Mongolia's Natural Wonders (by Jay King)

Mongolia is a landlocked country, a vast emptiness that links land and sky. It is located between China and Russia and holds some great natural sights.

Lake Khuvsgul is the largest fresh water lake in Mongolia by volume, and second largest by area. It is located in the northwest of Mongolia near the Russian border, at the foot of the eastern Sayan Mountains.

The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia. In the past, it used to serve as the border between China (Mongolia) and Russia.

Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve has a great diversity of ecosystems even though it has a comparatively small area. The harmonized complex of high mountains, steppes, rivers, lakes and wetlands are well-kept in its original condition.

Flaming Cliffs is very spectacular natural distination and meaning of “Bayan zag” is “Rich sexual”. It was bottom of ancient sea which formed 60-70 millions years ago where a lot of Paleontological findings have been discovered. The place is known as Flamming cliffs so named by Roy Andrew Chapman who is American explorer, who had visited Mongolia in 1920.

Gurvan Saikhan National Park. It is situated west of the city of Dalanzadgad and largest of National Park which extends 380 km from east to west and about 80 km north to south. Surrounded by steppes, mountains rise to 2200-2600 meters and areas covered by sand. Around fifty-two species of mammals are found here, while the mountains provide suitable habitat for threatened and endangered animals such as Argali (wild sheep), Siberian ibex and snow leopard. Meaning of called as “Gobi Gurvan Saikhan” is “Gobi three beauty”.

The Gobi Desert is a large desert region in Asia that covers southern Mongolia. It is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.

Yolyn Valley is a deep and narrow gorge in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains of southern Mongolia. The valley Yolyn Am is notable for a deep ice field. The ice field reaches several meters thick by the end of winter and is several kilometers long.

Orkhon Valley This is Cultural Landscape sprawls along the banks of the Orkhon River in Central Mongolia, some 320 km west from the capital Ulaanbaatar. It was inscribed by UNESCO in the World Heritage List as representing evolution of nomadic pastoral traditions spanning more than two millennia.

Otgontenger is the highest peak in the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia. Its summit is currently calculated to reach an elevation of 4,008 meters above mean sea level (some earlier topographic maps record a maximum elevation of 4,021 m). The mountain is located in Zavkhan Province and is the only peak in the Khangai range that is capped with a permanent glacier. The south face of Mount Otgontenger is the most extensive granite wall in Mongolia.