Tuvkhon Monastery - hill top temple visit

The truck left at 8 am for the short drive up to the foot of a hill. We walked with Kate the 2 kms to the parking lot and was basically there at the same time as the triuck. And then it was an uphill walk for about one hour through a pine forest. Dead quiet except for the wind in the trees. No other visitors but us. 

The temple at the top was so different to all the other places we have been so far. It was small. A few wooden buildings and lots of prayer flags. We walked along the path of the mountain until we made it to the top. Mikkel climbed all the way up the steep mountain side and Malene took the lower climb instead. Compared to the other places we've been this was just tranquil and scenic. Much like you would expect a temple to be.

We walked back to the truck through the forest and had lunch. The rest of the day was spent driving. Bumpy driving. Originally the temple visit was supposed to be in the afternoon yesterday where we spent time at the festival instead. To our luck our driver found a place to cross the river much closer to the route than yesterday so we saved around 1½ hours on that short cut. Unfortunately that might also have been the reason for the flat tire we discovered when we had a short break to do shopping in Kharkhorin town. Add 45 minutes of waiting to get tire changed.

We arrived at our next camp just before 10 pm in the evening after many kilometres of bumpy driving including some 25 kilometres of off road tracks to take us to the camp. Dinner was served and then it was off to have a shower, a nice relaxing dip in the hot springs after walking and many hours on the truck with so much dust. Good night.

Morning walk

Hill top temple

Tough walking up

Malene and Dodjo, our Mongolian guide

Small temple or big Mongolian guide

Climbing down

Alice

Walking back from the temple

Checking water level to see if we can pass

Alice enjoying travelling in the truck

Always several gravel roads you can take