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A Land Blessed with Forest and Water

What Is Northern Mongolia?

Northern Mongolia is a rainy, humid region. Making use of this rain, agriculture is thriving in Selenge Province. Vast forests, lakes and wetlands spread out, and in Khuvsgul Province there is Lake Khuvsgul, which boasts one of the highest water transparencies in the world. There is also the Darkhad Valley, with its permafrost, and in the taiga (coniferous forest) live people who ride reindeer. There are also many ruins of Turkic peoples, suggesting that human activity has long been thriving.

What Is Life Like?

• Selenge Province: There is a lot of farmland, and some nomads have appeared who sign contracts with companies that own farmland and start dairy farming.
• Darkhad Valley: The Darkhad excel in woodworking skills that make use of forest resources, making many daily necessities themselves while living a nomadic life centered on yaks.
• Taiga region: People who raise reindeer lead their own distinctive way of life.

Don't Miss These

• The superb views of the Darkhad Valley
• Life with reindeer in the taiga
• Lake Khuvsgul, famed for its transparency

Travel Tips

• The Khuvsgul region in particular is cold and snow can fall even in summer, so whenever you go, sturdy warm clothing is necessary.
• For sleeping bags, in summer you want one rated to minus 10°C, and in winter one rated to minus 30°C.
• Even in summer it is reassuring to bring a light down jacket or similar.
• It is also a rainy area, so rain gear is essential. Highly waterproof shoes are best.
• In the Selenge area in summer, also prepare insect repellent.

Darkhan (Дархан)

Mongolia's third city, where young people gather

Since the town was founded in 1961, Darkhan has developed by building factories with financial aid from Russia, Eastern European countries, and Japan and others. By population it is Mongolia's third city, but it is also designated as a national "central city development strategy area". It is a refreshing town with a good balance between infrastructure such as welfare facilities, public transport and educational facilities and its population.

Getting around and highlights

The town is divided into Old Darkhan and New Darkhan. Old Darkhan is a commercial and industrial district, and New Darkhan has many hotels, high-rise apartments and parks. On the main avenue connecting the old and new urban areas hangs a suspension bridge, with the "Morin Khuur Hill" and the "Great Buddha Hill" on either side. On Morin Khuur Hill stands a statue of a person playing the morin khuur on horseback. In the center of the new town is a large park, and at night the suspension bridge is lit up and the area around the park becomes a place of rest for citizens.

There are no notable tourist spots in the city, but outside it there are Xiongnu-era tombs, rock paintings and more. For both, you need to charter a four-wheel-drive vehicle and travel several tens of kilometers.

Highlights nearby

Amarbayasgalant Monastery (Амарбаясгалант хийд)

A Buddhist monastery retaining the traces of the venerable Zanabazar. It was built from 1727 to 1736 for the Second Jebtsundamba, by order of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty. It prospered also as a place of learning, but was destroyed in the Great Purge of 1937. At its height, within a precinct enclosed by walls of 207 m × 175 m there were more than 40 temples and halls, and about 1,500 monks lived there. Restoration began in 1988, and religious services have been held since 1990. Boasting one of the largest scales in the north, it offers a view of the whole surrounding area from the hill north of the monastery.

Osnii Burkhan (Усны бурхан)

"The legendary Buddha statue of the living Buddha Zanabazar". A Buddha image carved into a rock south of the bridge over the Orkhon River. According to legend, when the living Buddha Zanabazar visited this place, the Orkhon River flooded and he was stranded for a while. While looking for a place to stay, Zanabazar carved a Buddha image into the rock. As soon as he finished carving, the river water subsided and he is said to have been able to cross the river on foot. It is carved so clearly that you can even read the expression.