Not much news from the team today as they were on the move the entire day!

After the five day horse trek the team are now making their way back to Ulaanbaatar.  Tomorrow another long day lies ahead as they will travel to Dalanzagad in the Gobi Desert and prepare the trek to the Yol Valley.

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FACTS

When you think of Mongolia, you might thnk of steppe, desert and horses but also a famous man might cross your mind: Genghis Khan – the founder of the Mongolian empire who united the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and then started the famous Mongol invasion that devastated most of Eurasia.

Genghis Khan established the largest ever existing empire, extending from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Japan, with over 700 tribes and cities under his rule. In just 25 years, the Mongols conquered more lands and people than the Romans in over 400 years. After defeating a country, Genghis Khan ensured the availability of food and security for its people and established viable governments, often with local officials left in charge. He also allowed prevailing religious observances to continue without persecution.

Besides being a brilliant military strategist, Genghis Khan has been credited with such social advances as the introduction of paper money, the postal system, and religious tolerance. He started taxing the elite but never taxed doctors, teachers, engineers and craftsmen.

Did you know that even Genghis Khan cared about the environment? Environmental protection has a long tradition in Mongolia Already Dschinggis Khan released a very strict law to protect the surface waters.

Blog written by Annika and Inge

Although the weather was a bit dreary this morning our spirits were dampened. We had a breakfast of hot chocolate and a Mongolian chocolate spread☺ with bread around a warming campfire.

After gathering the horses from the field, we packed up and headed back to our initial camp since we would be leaving the following day at lunch, and we were told that it is 27km away (we realised later that these were “Mongolian” kilometres and it was in actual fact only 14km away).

The ride itself was rather remarkable since we had a few interesting incidents – Lucas fell off his horse (yet again) and blamed it on the saddle, Mike also fell off twice (though he had an ex-racing horse that took off at every opportunity presented). We stopped for a break at the second campsite to let the horses drink and rest, while we too had a bit of a rest, though some of us did not! Dmitri attempted to push Martìn into the water, after which Constantin succeeded in tackling Dmitry and soaking him from head to toe. Moose and Mike had a stone-skipping competition and then we were off.

After riding through some more beautiful natural scenery, and some crazy galloping and unintentional horse racing, we finally arrived at our camp. By this time we were all ravenous so we had a bit of awesome trail mix, set up camp, made a lovely lunch of Trek ‘n Eat and had a soothing cup of tea.

It was only 2 o’clock but we were all exhausted from our many adventures and late night campfire sessions, we all lay around listening to Mike’s thrilling stories of his adventures around the world. We were so amped up after hearing about his narrow escapes from the drug lords in Columbia, to the war lords in the Congo, that we just felt we had to do something, so we saddled up our horses and went for a bit of an expedition ourselves through the forest.

One of our horse wranglers had to lead an injured horse into the water to sooth a leg wound, and to all of our surprise (and trepidation) he stripped completely and led the horse in.

Since we were close to the Toilogt (not TOILET, ToiloGt) camp where Akira was staying, we fetched her so that she could spend our last evening at Lake Hovsgul with us.

We will all be sad to leave this breathtaking place of unspoilt natural splendour, but we still have the fascinating Gobi experience ahead of us and we are all looking forward to it. Also, we will be very glad to have a chance to shower again since the OTHER Young Explorers are starting to smell ☺ – but you know what they say: “ Young Explorers never die, they just smell that way”.

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The expedition team is experiencing the pristine nature of Lake Hovsgol, the larch forests, the lake sides, the grassland. However the beauty of this unspoilt nature is under increasing threat.
The larch forests and steppe grasslands around Lake Hovsgol are under two strong ecological pressures: firstly the increase in overgrazing as local culture changes from a nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle and secondly the increase in mean temperature and the length of the growing season, which are driven by the climate change trends. The growing season now begins almost one month earlier than a decade ago, and there has been an increase in the total ecosystem water loss with no significant increase in precipitation over the last 43 years. Grazing has reduced overall plant biomass and the representation of grasses and plant litter in the steppe, and this has affected the system's tolerance to rising temperatures.
 

Another great day was had in th Horidal Daridal Montains. The Yeps are now becoming experienced horse riders as they become more relaxed and comfortable with their horses. They are covering great ground and are experiencing the magificent scenery that this area has too offer.

Dr Roswitha Stolz from the Univerity of Munich is undertaking rock and soil sampling tests with the YEPs and giving them a good understanding of the geography and evolution of this particular landscape.

