Words + Pictures

Up The Buyant

On our last weekend here in Khovd, Judy and I went for a hike to what I have been calling the nose at southern end of what we can see of the Buyant River. I have tried on several occasions to get down there to peek around the corner, but have always run out of time or energy before getting there. This time, we took our tent and sleeping bags so we could walk as far as we wanted without the need to make it home.

The hike began in beautiful weather, and the water was high from rain a few days ago, the fifth or sixth rain we've seen in Mongolia over the past nine months. So we were caught off guard by what happened that evening at dusk—rain, lightning, and wind for four hours. Our tiny tent held up, though it took some leaning against the walls to keep the ridge pole from breaking. Our ger is not as sturdy as a real ger, but on this hike we saw that even Mongolians' gers can be tumbled by the powerful wind here. One family was gathering their belongings and moving them to a new site after their ger had blown over.

By morning the sky had cleared and we hiked back in crisp weather for most of the morning, crossing the branches of the Buyant, climbing the back of The Nose we had come to see behind, and dropping back down to the river's plain. As we neared Khovd's bridge in mid-afternoon, there was more thunder, then rain and hail. As an appropriate ending to our stay in Mongolia, a family in their Land Cruiser pulled over and gave us a ride for the last mile home.