Khuvsgul Lake: A beauty of nature

There was one thing that was on top of my to-do/to-see list in Mongolia: Khuvsgul Lake. No matter how busy I’d be working, how wet or cold the weather would be, or how short money would be, I would definitely have to see this place after what people were telling me and what Google images were showing me.

So off I went again last week for a 5-day trip to Northern Mongolia, very close to the Russian border. The ride began on Tuesday night. A friend of one of my working colleagues was heading for Murun that day coincidently and she was so kind to give us a lift in her car. Leaving UB I was impressed by the dark black sky with millions of stars shining bright, the silence and darkness surrounding. The ride was long, but the street to Murun (via Darkhan and Erdenet) was well paved and just around 7am the sun came up behind the hills with a red light introducing the day we still had ahead of us.

Arriving in Murun at 9am, we found a driver called Nara (thanks_anu@yahoo.com, +976 8822 8609) to take us the remaining 150km to Khuvsgul Lake (since bus service is pretty unreliable and irregular). Anything between 50,000 and 80,000 MNT per ride is a good deal we figured out. Since the travel season in Mongolia is officially over on September 1, it was a bit difficult to find a ger camp that was still open and willing to host us. But we eventually found one, directly by the shore with an amazing view over the lake (22,500 MNT per night per person). This is when the holiday part of our stay at Khuvsgul began.

Accommodation is very simple and basic such as everywhere outside of UB. Energy is rare, showers are rarer and warm water is rarest. Also, the climate is significantly influenced by the lake. Daytime in mid-September is still alright for hiking and taking off your jacket, but nighttime temperatures drop down to 0.

However, having a luxurious stay should not be the main purpose of your Khuvsgul visit anyway. Exploring the lake and its surrounding nature is what you should go there for. And that’s what we did. Our days were filled with hiking along the lake or the nearby mountains and forests, horse-riding, motor-boat rides and peaceful, silent chill out phases. Again, knowing a few phrases of Mongolian or Russian or someone who knows Mongolian or Russian will save you a lot of time and energy to arrange free time activities.

A little north of the ger camp we stayed at, there is ger camp called Khirvesteg. The owner Delger is a cool guy who offers you filtered coffee, motorboat rides and horse riding for a reasonable price. Don’t be ashamed to negotiate a bit, though.

All in all, I found that going to Khuvsgul Lake in mid-September was the best time, because tourists are gone, hosts are more open for negotiations regarding the rates and autumn is coloring the forests in a golden yellow.