supposed grave site | Food | pain

Two hundred miles has never felt as long as it did on that off-road venture through the Mongolian countryside in the back of a shock-absorber-free Russian jeep. After 14 kidney-crushing hours of bumping around the carpet-covered backseat, we pulled up to the middle of nowhere, and I suddenly saw it: the Oglogchiin wall surrounding the supposed grave site. I got goose bumps. Then my doubts came rushing back. ­Popping a Tums to ease my pre-ulcerous condition, I wondered how previous searches could have possibly overlooked such a massive ancient wall circling a hillside.

AFTER SPENDING THE NIGHT in a yurt belonging to a local family, we trotted up the hill on horseback the next morning. Mongolians ride either on wooden saddles or with no saddle at all. I opted for the wooden saddle. For future reference: bad choice. I was jet-lagged, haggard from a lack of food, and more anxious than I've ever been - and the sharp pain from the saddle was not helping. Still, my wild anticipation started to block it all out as our horses tiptoed up the rocky path to the secret, (hopefully) sacred spot. I was so breathless that I had to remind myself to focus on getting some great shots in the morning light. Yes, I was finally about to see these tombs that had brought me from the other side of the globe, but I was also here to get a story.
I stopped picturing that Pulitzer and popped a few more Tums when we reached the top of the rock-strewn hill. After climbing down off his horse, Ishdorj began jumping up and down on a heavy stone slab that sounded as though it were resting above a hollowed-out section of ground. "Heyyy! It's, you know, something in it. Over there is not," he said to me, pointing down with an excited look. "It looks like natural rocks, but I think this is a tomb." My heart sunk. Not the most convincing moment in archaeology. And definitely not the peek at a gauze-wrapped mummy lying among gold chalices that I had been hoping for.