Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake

Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, the White Lake, sits at two thousand metres in the Khangai mountains and was formed when lava from the Khorgo volcano dammed the valley. The crater itself stands a few kilometres east and can be walked up in half an hour, with the rim looking down into a bowl of loose red scoria. Black lava fields with basalt caves surround the lake on that side. The water is shallow, warm enough to swim in by August and full of pike. Herders bring their animals down to the shore through the summer.