Nuukhd

by Rachel

Those of you who like to hike need to put Ulaanbaatar on your maps. Forget Portland, or Salt Lake City. This is the place where you can take a taxi to the mountains. It takes about fifteen minutes and costs less than $4. That is exactly what we did this morning. Lucky for us there is a weekly hike here, leaving most Sundays at 11 am. Whoever wants to go gathers, makes a plan and heads out. Many of these people have been here for years and know exactly where to go.

Today we drove towards the airport and then up to Nuukhd, a “Strictly Protected Area.” The ranger, who was practicing riding his bike, came over to tell us not to smoke or start fires. This is the season to be fearful of fires. Our merry band of eight headed up a hill and eventually got to the ridge, where we walked back towards Ulaanbaatar, and a car that would take us back to the city.

The hike took about four hours, and was mostly quite pleasant, except for a few steep down hills, one covered with snow. The day was overcast, and we got some snow as we walked through the meadows and forests, mostly pine and birch.

There were several spots with the blue scarves tied to them, marking a special place. One was a fire tower that had fallen over. Others were trees and big piles of wood. We also came across these prayer flags.

We’ve been promised the same hike again in a month or so, when the flowers will be showing off, and we will be amazed at the difference.