Segolis in Israel

Segolis in Israel

2014 - Sep-Oct ; Nov-Dec

2015 - Jan-Feb ;Mar-Apr ;May-June ;Iceland ;Jul-Aug ;Sep-Oct

2016 - Jan-Feb ; Mar-Apr ; Jul-Galapagos ; Aug ; 2017 - Aug Dolomites ;

2018 - Aug Madagascar - part 1 ; part 2 ; Italy Apr ; Aug Mongolia

Mongolia - August 2019

We went to an 11 days trek in Mongolia. We chose the western side of the country- close to the border with China, Russia and not far from Kazakhstan. This area is nearly untouched except for some nomad families (Mongol and Kazakh) that built temporary houses (Yurt) and herd their animals during the summer

We were accompanied by three camels, three horses, a man taking care of them, an English speaking guide, a cook and her daughter - that came to help her mother

After a full day of driving from Ulgi (the regional capital) we arrived at Khotom and Khurgan lakes, where we were first exposed to the magnificent mountain views. We bathed in the freezing (or so we thought) lake and enjoyed our first night out

Stone carving of king/worrior from the Turkish period 1500-2000 years ago

Although it’s the middle of summer, the next morning it was drizzling. We convinced ourselves it would pass, but during the day the rain only became stronger and we ended-up soaking wet

Luckily, we camped near a local family’s Yurt: 44 old grandmother, her 33 old daughter (this not a mistake!) and all their family members including a young couple with their baby. They were very nice and generous and were interested in us no less than we were interested in them. We had traditional salty tea and tasted the home-made bread butter and cheese. Most importantly- they let us dry our shoes near their stove

Playing Frisbee with one of the kids

The cook and her daughter spoilt us with tasty food all along the trail, including porridge, soup and our favorite- dumpling

The weather improved and we continued along the “white river” that feeds the lakes. It is named after its white water coming from the glaciers up the mountains. We played with the ice along the river and bathed in the (this time really) frozen water

When Zoe got tired she rode a horse and really enjoyed it

We continued up a side valley called “the Bear Valley”. Once there were many bears here but today there are only few left. The valley led us to a 3200m mountain pass. The weather again played tricks on us so we arrived at the camp wet and exhausted. We spent the rest of the evening resting and drying our shoes (this time on an open wood fire)

When it was too rainy, we put Zoe on a horse

We also rode the horses when we were too lazy to change to sandals at the river crossings

“Shopping” from the local people

From there we continued (this time with perfect weather) to the ranger station at the entrance to the Tavan-Bogd national park that includes the five highest peaks of the Altai Mountains

We spent a restful day that included a hike to a beautiful lake, bathing in the river, reading and playing in the tent

The White river meets a blue stream

From there continued to the base camp of the Malchin peak (4050m)

All through the week we met people that climbed this peak (a steep climb of ~1200m), often in pouring rain (few even experienced lightning storms) and could not see any view from the top - so we were pretty nervous before this climb. We started (Moran, Michal and Maayan) at 5 in the morning. The climb was really hard due to the high elevation and we experienced some hail and snow fall. However, when we reached the top- the clouds opened -up and in front of us we saw breath-taking views stretching from Mongolia to Russia (Sibiria), China and Kazakhstan. It’s hard to describe the excitement (and relief) we felt. We climbed down slowly and in a good mood to meet Lotem and Zoe who stayed in the camp

At the last day in the park we fulfilled Zoe’s wish to build a snowman (the cook kept a carrot for her just for this purpose). We climbed the edge of the mountain and played few hours in the snow and also went to see the glacier

On the way out of the park we went to a Buddhist prayer site at the head of a hill facing the mountains- where the vehicle was waiting for us

On the way back to Ulgi we stopped at the cook’s sister Ger. Her neighbors that are Eagle Hunters- a local tradition- let us experience holding the eagle (not easy, and pretty scary)

We drove for 5 hours on a mountain road and 3 hours on the “main” road to get back to town- tired but happy!

the “main” road