MONGOLIA KAYAK SAFARI FINDING WHITEWATER IN A LAND OF DREAMS
MANY RESPOND TO THE WORD MONGOLIA WITH A QUIZZICAL NOD, A PAUSE, AND THEN, "MONGOLIA, WHERE IS THAT AGAIN?" MORE ERUDITE GEOGRAPHERS WILL IMMEDIATELY CONJURE AN EXOTIC LAND OF HIGH STEPPES. HISTORIANS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY THINK OF GHENGIS KHAN'S EXTENSIVE AND INFLUENTIAL EMPIRE. ETHNOGRAPHERS WILL TELL YOU OF ITS NOMADIC CULTURE, ITS HORSEMEN AND SHAMANS AND DOMESTICATED EAGLES THAT HUNT FOXES. MOST PADDLERS, IF THEY'VE BOTHERED TO INVESTIGATE, AND MOST HAVEN'T, WILL DISCARD THE CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRY AS COLD, FLAT, AND DRY—HARDLY A WHITEWATER HAVEN. THE FACT IS, ALL OF THIS CAN DESCRIBE MONGOLIA, BUT THERE IS MORE. WHERE DESERTS MEET LAKES, MOUNTAINS MEET PRAIRIES, AND RIVERS MERGE IT ALL TOGETHER, YOU'RE SURE TO FIND SOMETHING UNEXPECTED.
WORDS: TYLER WILLIAMS - PHOTOGRAPHY: SUSAN HAMILTON, TYLER WILLIAMS
MONGOLIA IS AN OLD SCHOOL PLACE, STILL TRAVERSED LARGELY BY HORSEBACK, STILL HONORING A TIME WHEN GHENGIS KHAN AND HIS DESCENDANTS RULED FROM GERMANY TO THE CHINA SEA. The countryside was green following recent rains, but both vans still trailed curls of dust as they tore along at 80 kilometers per hour. Each driver chose his own road, choosing from the six different dirt tracks that ran parallel down the valley. Two hours passed before we saw our first building, a roadside cafe located at a junction. The place was destitute.
An empty vodka bottle sat upright in the dirt out front. A cardboard doormat led us inside. Pat and I and our three Mongolian friends took a seat at a table with a sticky and torn tablecloth. Forty minutes…
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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2016
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