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Sue and Gordon’s Lantern Show on Mongolia.
Writing without the benefit of notes from the night I am perusing
the itinerary of the trip and getting an envious taste of the
adventure, wondering what in particular or what combination of tasty
morsels tempted Sue and Gordon on this particular trip:
Altai Tavan Bogd means Five Holy Peaks
The adjective might explain a lot. It is also one of
least accessible mountain ranges on earth. Less
likely explanation of course!
It is the land of Genghis Khan! What a hero!
Mount Khuiten, 4374 m high, is the world’s
remotest peak. Does that sound like Sue and Gordon?
On the summit of Naiarandel, 4082 m, Mongolia,
China and Russia meet.
Gordon and politics?
A week in the Gobi Desert? Does that have a
romantic ring about it? Are they inclined to go for the
romantic? They are, aren’t they? They did!
The Mongols did not collect heads or scalps as trophies and did not
notch wood to record their skills. Must ask Gordon and Sue whether their
expedition is a notch in their "Record of Achievements".
Sue and Gordon went in July 2004 for three weeks. The trek took them
over terrain which the ‘Freelander’ might not have cherished, taking tea
en route with nomadic herders in ‘gers’, tents which might teach
us something about camping.
On day six they changed from 4-wheel drives to camels to reach
basecamp at 2900m, beside the Potaniin Glacier. The ‘acclimatisation’
hike on Malchin, 4037 was a long day in bad weather, which was
setting a bit of a trend. There followed another acclimatisation hike
which provided views of the objectives of the next few days. Then they
were due to move to high camp at 3600 m.
They duly set out, struggled through snow and high winds, carrying
their own loads, only to find that it was impossible to pitch tents.
The ‘big one’ Khuiten, the most remote peak on earth took two
attempts. The first again distinguished itself by foul weather and, by
the sounds of it, the numerous crevasses which slowed them up on what
was a long day anyway. Testing! Sue’s comment: "Irritating".
With high camp now abandoned and after a rest day the supposed dawn
start for the second attempt, now from base camp was moved forward to 10
pm the previous night. Better weather allowed them to "not fall into
crevasses every few steps". Talk about being grateful for small mercies!
Each time they had to negociate the Potallin Glacier. They reached the
summit of this desirable peak and ultimately their objective, albeit at
the price of having to sacrifice the last hill Naairandal, 4082m
on whose summit Mongolia, China and Russia meet. (Pity, sounds quite
romantic. I can’t help wondering about the quality of border control!.)
There followed the return to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of
Mongolia. What a fabulous name, the spelling and sensation as it rolls
off the tongue! I wonder what it means? For Sue and Gordon it meant
Mongolian Christmas and Hogmanay rolled into one in the shape of the
main national holiday. With the hard part of the trip accomplished,they
enjoyed all the cultural offerings with characteristic hunger for new
and foreign things. Sue even aquired a new dimension of "health and
safety" perceptions by negociating structures which would be instantly
condemned in Western society.
Thre followed a private initiative, the Gobi Desert, maybe the
icing on the cake. It included four big mountains in a week!
The trip was obviously an outstanding achievement, effort and
experience. I sense that they both felt that the weather had a seriously
detrimental effect. That might fade with time and leave them with a well
deserved glow about the expedition. They didn’t say anything about
mosquitoes. Maybe they were all in Kamchatka!
All this before I even comment on Gordon’s inspirational delivery of
the talk and John MeLean’s inimitable vote of thanks. Thanks to all.
Ingrid
At a much later date
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