Riding north
to the reindeer herders
Four days on horseback into the taiga to stay with the Tsaatan — around fifty families left, still moving with their reindeer — then Khuvsgul on the way back out.
One of twenty ethnic groups, and the only one with reindeer
The Tsaatan live in the tundra along the Russian border, north of anywhere a vehicle can reach, and around fifty families still migrate with the herds. Getting there means a border permit in Murun, a day with the Darkhad learning the horses, and four days riding. Nothing about this trip is comfortable and it is the one people talk about for years. The way back out takes Khuvsgul, the deer stones at Uushgiin Uvur and the dunes at Khugnu Tarna.
Day by day
Four extinct volcanoes sixty kilometres west of Bulgan town. The main crater is five to six hundred metres across and fifty deep, and the walk up to the rim takes about half an hour for a view over the whole protected area.