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In their soil studies at Lake Hovsgol the YEPs  gathered some information on /investigated soil moisture, pH values, soil texture, salinity and soil density.
All these factors have a huge impact on the vegetation around the Lake.

The soil the Young Explorers tested was the thawed upper layer of permafrost. In summer only the upper 25 meters of permafrost soil change their temperature, the rest remains below 0°C. However over the last years scientists worldwide made warrisome discoveries on the thawing of permafrost! This points to huge environmental problems we will be facing soon: local problems are coastal erosion and damage to the roads, buildings and pipelines that have been built on permafrost. Moreover permafrost soils are thought to store twice as much carbon as is currently present in the atmosphere.  A lot of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane will be released into the atmosphere if the soil thaws, triggering further warming and more permafrost thawing.

Permafrost degradation can substantially change the surface hydrology in many ways. Within the area with ice-rich permafrost and poor drainage conditions permafrost degradation will lead to significant ground surface subsidence and pounding ("wet thermokarst"). The ground will become over-saturated, which could cause trees to die. This process will further improve the drainage conditions and lead to a decrease in the ground water content.
 

Mongolian larks are tall, have light green needles and thousands of them can be found around lake Huvsgul. To me they all looked the same. Therefore orientation in these woods isn’t a child’s play, even our male YEPs had their problems.

But where the Young Explorers are at their wits' end, Mike Horn’s knowledge only starts. He taught us how to orientate by the position of the sun, why right handlers and left handlers should alternate being group leaders and why the easier way isn’t the better one – in the lark forest and in life.

We don’t sit on our horses like Mongolians yet, but we are sitting among them at the campfire, drinking tea with yak milk. Their faces are rugged and their simple nomadic clothing stinks from the smoke of fire and cigarettes. The laughing mouth is half toothless and the foreign words sound friendly.

With cold fingers I note the Mongolian words I learn:

Tschinij ner hen be?     –    What’s your name?
Maschsän mör!              –   The horse is excellent.
Unotr Narte dorte ben!   –   Today is a sunny day!

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FACTS

Permafrost is found in 52% of Mongolian land territory. Permafrost implies that layers of soil, sediment or rock below the surface remain frozen for a period longer than a year. In some areas permafrost can be up to 1500m deep. In Mongolia continuous permafrost is only found around Lake Hovsgol and in the high areas of the Mongolian Altai. Lake Hovsgol ist the most southern fringe of low land permafrost in the world. In the mountains west of Lake Hovsgol permafrost reaches a thickness up to 500m. In summer only the upper soil layers melt. When it rains the water can’t drain and mud patches grow.

The thickness of Mongolian permafrost has dropped by 1 to 2 meters in average over the last seven years due to global warming. The annual average temperature in Mongolia rose 1.82 °C from 1940 to 2004.

While writing this, we are sitting on a fallen trunk by Lake Huvsgail after 2 amazing days of adventure. After a 6am wake up on Monday morning, we prepared our equipment and luggage for a 10am flight from Ulaanbaatar to Moren which is located in the far north of Mongolia. We landed at around midday and began the 6 hour journey to our destination of Lake Huvsgail. Despite it taking 6 hours, it was only in fact 175km away but due to the bumpy, rough roads and interesting traffic network it took us a lot longer! This was something that none of us had ever experienced before.

During the journey through the Mongolian steppe, we saw Kashmir goats, yaks, eagles, horses, nomadic villages and traditional shrines. We were most impressed by all the culture as none of us had seen something like this before – these people live extremely different lives to our own and don`t require the luxuries that we too often take for granted. We also visited a saline lake and undertook numerous experiments with Roswitha, testing water salinity, pH, conductivity and learnt a lot about Mongolia`s environments.

Our arrival at the lake was sudden; after travelling through steppe with little vegetation, we came over a couple of mountains and in to a valley covered in dense forest surrounded by snow capped mountains. This forest is the most southern part of the Siberian Taiga and is largely covered in permafrost. The lake is amazing – never have we seen such clear water in a natural environment on such a large scale. The water is so clear that last night Martin, on an attempt to brush his teeth, walked in to the water without even noticing and spent the rest of the night drying his shoes and socks at the fire.

Upon our arrival, we were allocated our horses and rode a short 3km to our first campsite. It was sunset by this point so the lake and its surroundings were beautiful. After setting up our camp and cooking our `trek n eat` dinner we sat around the fire chatting and telling stories. After a chilly night, we packed up our gear and loaded the pack horses. We, Martin and Constantin, were lucky enough to be stolen by Dimitry from taking some sunrise photos to diving into the icy cold water – what Dimitry refers to as a `Russian tradition`. Unfortunately Akira couldn`t join us on our horse trek and had to return to the initial camp due to her broken toe.

