Sierra Blogging Post Archives

Sam and Erin are a newlywed couple taking an 18-month bicycle tour of Asia and Europe... and they're bringing Sierra Blogging Post along for the ride.

We're sending them gear and they're sending us great stories and photographs from their adventure. They just sent me their latest dispatch from Mongolia...

"Our first couple weeks in Mongolia were spent in a region called Bayan-Olgii, which is culturally and geographically distinct from the rest of Mongolia. The population is 95% Kazakh, a nomadic Muslim ethnicity that won its own autonomous province (within Mongolia) when the country achieved independence in the 1990's.



Cycling through this part of Mongolia was very different than traveling through the rest of Mongolia. The western part of the province is covered by a stunning mountain range, the Gorno-Altai, that covers a four-corners-like region where Kazakhstan, China, Russia and Mongolia all meet.

The Gorno-Altai are spectacular, and boast pristine alpine lakes and hiking paths throughout. We saw resorts and trail heads on the Russian side of the mountain range, and in Olgii, we met an American who had just skied the season's first powder - in early September.

Glaciers within the peaks are ski-able all year, and an abundance of private gers (nomad's homes) make it possible to hike in, ski a couple runs and return to a warm ger for meals.

Kazakhs' traditional stomping grounds defy modern boundaries and so they populate regions (aside from Kazakhstan) in Mongolia, China, and Russia. The Kazakhs of western Mongolia, however, are considered the best representatives of traditional Kazakh culture.

Traveling in the Kazakh region of Mongolia is an amazing opportunity to observe a traditional central Asian culture. Handicrafts remain a strong tradition, with many women still weaving and embroidering traditional Kazakh wall hangings, clothing, purses and saddle decorations.

Kazakhs are hospitable and courteous, even more so than Mongols. Everyone we interacted with was enthusiastic about our trip and eager to speak with us. An invitation into some one's home is meant sincerely, and declining it can be considered impolite.

Kazakhs are ostensibly Muslim. Some of the small villages we traveled through had minarets that broadcast prayers several times a day. But Kazakhs are nomads first and foremost, herding yak and cattle in the mountain meadows of the Gorno-Altai.

The capital of the province, Olgii, felt more like a middle eastern city, with Arabic writing on several signs, special laws regarding the distribution of alcohol, and many locals wearing headscarves and modest dress.

If there is any one destination in Mongolia that we would recommend to adventure travelers, it would be Olgii. The province offers superb hiking, mountaineering and backcountry ski opportunities. The people are phenomenally hospitable and the provincial capital of Olgii is a terrific town to spend time in between trips to the countryside."