This River takes its source from northern west side of Khoridol Saridag Mountain Range and then flows for 100 km and absorb in Darkhad Depression. If there is plenty of rain, Arsain river flows to Shishigt River through some small lakes of Darkhad Depression.
Khatgal
It is a village, at the southern edge of the Khuvsgul lake. A history of transportation of water way in Mongolia started by a Russian merchant who released a small wooden ferry with capacity of 40 tones in Khuvsgul lake in 1910 and a port was established at Khatgal village. Since that time several ferries has operated at this port. Since 1985, “Sukhbaatar” ferry has been operating between Khatgal and Khankh that is a port located in the north shore of Khuvsgul Lake. Sukhbaatar ferry is 41 m long, 8.5 m wide and 11 m high and has diesel engine with 800 horsepower, capacity of loading 1800 tones and speed of 20-22 km per hour. Currently, domestic and foreign tourists are being transported on this ferry travelling in the lake.
Egiin River
It is only one river which takes its source from Khuvsgul lake. Eg river flows for 475 km and then join the Selenge river. Total area of its water collection is 42400 square km. It is 40-40 m wide, 0.3-3.5 m deep and its flow speed is 0.6 m per second. There are different species of fish such as the Taimen, Siberian Ide and Whitefish, Freshwater Cod, Catfish and River Perch.
Jiglegiin pass
The highest point of the Khoridol Saridag Mountain Range.
Darkhad ethnic group
There are 19019 Darkhad people who live in four villages of Khuvsgul province. These people are mostly shamans. These people’s lifestyle is similar to the Khalkh’s who are majority ethnic group. They live in the traditional Mongolian dwelling, the ger. They herd sheep, yaks and horses.
Shishigt River
It is the biggest river in Darkhad Valley. This river takes its source from Dood River, and has strong flow. There is a beautiful place called Burkheerneg Doloon Lake on the basin of Shishigt.
Ulaan Taiga Forest (meaning Red Taiga)
The taiga locates in west of Darkhad Depression along the Mongolian border. It is uninhabited area by people with green dense jungle and forest and taiga. Also Ulaan Taiga is peaceful and safe land for wild animals to live. This beautiful place is covered by various colored flowers and plants. Natural beauty is stunning and wonderful. The rivers that flow out of this taiga. So its water very clear and transparent. There are different kinds of fishes in these rivers.
Mount Tsagaan Chuluut
This mountain is one of the spur of Right Taiga in Darkhad Depression. Tsagaan Chuluut (meaning “White Stone”). It is fully covered by forest, representing trait of Taiga. Tsagaan chuluut is a very picturesque mountain that is rich for many rivers and different colored flowers, various wild animals and birds.
Alag Tseel River
Alag Tseel is a deep narrow entrance that takes its source from Deed Tsagaan and join to Shishigt river. Here, there are plenty of high quality fishes like Taimen, Lenok, Siberian Whitefish, Siberian Grayling and Siberian Ide.
Khogiin Gol
This river takes its source from east side of the mountains of Baruun Taiga and flows through Darkhad Depression until joining to Shishigt river. Its water is very clear and pure. This river flows through gorge of forested high mountains; thus making scenery of landscape so beautiful. The river has an abundance of fish such as taimen, lenok and graylings.
Beltes river
It has its source on the mountain Khoridol Saridag mountain and flows more than 90 km to join the Delger River. The water is crystal clear. There is a waterfall, Ushir, with the height of nearly 4 meters.
Uushgiin Uvur Deer Stones
It concludes 14 deer stones which lined from north to south. It is the clearest depicted deer stone of Mongolia. It locates at 17 km to the west from Moron town.
Selenge River
Mongolian biggest river with length of 593 km which flows into Baikal lake in Russia.
Amar Bayasgalant monastery
It is one of the largest and most important monasteries in Mongolia. According to the inscription on the stone monuments located near monastery’s entrance, Amarbayasgalant was constructed in honour of Zanabazar, Mongolian first Bogd king in accordance with a royal decree issued by Manchu emperor Kansu in 1727. One hundred thousand lan (equivalent to nearly four thousand kilograms of silver) were collected in taxation to fund the monastery’s construction. Amarbayasgalant was completed in 1736 with more than 40 temples, 28 of which are still in existence today. One interesting aspect of engineering of the monastery is its sophisticated water drainage system, which permitted rain water to be evacuated from the roof of the Tsogchin Temple (main temple) through its four main supporting posts and under the floor. Architecture design and decoration of construction was evaluated to be the best in Asia and the monastery is the least destroyed among the other by the communists in 1930’s. Now it is last large functioning monastery in Mongolia.
Uran Togoo extinct volcano
It is situated in Khutag-Undur village of Bulgan province. Its natural formation is the most beautiful and inactive volcano of Mongolia. This volcano has been bursting in Quaternary era and erupted 20000-25000 years ago. It has 1.5 m deep small lake on the bottom.
Dorvod ethnic group
One of the minority groups of Mongolia. The population is 66706. Most of these people live in Uvs Province.
Tsaatan (Reindeer ethnic group)
The Tsaatan people are very unique to Mongolia and are a special group of people to be treasured by all. About 30 families live in the Sayan Mountains north of the Darkhad Valley. They own horses, but base their lives on reindeer. Spending summers in high valleys above the worst of the biting insects, they move into the sheltering taiga forest for the winter. They live all year in cone-shaped tents similar to the tepees used by Indians on the Great Plains of America a century ago. Once made of animal skins, tent coverings are now sewn from white canvas. Shamanism remains strong among Tsaatan people. In this part of the world, reindeers were domesticated before horses, perhaps 3000 to 5000 years ago. Cultures based on reindeer once spread all across northern Asia, but are now limited to a few surviving groups including several in Sayan Mountain region-in Russia, the Todja-Tuvans and the Soyot ; in Mongolia. Theirs is a proud but vanishing culture threatened by changing circumstance and the modern economic pressure. Reindeer can carry heavy loads. Their hides make exceptionally warm coats, boots, and blankets. Their antlers, grown annually by both males and females, are sold for medical purposes. Does produce only about a cup of milk per day, but the milk is rich. It contains 16%-18% butter-fat. In comparison, cow milk has 4%-6%.
