Miles driven: 333 miles
Time in Car: 8 hours
Borders crossed: 0
August 30. Day 4 in Mongolia and we were within striking distance of the capital, Ulanbaataar, which was only 9 hours away. The biggest city in Mongolia had been the official Rally finish line up until a few years ago when it was switched to Ulan Ude in Russia. Turns out that many ralliers had been donating their cars or even giving them away when they finished in Mongolia - the Mongolian government eventually got fed up with this. They slapped a huge import fee (north of $5k) on vehicles so the Rally now ends in Ulan Ude which is a long, strenuous drive over non-roads to the Russian border. Our rally is actually ahead of schedule and we plan to officially shut down the rally at the end party on September 7th. So with our extra time, we decided to take a few extra days in Mongolia the first of which was at Khustai National Park.
Our drive along the Southern Route from our previous night’s campsite was as advertised - asphalt. However, the drive was still very uncomfortable as bumps and buckles in the road gave our rear springs a full workout. Sitting in the back seat was borderline nauseating. Some bumps caused the backseat passenger to fly up against the roof of the car along with gear in the trunk. Apart from the bumps, the drive was relatively easygoing.
We pulled off the road to head to Khustai National Park around 5 pm and the road immediately resumed into nearly impassable gravel roads with washout ruts and giant holes. Khustai National Park is the home of the wild takhi horse. They are also called the Przewalski’s horse crediting the Russian explorer who first saw them. While other wild horses are just domesticated animals gone feral, the takhi is truly wild and still around thanks in part to conservation efforts that saved these horses from extinction in the 1970s. At the National Park entrance, there was a resort style yurt camp; no camping was allowed inside the park. We opted to let Stevie take a spin on the road that winded through the park. Soon after entering, we wish we had hired an SUV from the park office. The ruts and giant potholes were especially grueling causing severe white knuckling and constant grimacing. We reached a ranger station about a half hour in and decided that we’d just do a quick hike before we try driving any further. We ascended a large hill that provided sweeping views of rolling green hills and mountains bathing in the setting sun. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any takhi horses. Afterwards, we made it out of the National Park with no issues and had a meal at the park restaurant which happened to be serving Chinese food that night. We then camped outside of the park in an open field. Tomorrow we descend upon Ulaanbaatar. -FWY
Khustai National Park