Orkhon Valley - The Cradle of Nomadic Mongolia

On visiting Mongolia, if you want to explore the raw nomadic culture, then Orkhan Valley is the ideal place to be. The area of this valley extends up to 121,967 hectors approximately and situated in the central-Mongolia. The valley includes the Kharkhorum, which was the capital of Genghis khan’s empire in the 13th and 14th century. The place screams nomadic culture and tradition of the Mongols and you will enjoy reading about them as far as the information goes.

How to Reach Orkhon?

Most of the time the Mongolia tour package includes the travel cost for famous attractions. However, if you are a solo traveler and want to know some of the travel ways to Orkhon Valley, it is quite simple. You just have to be careful from being overcharged by the people. There are no trains found to the Orkhon valley, you will find a bus going twice to the route daily and it takes around 3-5 hours to reach Kharhorin/Khujirt/Bad Ulzii. The journey doesn’t end here, you will have to take the vehicle to reach the waterfall. You can take the 4x4, which is expensive. Alternatively, you can try the bus as the price will be quite affordable and you will reach within $12 - $20.

Explore the Beauty of the Place

The place is a dream come true with slender Orkhon River flowing peacefully, however, it is barely noticeable due to the flush leveled with the plains. You will literally feel your lungs sucking in the pure and fresh air around the waterfall; the valley looks unreal with green splash mixed with beige and maroon spread across the landscape. In middle all these scenic beauties, you will find small white is spread across the valley in distinct places, which the nomads call home.

Important Synthesis about the Place

The valley is archeologically rich because nomadic Mongolia are the successors of the prehistoric culture and they stay in complete harmony with the Orkhon valley and the landscape. They follow the policies that connect the social, religious, and economic policies that are unique to the region. This place served as one of the major crossroads for the emerging civilization of the country by bridging the gap between the east and the west.

Emerging Culture in the Orkhon Valley

Although the place is known to be the cradle for Nomadic culture in Mongolia, you will be surprised to know some of the things about their culture. It is beautiful how they have maintained the cultural rhythm from the last few centuries. Here are a few things you would enjoy reading about them.

The cultural bond of Mongolians in this valley demonstrated a great example of consistency and persistence, which ultimately led to developing trade routes and large administrations. They picked up a lot of their dedication and work ways from the east and the west and came up with unshakable human values.

The Mongols of the valley are also very dedicated to being the nomadic pastoralist, and it reflects from last two millenniums, their culture is still very much central to their lived in the Mongolian society and the individual is respected among all the others.

The best part about this valley is that it signifies some of the important stages of human history and how that rose to the present state.

• Centuries ago, this valley was the center of the Mongolian Empire
• The civilization in this area does signify the Mongolian variation of the Turkish power of the early time.
• The religious development came from the Tuvkhun hermitage monastery and the Erdene Zuu monastery. They largely follow the Mongolian form of Buddhism.
• The fourth reflection comes from the Khar Balgas that signifies the Uighur urban culture.

Orkhon Culture Maintains Authenticity

The people of the Orkhon Valley really maintain their authenticity when it comes to culture and landscape. They have continued to follow the Mongolian traditions and the nomadic pastoralism. Maintaining authenticity remains their top priority and it is the responsibility of individuals. Since a few years, the land is going through some strict protection and management routine. Here are some of the protection and management efforts made in the last few years.

The Protection and Management Efforts

In order to maintain the cultural landscape, the central-local authorities have been promoting the importance of sustaining pastoralism.

Based on the Constitution of Mongolia in 1992, every Mongolian citizen has the right to live in a safe environment. However, natural sustenance and resources can be subjected to government ownership.

Under the Law on Special Protected Areas in 1994, the constitution declared the Khangai Mountains a state special protection area, including the upper part of the Orkhan valley.

The places under constitutional protection have great importance and deserve extra attention from the people of Mongolia.

The Orkhon Valley is the example of Mongolian people still following the traditional way of life; the Mongolian nomads follow the herding and another traditional way of earning a livelihood. The families stay intact and you will often find goats, yaks, herds of sheep, and other animals moving around in the protected area. Once you visit the Orkhon Valley, you will love the brilliant landscape, beautiful waterfall, traditional gers, and interesting transportation way at the back of a Mongolian horse.