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| Heading south from Sukhbaaar. |
I took the morning train from Sukhbaatar to Darkhan. I had initially thought about stopping in Orkhon and visiting Anak Ranch—a relatively unusual ger ranch where you pay $50 per day and can do as much horseback riding or other stuff as you want—but I hadn't been able to get a response from them in time to arrange a pickup at Orkhon station. In all honesty, I'm kind of scared of horses. They look so imposing and powerful, and don't communicate a lot of personality to me. I'm also not a big fan of the way horses smell.
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| Next to the Orkhon river. |
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| Pulling into a station. |
Anyway, with Orkhon out of the picture, I decided to go to Darkhan, and then try to go to Amarbayasgalant Khiid. I talked with some kids who were on the train from Sukhbaatar to somewhere about halfway to Darkhan, then enjoyed the rest of the pleasant ride.
I arrived in Darkhan and set out to walk to the bus station, which was supposed to be a few km south from the station, in the new town. Although Lonely Planet gives hugely complicated and unnecessarily complex directions for getting to Amarbayasgalant Khiid, I had figured out a much simpler way: simply take a bus or share car headed to Erdenet, and ask to be let off at the turnoff to Amarbayasagalant. This works whether you're coming from UB or from Darkhan, and is much simpler than the stupid direction in LP.
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| A Mongolia Grill in Mongolia. The Old Town of Darkhan, along the road to the New Town, to be exact. I wonder what Mongolians think of it. |
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| Seated Buddha in hill-top park separating Old and New Darkhan. |
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| Looking back at Old Darkhan. |
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| Stupas in the grass. |
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| On the other side of the hill, across the road, is this monument to a traditional instrument. |
