Beau Flemister

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When you think of Mongolia, you might imagine endless, rolling steppe or the sweltering sands of the Gobi. Or horses, or yurts…they’ve got those, right? Lush alpine forests and fuzzy-antlered reindeers don’t typically make the cut. But we had heard of an area in the far north of Mongolia that straddles the Russian border. An area where a nomadic tribe that herds reindeers dwells for the summer months. An area called the Darkhad Depression, only reachable by foot or horseback. We had also heard that you could hire a guide, hop on horses and visit this place. To get there, I flew with four friends from Los Angeles to the capital, Ulaanbaatar. After a quick domestic flight, we were met in the town of Mürün by our guide and driver in a Soviet-era Russian-made UAZ Bukhanka, which literally translates to “bread loaf.” The thing looked like a VW camper van on ‘roids.
Destinations

Mongolia: Journey to the Darkhad Depression