Us boys were given maps and a GPS and were in charge of formulating the route and the activities for the day. We began by discussing with the Mongolian horse wranglers and decided that we would ride approximately 15km to our second camp. After a good few hours on the horses, we all began to realize what may lay ahead with our sore backsides! However, the scenery and environment was enough to distract us and motivate us to continue and enjoy what was an amazing experience. After arriving and setting up camp, we all took a break and went out for a swim in the cold lake.  

After we had some lunch, Mike took us on a trek in to the forest to summit a nearby peak. This gave us a chance to hear some of Mike`s lessons of survival and orientation in forests and jungles. He also taught us how to use the elements, such as the sun, wind, sand, snow and stars to navigate in extreme places around the world without instruments. After what we thought was a pretty tough trek, we arrived at the top to realize that Mike had done the whole trek in plastic sandals! After an amazing first couple of days, we are all eagerly awaiting what lies ahead!

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Read yesterdays blog writen by Tirza and Constantin….

FACTS

Mongolia is half the size of India, 38 times the size of Switzerland and 2290 times the size of Singapore! Annually Mongolia receives around 200mm of precipitation! Such a large country with so little water!

84% of the total water resources of Mongolia is stored in lakes and many of the 3060 lakes are salt lakes, like Lake Uvs, the largest Mongolian lake.

Mongolia's largest lake by volume is Lake Huvgul and it is the next stop for the Young EXplorers. It lies in the north of Mongolia close to the Russian border. The lake holds almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water, which is 0.4% of the worlds' fresh water resources. Lake Huvsgul is one of the oldest lakes on our planet (estimated 2 to 5 million years old). Due to its size the water is very cold and remains ice-covered until well into June. This pristine lake, sometimes called the 'Blue Pearl’, remains untouched from industry and contains some of the purest water in the world.

After a very long trip, all eight Young Explorers arrived safely in Ulaanbaatar this morning. They finally got to meet the man and motor behind the Pangaea Expedition – Mike Horn.

Blog by Tirza and Constantin

After a long flight we arrived at the international airport of Dschinghis-Khan in Ulaanbaatar in the morning at 6 o’clock. We all felt a little jet-lagged, but after an interesting drive to our hotel we forgot about that. We could already get a first glimpse of the mountains and the yurts, typical Mongolian huts of the nomads. The potholes on the way indicate that Mongolia is still a developing country in many respects. 
 
Arriving at the hotel we met the rest of the expedition team, including the man who made this project possible, our expedition leader Mike Horn. We were excited to explore the city. Joe, our Mongolian guide, showed us the impressive sights: poor neighbourhoods, the administrative district but also the crowded and busy market. We saw everything! The market was a special experience we for sure will remember. Everything was really hectic and narrow. Some people looked a little seedy therefore we tried to keep an eye on our valuables. Unfortunately it wasn't long before some reading glasses went missing. We decided to leave the market but only after trying some traditional headgear. 

Back at the hotel Mike and Martin did a briefing about the first part of the expedition to the Lake Hovsgol. Later Roswitha, our scientific leader from the University of Munich, introduced us to the geography, flora and fauna of Mongolia. She also explained how to use the measuring instruments in the upcoming surveys on water and soil conditions. 

After a late dinner we had to pack only the necessities for the next days as we will leave the remaining equipment in the hotel. We‘ re already curious what’s expecting us at Lake Hovsgol!

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The first stop of the YEP Mongolia Expedition: The “red hero”, the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. It is the coldest national capital of the world with an annual average temperature of -2°C, due to its high elevation, the continental location hundreds of kilometres from any coast and the effects of the Siberian anticyclone.

It is the only city in Mongolia with an international airport and the center for trade, economics but also culture. Roughly 1 million people live in Ulaanbaatar, 39% of the country’s population.

With only 1.9 people per square kilometre, Mongolia has the lowest population density of any independent country. Vast and majestic emptiness and beautiful nature are waiting for the Young Explorers.

Have a guess: How many times would Switzerland or Singapore fit into Mongolia?

Eight Young Explorers said 'Goodbye' to their families today and are now en route for Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, where they will meet up with Mike Horn and his team.

Tomorrow they will begin a journey of a lifetime, discovering the beauty of Mongolia, understanding its people and the complex ecosystem of the Mongolian Gobi Desert.

