16/01/2016
Khyargas Nuur National Park, based on a salt lake amid desert and scrub grass, provides an attractive summer home for birds but sees little tourist traffic.
On the northwestern side of Khyargas Nuur, there is a cold spring that dribbles out of the mountain – locals say drinking from it has health benefits. Five kilometres further on is Khar Temis, an old Soviet holiday camp that is falling into disrepair, but popular with holidaying Mongolians. It has a number of spartan four-bed rooms, half of which have balconies facing the lake. The sandy beach by the main road here is a surreal sight, given that it's about 2000km from the nearest coastline.
The main attraction of the lake is over the other side, though. Khetsuu Khad is an enormous rock sticking out of the water that attracts migratory cormorant birds. The birds arrive in April and hatch their young in large nests built on the rock. When the chicks hatch, their squawking is constant and deafening. The aura created by the white cliffs, shrill birds and the prevailing smell of guano makes you feel as if you’ve arrived at the ocean. By mid-September the cormorants are off, migrating back to their wintering grounds in southern China.
