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Lake Khövsgöl (Mongolian: Хөвсгөл нуур, Khövsgöl nuur), also referred to as Khövsgöl dalai (Хөвсгөл далай, Khövsgöl ocean) or Dalai Eej (Далай ээж, ocean mother) is the largest lake in Mongolia by volume, and the second largest by area. Khövsgöl nuur is located in the northwest of Mongolia near the border to Russia, at the foot of the eastern Sayan Mountains. It is 1,645 m above sea level, 136 km long and 262 m deep. It is the second-most voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, and holds almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water and 0.4% of all the fresh water in the world.

The lake is surrounded by several mountain ranges. The highest mountain is the Bürenkhaan / Mönkh Saridag (3,492 m), which has its peak north of the lake exactly on the Russian-Mongolian border. The surface of the lake freezes over completely in winter. The ice cover gets strong enough to carry heavy trucks, so that transport routes were installed on its surface as shortcuts to the normal roads. However, this practice is now forbidden, to prevent pollution of the lake from both oil leaks and trucks breaking through the ice. It is estimated that 30-40 cars have sunk into the lake over the years. The Lake area is a National Park bigger than Yellowstone and strictly protected as a transition zone between Central Asian Steppe and Siberian Taiga.

I would not have originally connected Mongolia with large lakes and forests however there are plenty of them in the North and West of the country. This shot was taken at one of those amazing locations at very early and very chilly morning.

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens’s focal length: 17.00 - 40.00 mm; Photo Focal length: 20.00 mm; Aperture: 22; Exposure time: 25.0 s; ISO: 100

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