Title: Chapter 53 Mongolia with Artur voyage
Website: http://arturvoyage.com
Chapter 53: Mongolia
This time round we went travelling almost quite literally half-way around the world with Artur Voyage: http://arturvoyage.com. Participants, students, were chosen very rigorously as the challenge was extreme: the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Trans-Siberian (as you may already know) is the longest railway in the world, crossing over 10,000 kilometers. We set off in Beijing to finish exhausted in Moscow.
The two core aims of our team were to save the legendary Przewalski horse and to educate people along the way about the importance of sustainability.
The Przevalski horse, the main component of the Mongolian national emblem, and known to them as the Takki, is currently critically endangered: and only a few years ago it was extinct in the wild. Thanks to an incredible amount of work and dedication from all sides, these noble creatures were reintroduced into the wild there are currently around 300 of these little horses roaming the pastures of Mongolia. It is claimed that it is precisely this wild horse that is the ancestor of the modern one, so its importance for humanity and its progress cannot be undermined. As cheesy as it sounds these horses helped us, now it is the time to take the leap and help them.
Upon our arrival in Mongolia (after ‘only’ 12 hours at the border control!) we made our way straight to the horses. It is almost mind boggling to imagine that this is a country where less than 3 million people coexist with over 35 million head of livestock, not to mention that the horse to human ratio is 13:1! We went trekking the valleys of this beautiful country a few hours drive away from the capital Ulan Bataar (in Terelj and Hustai National Parks). During our stay we have managed to make a donation and essentially ‘buy’ a little Przewalski horse which we named ‘The Lonely Mongolian Pony’. This means that the money we gave to Hustai National Park will raise the creature and ensure it is able to continue the survival of the species out of captivity. On our trek through the park we coincidentally came across an injured Takki with a broken leg, we instantly informed the medics of its exact GPS location and hopefully ensured it got the proper attention and treatment it needed.
After the Mongolian rescue we continued the exploration of Siberia, quad biking across the forests of Olokhon Island the pearl in the ‘Blue Eye of Siberia’, the deepest lake in the world at 1642m, lake Baikal. We also managed to go fishing, catch a fish, wakeboard with the locals and cross fast-moving waist deep rivers by foot when there were no bridges…even lecturing a chemistry student conference about the environment!
The adventure finished off thankfully safely in Moscow when the brave team departed back to their respective countries spreading word about these seldom explored, but just as important, parts of our world.
After Mongolian rescue we have continued the exploration of Siberia with quad biking across the forests of Olchon Island on the deepest lake in the world 1,642 m (5,390 ft) the Baikal. We also managed to catch a fish, wakeboard with the locals and cross waist deep rivers by foot when there were no bridges.
The adventure finished off safely in Moscow when the brave team departed back to their countries spreading the word of the secret lands of the East.
