Bayar and Gerel, two recent university graduates, meet on a bench beneath the Sukhbaatar monument in central Ulaanbaatar and spend several hours discussing an upcoming opera, their studies, a request for a cigarette, and the uneasy tension in their friendship.
The expedition team—professor Bat, geologist Erdene, Bayar, Russian geologist Nikolay Vladimirovich Panov, collector Tomor, and driver Ider—meets in a tavern to plan a remote field survey 200‑250 km from Ulaanbaatar, decides to travel on horseback, and schedules departure for 5 a.m. the next morning, while Bat delivers a lengthy historical monologue.
The expedition departs at dawn in a Zis‑150 truck, with Ider driving and Erdene as co‑pilot. Inside the vehicle are Professor Bat, engineer‑geologist Bayar, collector Tomor, and veteran Russian geologist Panov. Bat launches an extensive monologue recalling a historic journey on the same road fifty years ago and offering philosophical musings, while Bayar wrestles with unresolved feelings for Gerel and exchanges a “Kazbek” cigarette with Ider. Panov shares his war background, and the team sets out toward the remote field site.
The expedition spends its third day crossing the open steppe, sets up a night camp, hears strange noises that are later identified as an opera broadcast, and debates the source of the sounds while Bat continues his pre‑meal vodka ritual.
The expedition discovers that trustworthy local guides are extremely limited; they encounter the party committee head Dashnyam and the venerable local figure Ga avgai, who introduce the potential guide Damdin. Damdin, an 80‑year‑old former party‑sent guide who recently suffered a leg injury and bears personal reasons, refuses to join the survey, leaving the team without a confirmed guide. They also learn that the intended research site “Bichig bogd” is a remote wilderness roughly 6‑7 days’ travel from their base, populated by diverse fauna such as deer, goats, yaks, ibex, wolves, and various birds.
Guide‑hunt stalls: after two days the team still lacks a local guide. 80‑year‑old former party guide Damdin arrives with a child but refuses to join. He and Russian geologist Panov exchange photos, a kiss, and a confused identity discussion. Panov tells a rambling “fast horse” legend from WWII and reads a faded wartime letter addressed to him, which ends abruptly. The episode adds cultural texture but does not solve the logistics; the expedition remains guide‑less for the remote Bichig bogd area.
Damdin arrives and refuses to guide; Panov tells an elaborate WWII “borlog horse” story; the expedition remains without a local guide.
On day 5 the expedition, still without a local guide, pressed on across the barren steppe. Bayar and Panov’s horses were attacked by a blue‑grey wolf, Panov suffered a leg injury, both men lost their compasses and became disoriented, deepening the physical and logistical crises before nightfall.
After the wolf attack Bayar and Panov are lost, Panov is wounded and both lose their compasses. Damdin warns of an imminent blizzard, and Erdene decides to push the party west toward the stone shelter at Zürkh Kharakhan while the group races against the storm.