Cycle Tour - Orkhon Valley- Mongolia - Day 3 (Stage 1)

Today we explore the Orkhon River Valley.  The trail to ride today is about 100kms. We get to visit a Mongolia waterfall, Ulaan Tsutgalan.

Another way to explore the Orkhon Valley is by horse. Horse trekking is popular in Mongolia.

Loading up the russian vans, and getting ready for today's exploring.

And the cyclists are off, riding about 15km to the waterfall, then turn around and ride the length of the valley.

The landscape is different today.  The hills are huge, and the rocks are many.

The riders are all staying together at this stage, picking a trail between the rocks.

Yaks and a rocky Ovoo.

There are a lot more people in this area, I see many ger camps, and yaks, goats, and sheep.

Local riders and their gers.

Unexpectedly, we encountered a woman milking a yak.

The traditional ger, with solar panels and satellite dish. The motorbike has replaced the horse.

The symbol on the door means "long life and prosperity".

This was a large bird of prey, perhaps a Black Kite.

The traditional garments, Deel, are made of silk, and lined with wool from the yaks, goats, and sheep.

Looks like three generations, and grandson bringing the milk back to the ger.

The carved door. The simple ger has beautiful detailing on the inside.

Yaks and rocky hills.

I wonder if this is the same horsemen that we saw at our ger camp this morning.

Small butterfly on a dandelion.

Orkhon waterfall, Ulaan Tsutgalan, is 22m high. About 20.000 years ago, the waterfall was formed due to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. However, the water doesn’t run all year and will only start to flow after the first good summer rain. Best time to see it is late July and August.

On the map, we are at the turnaround point.