Монгол улс (Mongolia) - Land of Genghis Khan by Günther Eichhorn

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Mongolia is a country with deserts in the south and alpine lakes in the north. The vegetation in the Gobi desert in the southern parts of Mongolia is very sparse. There is not much sand desert, it is mostly dry land with a very sparse cover of grass and herbs. There is one large sand dune in the Gobi desert. And large is the operative word here: The sand dune is about 5 km wide, 180 km long, and 600 m high at the highest point. It is one big dune! There are essentially no trees in the southern part of Mongolia. The areas of the Gobi desert that we saw are mainly mountainous, with some dry flat plains in between.

Going further north, the climate becomes colder and wetter. In central Mongolia trees start to grow and the land has more grasses. The type of vegetation in the northern parts is alpine. The trees there are almost exclusively larches. What was quite impressive there were the wild flowers. There are lots of different types. What I did not expect was the fact that there are lots of Edelweiss and Enzian. I knew these flowers from the Alps in Germany and Switzerland. Edelweiss is by now almost completely exterminated in the European Alps. In Mongolia all the meadows in the northern part are full of Edelweiss.

What really surprised me was the amount of wildlife that I saw. I didn't expect that many animals. The most obvious of the animals are the buzzards. They are everywhere! We saw many Ibex and Argali sheep (a type of mountain sheep) in the Gobi desert mountains. These sheep also live in the European Alps, but are very rare there. In the north we didn't see that many animals. There are supposed to be elk and moose in the area around Lake Hovsgol, but we didn't see any. There were quite a number of different birds. Some of them are migrants on their way between summer nesting grounds and wintering sites.

The scenery is quite spectacular, from the Flaming Cliffs and the big Sand Dune in the south, to Lake Hovsgol in the north. Following are some of the pictures of Mongolia's scenery, fauna and flora.

I saw this fault line on the flight from Seoul to Ulaan Baatar. It was an impressive sight even from 30,000' up. (646k)	These are the Bayanzag Els, the Flaming Cliffs. (682k)	During the rainy season in August the desert is not completely dry, there are small rivers flowing through the Gobi. (799k)	In the central and northern parts of Mongolia there are forests. The mountains have forest cover on the north side, the south side is bare. (669k)	The sand dune Khongorin Els in the foreground with a mountain range in the back. There were a bunch of horses in the sand dune grazing. There is a little bit of grass in some places. I don't know why the horses decided to graze on the few blades of grass in the sand dune and not on the lush grass 200m away, but they made a nice picture. (768k)
The sand dune with morning shadows. You can see the grass land in front of the dune. It was a strange contrast. (812k)	Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, the White Lake in the rain. On the right is one of the many ovoos (see Mongolia's people). (802k)	Lake Hovsgol. This lake is close to the border between Mongolia and Russia. It is very clear, deep blue water, and very deep. (780k)	Sunrise over Lake Hovsgol. You can see the planet Venus in the upper left corner in the still dark sky. (657k)	This is a picture of the sky just after sunset. You can see that the lower part of the sky is dark, with the upper part still sunlit. The dark part is earths shadow projected onto the sky. I have seen this phenomenon in Africa as well. You need clear air, no light pollution and flat terrain to see it. (676k)
Colorful flowerbeds, mixed with desert gravel. (990k)	There were lots of mushrooms in the northern parts of Mongolia. (816k)	Flowers with a very deep rich blue color, similar to Enzian. (764k)	Blue Flowers (827k)	Edelweiss (I believe it is Leontopodium stellatum) and Enzian (a species of Gentiana, I don't know which). (823k)
A tree in the central part of Mongolia that is still close to the Gobi desert. It looked like some kind of acacia. (992k)	In the northern parts of Mongolia you see almost exclusively Siberian larch (Larix sibirica). (941k)	A Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) in the rain. (719k)	A bumblebee visiting a wild flower (818k)	A hoverfly (Syrphidae family) visiting a flower. (764k)
A butterfly. There were not as many butterflies as I would have expected with all the wild flowers. (910k)	A beetle trekking through the sand in the big sand dune. (1395k)	A large wood boring beetle. He was rasping loudly on the log table he sat on. (734k)	A lizard in the Gobi. They were pretty well camouflaged. (984k)	This bird was well camouflaged when it sat, but the underside of its wings was a bright red. (777k)
This bird is called a Hoopoe. The German name for this bird is Wiedehopf (Upupa epops). (562k)	A Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) on one of the lakes. (395k)	A Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) on the White Lake. (1851k)	A black stork (Ciconia nigra). I didn't get close enough to get a good picture of it. (257k)	A group of Demoiselle Cranes (Anthropoides virgo). There were a lot of these cranes in the north-central parts of Mongolia. They are one of the migratory species that breed in Mongolia. (946k)
A Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo). (800k)	A bunch of Cinereous Vultures (Aegypius monachus), the darker, larger birds, and Eurasian Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus), the smaller, paler birds, having dinner. (910k)	A closeup of one of the buzzards. (825k)	A Black Kite (Milvus migrans) in flight. (770k)	A pika (Ochotona sp.), a small relative of the rabbit. (575k)
Rodents were quite common everywhere. These are Mongolian Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). (878k)	A Siberian Chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus). (1038k)	A Mongolian marmot (Marmota sibirica). This is another of the species that I knew from the European Alps. In August the Mongolians hunt the marmots for food. There is just one little problem with that: The marmots have fleas, and the fleas carry the Black Plague. So every year in August they have an outbreak of the Black Plague in Mongolia. Needless to say, we didn't eat any marmots. (296k)	Mongolian gazelle or zeer (Procapra gutturosa) in the Gobi desert. (774k)	Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica) in the mountains of the Gobi Nature Reserve. This is another species that is very similar to one living in the European Alps. (854k)
A herd of argali sheep (Ovis ammon). (556k)	Argali sheep (Ovis ammon). This is the largest sheep in the world. There is a similar type of sheep in the European Alps as well. (621k)

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All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn

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