I made my first trip into the Khentii Mountains in 1997. While we were riding up the east bank of the Kherlen Gol Zevgee pointed out to our left the summit of 7534-foot Erdene Uul. On the ridgeline just south of the summit could be seen a protuberance of rock that Zevgee said was known as Chingis Khan’s Hitching Post. According to local legend Chingis and the rest of his army tied their horses to this stone hitching post. “What was a whole army doing near the summit of a 7,534-foot mountain?” I wondered. “No, no,” Zevgee had replied, “Only Chingis Khan tied his horse to the Hitching Post. Look other there,” he went on, pointing to a mountain on the other side of the valley six or seven miles away. “That mountain is called Dash Norov. On the ridge to the left you can see another rock that was used as a hitching post.” Indeed, there was a small bump on the ridge. “Chingis Khan’s armies stretched a rope between the rock on Erdene Uul and the rock on Dash Norov and to this rope they tethered their horses.” I burst out laughing. I had thought he had been referring to actual hitching posts, but obviously this is just a phantasmagorical legend. But when my translator explained why I was laughing Zevgee replied enigmatically, “Who knows? Maybe things were different in those days.”
Passing by Erdene Uul that first time I had asked Zevgee if it was possible to ride horses up to Chingis Khan‘s Hitching Post. He had been there himself, he said, the trail was difficult but doable. I filed this information away for the future. When l later learned that the authors of the Chinggis Khan Atlas had posited that Erdene Uul was the Burkhan Khaldun of Uriangkhai and that it was on this mountain that Temüjin, the future Chingis Khan, had escaped from the Merkids who had kidnapped his wife I decided to return and ascend the mountain myself.
Passing by Erdene Uul that first time I had asked Zevgee if it was possible to ride horses up to Chingis Khan‘s Hitching Post. He had been there himself, he said, the trail was difficult but doable. I filed this information away for the future. When l later learned that the authors of the Chinggis Khan Atlas had posited that Erdene Uul was the Burkhan Khaldun of Uriangkhai and that it was on this mountain that Temüjin, the future Chingis Khan, had escaped from the Merkids who had kidnapped his wife I decided to return and ascend the mountain myself.
I showed up at Zevgee’s ger at the confluence of the Kherlen Gol and the Terelj Gol, ten miles northeast of the village of Möngönmort, unannounced. With me was Delgermaa, a woman in her early twenties whom I had enlisted as translator and factotum. I figured the ascent of Erdene Uul, which was only fourteen miles north of Zevgee’s ger, should take no more than three days. By that time Zevgee had turned over the handling of his sheep, cow, and horse herds to his sons, and I was hoping that he would have free time to do the trip. We retired to Zevgee’s ger where I offered his wife Tumen-Ölzii a kilo of hard candies and a large watermelon I had brought along from Ulaanbaatar. As we refreshed ourselves with milk tea, homemade cheese (byaslag ), and fried bread (boortsog) I explained to Zevgee that I wanted to make a horse trip to Chingis Khan’s Hitching Post on Erdene Uul, which he had pointed out to me on our first trip together. He laughed and said, “I knew you would come back someday to visit that mountain . . .” Continued.
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| Erdene Uul |
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| Chingis Khan’s Hitching Post |
