Olgii is the capital of Bayan-Olgii province, and a useful base for travelling in the region. The city centre is on the left.

A COW IN A RICH CRADLE : Bayan-Olgii means “Rich Cradle“ in Mongolian. Beautiful landscapes are already at the doorsteps of the capital Olgii.

CROSROADZ INTO BAYAN-OLGII : Only in Mongolia you will find roads like these. Over this span of roads will decend into Olgii.

TSAMBAGARAV NORTH FACE : Facing is Altansogt Valley leading into the northern face of Tsambagarav Uul. This valley is broad and beautiful with many Kazakh families. The waterfall and glacier are hidden towards the left-hand-side of the panorama, 3 hours by horse to get there.

Tavan Bogd translate as “5 Saints“, and they refer to the 5 peaks of Khuitun (cold), Nairamdal (friendship), Burged (Eagle), Olgii (Cradle) and Malchin (herder) of the mountain sacred to local Kazakhs, Tuvans, and Mongolians. The national park is one of the most complicated, which covers an area of 630,000 hectarce and is home to three large freshwater lakes and 34 glaciers, plus several waterfalls. The park stretches from Russia along the Chinese border, following the Altai Mountain Range that divides China, Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, for over 200 km. Because many prime areas of the park resides on the boarder between Mongolia and China, Mongolia and Russia, multiple Permits are required needed to see this National Park. Confusing local information makes the preparation quite difficult. Time was needed in Bayan-Ölgii for supplies, the journey relied primarily on camping.

RISING SUN ON TAVAN BOGD : Panorama of Tavan Bogd, where all peaks were revealed except Malchin peak. On the left is Alexander Glacier, and the right is Pontinin Glacier. The glacier‘s orientation makes this location difficult to photograph. Its not a sunset place because shadow sets in quick, and this is a sunrise view, and only the peaks get lighted while the glacier lies in the shade. Straight lighting gives white and blue on a sunny day, and gray on a cloudy day.

TAVAN BOGD GLACIER GRAVEL LIPSA sundown view of revealing the gravel lips which was accumulated by the moving glacier. Note that the base camp is visible on the far left along the lip.

KHOTUN NUUR PANORAMA : There are 2 ways to get to the Khoton Lake area from Tavan Bogd: walking down the valley which is a relatively straight route or drive a big loop around the surround mountains. The left bank is green and picturesque, and the Chinese border is not too far away. An absolutely stunning area, but the weather was cloudy.

KHOTON NUUR NORTHERN BANK : Cloudy early morning with a spot on a headland near the northern bank of Khoton Nuur.