Stay tuned for the daily blogs and photos that will be sent to us by our enthusiastic group of Young Explorers….

FACTS ABOUT THE EXPEDITIONThe expedition will be located in the North East in the region of Lake Huvsgul and the west of Dalandzadgad in the southern Mongolia. This is a semi-desert steppe with a variety of specialized plants and animals, interesting geological and geomorphological features. But it is also used for grazing goats and camels.The Gurvansaikhan National Park is one of the destinations of the expedition. This unique landscape is not only a playground for great exploring activities, but is also a good place to learn about the environment and to address the specific environmental problems of the area.The main focus of the “learning part” of the expedition will be on geomorphology, vegetation and soil. To define the current situation of vegetation cover, water bodies and geomorphological features (dunes and valleys) multispectral high resolution SPOT satellite images will be analyzed.

MEET THE YOUNG EXPLORERS

From left to right: Lucas Lovell 18 yrs, AU, Constantin Vogt, 19 yrs, DE, Magdalena Gründl, 18 yrs, DE, Tirza Niklaus, 18 yrs, CH, Nicolette Meyer, 17 yrs, SG, Martin Añon, 20 yrs, AR, Akira Biondo, 19 yrs, CH, Inge Pieterson, 20 yrs, ZA

Come on guys, we need more people at the fences! Everybody is watching the speeding racers on the track – where are you?

The “International Student Formula 1” is an international design competition sponsored by engineering and automotive companies to build specialists for tomorrow. Students from universities worldwide construct their own racing vehicles and participate in the dynamic competition here in Hockenheim, Germany.

For first time 18 teams tackled the challenge of building an electric vehicle. Surprisingly the quiet electric cars from the universities easily broke the speed records of the older rattling combusted vehicles.

But what did the young explorers do there? They spread the message of Pangaea by talking to participants about future mobility. The fast and furious AMG SLS and the economic B-Class F-Cell were exhibited and showed examples for progress in battery and fuel cell technology. We informed the students about the Mercedes B-class, offered them test drives and informed them about Pangaea and our experiences in India and Malaysia. It was really interesting to discuss our ideas with the motivated students!

Over 2000 participants from Germany, Britain, the US, Russia, Egypt, India and Iran showed their skills and enthusiasm of engineering. Electricians, mechanics, managers and designers, about 30 students in all per team, designed, constructed and presented their unique car.

During the four days in Hockenheim the participants pushed themselves and their machines to the upmost limits. Of course the feeling of winning is a great triumph. Crossing the goal line is the step to their career and it is our ticket to a sustainable mobility for the future.

Hopefully we can convince other motor sport fans to also save their ears as well as our environment!

 Lucas Lovall's interview on Today Tonight.

It was 11am when nine Young Explorers met at the giant clock at Zürich Main Train Station. Each YEP had travelled far to be there, the Swiss came from Lörrach, Chateau D´Oex, Termen and Basel and the German YEP's came from as far as Darmstadt, Stuttgart and Freiburg!

After meeting up, we organized ourselves into groups and went out into the city to spread the Pangaea message, distribute flyers about the Young Explorers Program and raise awareness about the Pangaea Shark Project.

Our main objective for this particular YEP meeting was to raise awareness about the 100 million sharks that are killed every year worldwide. We informed the local population about the unnecessary slaughter of sharks, the majority brutally killed for their fins only, and told them facts about these important yet fragile predators that inhabit two thirds of our planet. We had no idea what to expect, but when we approached random passers-by we got into some very interesting discussions and met with a wide range of nationalities, such as people from the USA, Israel and even Chile!

YEP meeting participant Rebecca Berker reports, "A lot of people still see Sharks as 'dangerous and unfriendly' and as 'useless man-eating predators'. Sadly the general public is still widely influenced by horror movies and media that thrive in keeping the myths alive and spreading wrong information. By telling people the real truth about sharks, Pangaea can contribute to reducing the consumer demand for shark meat, especially that of the shark fin, used in the traditional Chinese dish of Shark Fin Soup. As long as people believe that sharks are dangerous predators, we won’t be able to save them. Considering the crucial role that they play in the balance and health of the marine ecosystems, and the fact that less than 15 people die as a result of a shark bite every year worldwide, the meaningless and wasteful slaughter of millions of sharks makes no sense."

Overall it was a successful meeting with the YEPs and a lot of fun and interesting new acquaintances were made.

Stay tuned and join us – Save the sharks!!

www.mikehorn.com and www.pangaea4sharks.com