Khovsgol Nuur, Mongolia | 25 June 2006 | $8.33 USD
When we originally booked the van to take us around Mongolia we were supposed to stay at a town on the Southern tip of the lake (Khovsgol Nuur). Once we got there we realized that the town was actually so far from the lake that we would need to be driven there whenever we wanted to visit it. The five of us refused to stay and forced our driver to drive us along the Northwest edge of the lake to find a campsite. We got stuck in the mud a few times and eventually settled on a very high-end camp (for lack of any other options). Because a group had cancelled we had the place to ourselves. We negotiated down from $25 per person to almost $8 and only slept two to a ger (instead of 5).
We stayed two nights in the beautifully decorated gers with hand painted beds, spending the day hiking around the lake or drawing by the shore and animal watching. We had to pay for the food separately but after six days of noodle soup and mystery organ meats we were happy to splurge a little for something edible. You would be excited about this food too if you’d previously had this strange breakfast and some form of mutton soup every day. Mutton is not my favorite. You can see the oddly clean camp of expensive gers in this photo in my gallery.
