Karakorum


 * For other destinations with the name "Karakorum", see Karakoram.

Kharahhorin (also spelled Karakorin, Karakorum, and Kharkhorin) is a city in Central Mongolia, about 300 km west of Ulaanbaatar as the crow flies. Locals call it Har Horin or Harhorin. Karakorum and its surroundings have been the location of many imperial capitals throughout history, including that of the Uighur Khaganate (9th century), the Mongol Empire (13th century) when Marco Polo visited, and later on, the Northern Yuan. Karakorum is the closest city to the site of the imperial capital of the Mongol Empire.

Understand
While the Mongols were primarily nomadic peoples who didn't establish permanent settlements, Karakorum eventually became the site of the imperial ordu (literally a "collection of traveling tents" but later used by Mongolic and Turkic peoples to refer to settlements) where the main Khan held courts and received tributes. Since the vast majority of the "buildings" that made up the imperial ordu were felt or animal skin tents that could easily be moved, there aren't many physical remnants of buildings.

The region around Karakorum was the site of capital "cities" for numerous nomadic polities, including the Göktürks, the Uighur Khaghanate, and the Xiongnu, before becoming the site for the Mongol capital. William of Rubruck, a Flemish missionary, visited the site in 1254 and left accounts of the city and of the Khan, which are the best extant primary sources describing what the city was like. By the time the Mongol Empire was partitioned into four quadrants (the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate, the Chagatai Khaganate, and the Empire of the Great Khan/Yuan Dynasty China), Kublai was the Khan who ruled over Karakorum, but after the defeat of Song China the capital was moved to Shangdu (the Xanadu of Marco Polo's travels) in China proper and Karakorum became nothing more than a simple provincial administrative center before fading into myth and obscurity. Karakorum was later decisively destroyed by Xu Da, a Ming-era general who took control of the town and destroyed it purely out of spite.

Karakorum, being the seat of Mongol political power during the height of the empire, was most likely the site where Tibetan Buddhism was introduced to Mongolia proper. The Erdene Zuu Monastery in/near Karakorum is the oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, and was built by reusing stones from the ancient site of Karakorum.

By bus
Microbus from the Dragon Bus station in Ulaanbaatar. The Dragon Bus station is on the west side of UB, along Peace ave. Check the bus schedule inside. Outside will be small Korean minivans; usually, there is a sign in the front window. Look for KharKhorin or Harhorin. It is about a 6-hour drive with one stop for lunch and bathroom breaks.

There are also tour companies that ply the route from Ulaanbaatar to Karakorum. Karakorum can easily be visited on a 2- or 3-day trip from Ulaanbaatar (depending on if one wants to stop and visit the many national parks between the cities) as part of a guided tour.

See






Do

 * Anyone who's interested in steppe history and/or the history of the Turkic peoples should visit Khar Balgas to the northwest of the city. Here was the ancient capital of the Uighur Khaganate, and across the river a short distance are the Orkhon inscriptions, which contain the earliest recorded Turkic writing.

Eat
During the summer, there are several restaurants in the shopping area. The white hotel between Erdene Zuu Monastery and the shopping area, on the North side of the canal serves meals.

Several small cafes were open during the day near the container shopping area 1.5km west of the Erdene Zuu monastery.

Sleep
There are several Hotels, guest houses and ger camps.

Go next
Get a shared car or jeep, or minivan to Ulaanbaatar, Hujirt, or Tsetserleg from the east side of the Container marketplace in the middle of town.