On my last day in ULN before catching my night flight, I’ve arranged a quick trip to Khustain Nuruu (Birch Mountain Range), 100km away from ULN to see the Takhi. Yes I just couldn’t bring myself to waste that few hours doing nothing & I was dying to get out of ULN. This trip cost USD 70 which includes a driver (car + petrol), an English speaking student guide, national park entrance fee, museum and a national park guide.
We stopped by the roadside & ‘Happy’ was telling me about Ovoo… shhh I pretended I didn’t know what it meant.
My young cute guide on the left named ‘Happy’ (coz his real name was too difficult to pronounce) & my personal driver. 2hrs+ drive….
Miniature Ger
All the different types of ants you can find in this park. Researchers, I salute you!
Nothing spectacular re the scenery, its just a nature reserve home to many wild animals like red deer, steppe gazelle, deer, board, manul, wolf, lynx etc…
One can only enter the park with permission; cars are not allowed to leave the road and make new ones; no hunting / catching of wild animals; no light, fire and weapons; One has to stay 200m away from the Takhi (wild horses) and not to disturb / make loud noise.
My good looking National Park guide searching for traces of Takhi with his bino. The best times to spot the horses are in early morning and evening when they are not hiding from heat. But it was already late morning when I reached the park…
Following my guides, we were tracing the manures of the horses & testing their freshness. At one point my guide turned & gave me a big grin, stepping on the poop to tell me they are fresh, meaning the horses must be nearby.
Viola! We found it. Woohoo. I was lucky. Really lucky. There were only about 200 wild horses around and with the size of the park, what are the chances of you spotting them when they are hiding in shades. I saw many, even foals. Adults are in sandy colors & little ones are kind whitish.
Zoomed in. Dinner on me if you can find them in 3 different locations.
I’m satisfied even though I can only see them from far. Takhi once went into extinction but was later found to exist outside Mongolia. It was reintroduced to the park between 1992 to 2004. Keep breeding, Takhi!
“The Takhi has the figure of a compact, small domestic horse with a strong neck and heavy limbs. The head is characterized by a convex nose line and by a white stain around nose and mouth. The body features a pale yellow to ginger colour. A distinctive dark eel-stripe runs from the mane to the tail.”
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My last meal in ULN. Super oily & salty chinese food and this looks like a meal for 2. Haha
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I was due to fly on 0020hrs, 03/07/09. We board the plane & sat for 2.5hrs before the captain announced that take off was not possible due to bad weather. Then we were being shoved up the bus where we get on & off at different hotels as there weren’t enough rooms for all of us. Anyway, I arrived back at the airport next morning to find our luggage scattered around.
Re-checked in again but only had time to pull out my mobile charger & some monies.
Arrived in Seoul & was being chucked in yet another hotel because my next available connecting flight was on 04/07/09 midday.
Hotel looks good?
Free meals… but I only managed to use it for dinner. I skipped breakfast, happily went to the airport, passed the immigration thinking that I’m gonna have a good korean free lunch. Duh… I didn’t read that the restaurant is located ‘before’ immigration…
At their convenient shop
Proper road side Korean rice cake. I wanted to eat it at the store but my cough will probably scare all the customers away. So… sigh… back to the hotel, curling up on the chair to enjoy this delicacy myself.
Lunch at airport before I depart. Korean Ginseng chicken. THUMBS DOWN! I can’t even taste the ginseng flavor. This is somehow like another (blant) chicken soup. Boo.
By the time I reached London, board the train back to Bristol, hop on the taxi back to my cozy shoebox, its already late night. I was soooooo tired yet I’m still thinking about the unpacking & laundry sessions for tomorrow.
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