

Today’s itinerary consisted of another ~170km drive to the valleys. Some behind-the-scenes of us at pee stops:

Before heading to Yol Valley (the real highlight for the day), we were dropped at Mukhar Shivert. The landscape by now was a whole lot different. The Mongolia we had in mind were of endless green pastures, but when we’d arrived at Gobi, realised it was mostly brown.

Mukhar Shivert started off as a nice, chill, green spot with a wide , sandy path.

And the reason why we made this stop? To check out the ice canyons!

We then made our stop over at Yol Valley, about a kilometre away from Mukhar Shivert. The original plan was to just do our horseriding on the last day, but we made special arrangements to add another one – and this was the spot for it!

Did you know: Mongolian horse racing is unlike what we know from other places. There is an age limit – Mongolian race horses are ridden by 7 to 13 year old girls and boys. Further, Mongolian horses are relatively small, typically between 12 and 14 hands (122-142 cm)!.

The horse would take us 2km into the valley, where we’d then set off on foot for the remaining 1km. These are half wild horses that we rode, though they were relatively well behaved.

But what’s a good adventure story without some drama, right?

All was well when we’d ridden in, but getting off the horse, I’d accidentally rolled my ankle, sending a shock and delivering sharp pain in my right ankle. Thankfully, it wasn’t a fracture. After a few moment of rest, I was able to continue.

Day two’s accommodation at a tourist ger, where we were able to treat ourselves to a nice shower and dine at a restaurant.

If this is the first time you’re reading about my Mongolia trip, check these other posts out:

Love,

Olly’25