life, upside down: Mongolia - Shargaljuut Hot Springs

As we stood in the road in the valley between these mountains, our driver pointed
to the mountain and picked out a herd of mountain goats. Incredibly difficult to see!

The next destination on our tour was Shargaljuut Hot Springs. As we had gotten closer to Bayanlig the day before and as we left in the morning, we could see the mountains of the Ikh Bogd range in the distance to the north and west. We drove through a valley on the far side of the range, and stopping for a quick break we saw mountain goats on the rocks high above us! It was really neat.

We continued on our drive and soon we could see the Ikh Bogd range behind us as we continued north. Ikh Bogd has the highest peak in the Gobi-Altai mountain range, and as the clouds cleared we could see snow on the peaks.

Giant boulder

Soft white rocks of this valley

Mountain goats on the cliff face

Mountain goats, blending in with the rocks

We drove the morning over decent dirt roads and the hills became greener and greener with more ger and livestock as we went. Around midday we came to a paved road: the first we had seen in days, since we had left Dalangadzad. It was incredibly picturesque, with really beautiful hills and mountains under blue skies as we took a break to take in the scenery.

On the main road it was an interesting drive to the city of Bayankhongor (capital of Bayankhongor province), which included a police check point (something we hadn't come across since leaving UB) and road blocks made out of piles of earth, which meant we had to find a detour. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant in a large shopping centre and waited around a couple hours as we got the tire fixed from the flat the day before. Then fueled up, and were on our way again.

From Bayankhongor it was about an hour's drive to Shargaljuut. We sighted herds of yak for the first time in the verdant pastures in the valleys. As we went higher in altitude we drove over green hills that were covered in boulders, which had sort of an other-worldly feel, and finally we made it to Shargaljuut valley.

Back on the open steppe

A herd of camels hiding in the scrub

Back on the paved road, taking a break to check on the van

Shargaljuut is a small spa town in a green valley between steep mountains, with yak and horses roaming the pastures along the river, goats and sheep on the hillsides and hawks riding the thermals high into the sky above. The town is obviously a developing destination, as there was a bit of construction of hotels going up. Instead of staying in a ger, we stayed in a little camp of cabins with a friendly hostess. We were invited to watch a father-daughter duo milk some horses, and then we took a tour of the hot springs of Shargaljuut.


Trees in the crook of the mountainside. It's hard to see, but there are rocks spelling out words on the hillside above the herd of yaks. Beneath the yaks, a herd of goats on the upper road. Beneath the goats, the lowest road in the valley which followed the river.

A herd of yaks in the Shargaljuut river

Goats running on the hillside

The hot springs at Shargaljuut were not at all what I had expected as compared to my only previous experience with hot springs anywhere (United States, Japan, Australia). For some reason I had imagined there would be some capacity of soaking in the hot water, however this is not the case at Shargaljuut. My understanding is that people go to the spa for medicinal, rather than relaxation purposes. A doctor will give you a 'prescription', and then you must wander around the rocky hillside to the prescribed spring (there are over 100 different identified springs at Shargaljuut.) The water is collected from the different springs, cooled to an drinkable temperature and then consumed. There were a couple hot springs with a small enclosure built around it so that the steam could be inhaled. The closest thing to a hot soak is sitting on top of a hot boulder.

Despite that, we did get to have a hot bath. After we'd had our guided tour of the hot springs, we returned to our cabin camp. Just a short way away, in the pasture, there was a little bubbling creek and a hot spring warmed one of the pools. Nearby was a little shack with a tub into which you could scoop hot water and have a little soak. It was not very glamorous, but completely functional. Unfortunately a thunderstorm came up and we got drenched on our way back to the cabin!

It rained quite a bit, so much that we were a bit concerned about our travels the next day--we were to drive up and over the mountains, rather than taking the long detour around, but if it was too wet it wouldn't be possible. We tried not to worry about it and had a relaxing evening, reading inside as it rained.

One of the 100+ hot springs of Shargaljuut

The hillside of hot springs, covered in boulders

A sparrow on the boulder pile

Mountain cliffs above Shargaljuut. And the rare sight of a radio tower!

The moon setting over the valley

The next morning we woke up and climbed up the mountainside to get a view of the valley below. The moon was still almost full and it was a beautiful morning, the steam from the hot spring hillside rising up out of the valley. We saw a northern hemisphere magpie -- a novelty! -- and some other birds. Most surprising was the grove of coniferous trees in the crook of the mountainside - we had traded the Gobi for a completely different landscape. We were now in the alpine section of our tour, which somehow made it feel like it was already coming to an end: even though this part of our tour was only just beginning and we had five days, including a three day horse trek, to look forward to.