Peter in Mongolia: JUly 2-3

I devoted my last weekend in Mongolia for hiking in the area of Ulan Baatar.

On Saturday, I did the hike that Chimge had warned me against doing: to the summit of Bogdkhan Uul. I took about an hour to walk to the South end of town, and started looking for the trail. I eventually found my way to a resort, and followed a path down from the resort into a steep valley, which ultimately led to the marked trail to the peak. The trail was very popular and I saw at least 50 hikers during the course of the day.

Saturday night Baatar, Hugh and I went out for a drink, and I enjoyed listening to a discussion of Buddhist scholarship as well as the best ways of living as a graduate student in Cambridge (Baatar, a monk for 13 years, will be studying at the Harvard Divinity School in September).

Sunday, I went for a hike with a local hiking group, run by an expatriate named Aki. We took a bus several miles east of the city, towards the airport, and then walked back along a particularly pretty ridge. The other hiking participants were largely people who were in Mongolia to study or to work for non-governmental organizations. It was interesting to compare notes with several of them.

Again, the pictures that I took of the two days of hiking do not do justice to the loveliness of the forested ridges, although I am happy that I finally did see edelweisses during the second hike.