Special plants
Special plants such as Adorns sibirica, Yellow Marsh Saxifrage (Saxifrage Hercules) Valeriana, officinalis and Saussurea involucrate in the forest.
Rare birds
Rare birds, Black stork, Osprey and Curlew.
Wild animals
Wild animals such as Euro Asian Otter, Siberian Elk, Red deer, Siberian Ibex, Argali or Wild mountain sheep, Snow leopard, Siberian Roe deer, Wild boar and Musk deer and Wolf, Lynx.
Khoridol Saridag Mountain Range
One of the Mongolian most picturesque places that, is described in that region such as mountain meadow, tundra, taiga, forested steppe and mountainous area and sheer high peaks elevated at more than 2200 m above sea level, which are greatly different in terms of nature, environment, and landscape but located close to each other. This area covers the territory of Ulaan-Uul and Renchinlhumbe villages of Khuvsgul province and occupies 188.634 hectares of land. It was taken under state protection in 1997. Mongolian highest waterfall (70 m) locates in the mountain range. Due to its characteristic, it is the home of many bio-diversity of tundra soil which have become rare and very rare, (S.involucrata, A.altaicum Pall, etc), and wildlife species (argali, ibex, Siberian moose, snowcock, sable etc). A part of argali an ibex population inhabit this area.
Darkhad valley or depression
It is large geological depression, 100 km in length. It is wide open steppe area surrounded by high mountains of Soyon, Red Taiga and the Khoridol Saridag Mountain range. The altitude of the place is 1700 m above sea level. This spot is very rich with surface water. There are about 300 lakes and many rivers and streams in the depression. Many rivers and lakes flow into this river that is one of the originating streams of the Enisei River. In the valley there are many small lakes such as Deed White Lake, Dood White Lake, Targa and Harmai.
Khuvsgul Lake
Khuvsgul is Mongolia’s Great Lake –a cold, clear body of water ringed by forested mountains and reflecting the often clear sky in constantly shifting shades of the blue. Like an island fjord, it stretches long and narrow, from north to south. To Mongolians, it is the Dalai Eej, or “Mother Sea”. Its water is among the purest on Earth, cleaner than the more famous Baikal Lake, into which it drains. The lake is located in the transition zone between the vast northern forest of Siberia and the steppes of Central Asia. On its western shore, the Khoridol Saridag Range forms an imposing, snow capped rampart with many peaks topping 3000 meters in elevation. The eastern shore is a more gentle, rolling landscape of mixed forest and steppe grasslands. It is the deepest and freshest lake in Central Asia with 262 meter in depth, 34-36 km in width and 136 km in length at an altitude of 1645 meters. It contains 1 percent of the world fresh water resource, taking 2nd place in Central Asia, 14th place in the world. The surface area is 2760 square km. It contains 383.3 cubic km of water. In terms of volume, it is 16th largest lake in the world. It holds 70% of Mongolia’s fresh surface water, equivalent to the total flow of all Mongolia’s rivers for 11 years. The water is exceptionally pure. Khuvsgul is considered an ancient lake, formed 7 million years ago. Ninety six tributary streams supply the lake, all of them rising in the adjacent highlands. Its outland is only Eg River, which loops around from the south end of the lake to join Selenge river on its way to Lake Baikal in Siberia. Baikal is larger, older, and deeper-but not as pure. Khuvsgul is higher and colder, rich in oxygen but far less productive. 12 species of fishes including Siberian Grayling and Lenok, Baikal Omul and River Perch are inhabited in this lake. 70% of bottom of the lake is more than 100 m deep.
Khuvsgul National Park
The national park established in 1992, covers 838.000 hectares-entire watershed of Khvsgul Lake. Parklands include all of the lake and its shoreline, the eastern slope of Khoridol Saridag Mountains, and some 150 km of the Sayan Mountains along the boundary between Mongolia and Russia. The highest point in the park, 3491 meter Munkh Saridag, is in the Sayan Range. In 1997, an additional 189.000 hectares of prime mountain wilderness were set aside in the Khoridol Saridag Strictly Protected Area. Established to protect dwindling populations of ibex, argali, musk deer and other wild life. Together the two areas comprises protected zone larger than Yellow –Stone National Park in United States. The park is not an island, nor is it self-contained. Khuvsgul is part of the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion, a vast wild land covering over million square kilometers along the shared borders of Mongolia, Russia, China, Kazakhstan. The region is one the world’s most important reservoirs of biodiversity, providing habitat for sensitive species including argali, snow leopard, great bustard, steppe eagle, demoiselle crane, Altai snow cock and of course all the other thousands of creatures that find refuge in this wild lands. The Mongolian part of ecoregion is as important as any other. Counting rare plant species alone, it accounts for more than 200, many of the endemic. It is a landscape filled with life, including 291 species of birds, and more than 800 species of terrestrial plants. The park’s large animals include ibex, argali musk deer, roe deer, red deer, brown bears, gray wolves, lynx, wolverine, gray wolves and moose. In total, 68 species of mammals have been observed in the park.
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