Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 9979 9721; ger per person T8000, brick hut T5000, meals T5000; )
The smallest and
best-value of the ger camps here, this place, which stays open year-round, has clean,
comfortable gers overlooking the river and a new castle-lookalike restaurant made of
stone. The beds in the brick huts are very cheap, but uncomfortably springy. There were
no showers when we were here, and the toilets were out the back, but a new shower
block was under construction. The owners don't speak English, but can arrange short
treks on horses or camels. Located under the hill with the ibex statue on top.
Tsagaan Ovoo Ger Camp
TOURIST GER CAMP$$$
( 9971 9392; with/without meals US$35/20)
This camp features a small, green-painted res-
taurant with fine river views, and a games building with table tennis and a pool table.
Has showers and decent gers, but closes earlier in the year than the other two nearby
camps.
Secret of Ongi Tourist Camp
TOURIST GER CAMP$$$
$$$
( 9888 6800;
www.ongi.mongoliansecrethistory.mn
;
with/without meals US$89/40, mains
T8000-11,000; )
This is the most comfortable place to stay. The big draw is the log-
and-stone restaurant-bar reminiscent of a Chinese-style temple, the smart gers with
curved wooden doors and some of the cleanest toilets in the Gobi. There are guides
(T3000 per person) available for hikes into the surrounding countryside, and nonguests
can use the showers (T4000) and the massage services (T18,000 to T35,000), as well as
the restaurant.
THE LOST TREASURE OF DANZAN RAVJAA
Many tall tales exist about Noyon Khutagt Danzan Ravjaa (1803-56), a hot-headed
rebellious monk, a writer and popular leader of Mongolia's Red Hat Buddhists. It is
said that he could fly to Tibet in an instant, disappear into thin air and turn water
into whisky. At age six he was proclaimed the Fifth Gobi Lord even though the Man-
chus had forbidden another after executing his predecessor.
Danzan Ravjaa would spend months in solitude writing, either in caves or in his
ger, and his fame as a writer, artist and social critic spread far and wide. He was
also an expert at martial arts, tantric studies, yoga and traditional medicine.
His mysterious death came either at the hands of the rival Yellow Hat Buddhist
sect or a jealous queen who failed to gain his love. During his life, Danzan Ravjaa
amassed a collection of statues, paintings, original manuscripts, opera costumes
and ritual objects. It eventually fell to a man called Tuduv, the hereditary takhilch
(caretaker) of Danzan Ravjaa's legacy, to protect these treasures during the 1937
