Northern Mongolia Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Map of Northern Mongolia

• 48.810278103.5408331 Bulgan – the capital of Bulgan Aimag
• 49.486667105.9227782 Darkhan – Mongolia's third largest city, on the Trans-Mongolian Railway.
• 49.027778104.0444443 Erdenet – second largest city and home to the massive Erdenet Copper Mine.
• 49.3925102.70254 Hutag-Ondor
• 49.6375100.1613895 Mörön – the capital of Hövsgöl Aimag, is near Hövsgöl Lake and the Dukha (Tsaatan) people.
• 50.236389106.2063896 Sühbaatar – on the Russian border, is the capital of Selenge Aimag.

• 49.48105.08521 Amarbayasgalant Monastery – one of the 3 largest monasteries in Mongolia and it mostly survived the purges of the 1930s. Located in the Iven valley near the Selenge River, the monastery is about an hour off the main paved road connecting Erdenet and Darkhan. The isolated site surrounded by miles of sparsely populated steppe make it seem as though you are seeing it as it was before the rise of communism and modernization. The monastery was constructed between 1727 and 1736 on orders of the Manchu Emperor Kang Xi in honor of Zanabazar, the 1st Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, or leader of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, who invented the Mongolian Soyombo script and is one of Mongolia's most famous artists and influential leaders. Zanabazar's body was interred here in 1788. At its peak, the monastery had 3,000 monks and 40 temples laid out with symmetrical unity according to exacting design specifications by the Emperor of China. The communists closed the monastery, killed several of the monks, and destroyed 10 of the temples in 1937. Luckily, 26 of the temples survived and have been partially restored through help from UNESCO and the Indian government. Several new stupas and a large statue of Buddha have been added to the neighboring hills. As of 2012, about 60 monks live in the monastery.

• 51.1100.52 Lake Khövsgöl – the 2nd largest freshwater lake in Asia by volume is one of the most scenic places in Mongolia, with the reindeer herding Tsaatan tribe living along its shores.

Northern Mongolia is the easiest region to travel outside of the capital, with most of the cities reached by paved road and rail lines. The 2nd and 3rd largest cities in Mongolia, Erdenet and Darkhan respectively, have almost hourly bus service from Ulaanbaatar and between each other, as well as stops on the Trans-Mongolian line of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Sühbaatar also is a stop on the Trans-Mongolian. All cities in the region have at least daily bus service from the Dragon Center in Ulaanbaatar. Due to the ease of travel in the region, only the furthest city of Mörön has regular flights, with as many as 3 flights a day from UB from all 3 domestic airlines during the peak summer travel period.