Khovsgol Lake

Khovsgol Lake is one of the two largest lakes in Mongolia. It’s the largest by volume, but second largest by area. It’s at about 5,000 feet in elevation, which puts it pretty close to the elevation where I live.

It’s close to Siberia. Though it was pretty comfortable when I was there, we talked to some people who had been there the week before, and they thought it was very cold. The main difference is that they had gotten more rain. On the day when we had rain, it got a bit chill.

A number of streams feed into the lake, but only one river flows out of it. The river winds through the valley looking just gorgeous as it heads for the ocean. So of course the Mongolians put a little way side on an overlooking hill complete with a modern art statue of which I didn’t get a good picture.

People have gone to the lake to worship for generations. It’s considered one of the most sacred spots in the country. Not only do they tie their scarves around the poll on the promontory above, they will tie them around random trees near the shore.

When I first saw this, I thought they were marking tree to be logged. It seemed a bit odd to be using blue instead of neon orange, but being in a different country…. It didn’t take long for me to figure it out.

We spent a fair amount of time there. We boated across it in an hailstorm to meet the Reindeer People. We hiked around it to an overlook. We road horseback through the mist along the shore. But then, you already know all that. 🙂

I’m thinking one of those sunset shots might make a good book cover.