Mongolia Camping Trip..........

On August 14 I left on a 10 day tour of Mongolia, which was centered mainly in the mid and south Gobi desert. To say it was hard travelling would be an understatement. We left pavement on the second day and didn't see it again until today. The roads were just tracks through desert, valleys, and mountains. I am tired today, but satisfied I saw what I came to see. We stayed in nomadic Gers, which are white round tent frames that the nomads of Mongolia live in. We ate what they eat which is not anything like Canadian Mongolian Grill. Very bland, fatty food with lots of meat and a little bit of vegetables. The

beds were basically cloth put on boards and the transport was a heavy duty four wheel drive Russian van. We went first to see a memorial that is being created for Genghis Khan just outside of Ulan Bator. For obvious reasons he is revered throughout the country. You see his name on everything! They have created a huge statue and are in the process of creating a couple hundred warriors to go with him. Will be quite the tourist attraction when it is complete. From there we went to the Terelj National Park. Visited a Buddhist Monastery and stayed the night in a Ger. Nice rugged place to stay.

Very picturesque place and a good start to our trip. Day 2 was a long one. 530km down the highway going straight south into the depths of the Gobi desert. Left pavement at about the 500km mark and went to visit the White Stupas. Very similar to the badlands around Drumheller and not surprisingly they have found a lot of dinosaur bones. Beautiful place set amongst a backdrop of very desolate grassy steppes. We stayed the night again in a Ger. There are 6 of us in the group (Phil, Anne Marie, Xime, Pato, Koh, and Myself) and we have come to realize that a shot or two of Mongolian Vodka really helps the sleep in these Ger beds. Day 3 we set off over the desert to go to the Yol Canyon. The ride is getting quite rough. Lots of empty creek beds and dry flash stream channels make for slow hard travel. The canyon was worth the trip. Very narrow rugged mountains and canyon. Lots of ibex, snow leopards (didn't see any), eagles, and gerbils. We camped in a very picturesque spot just outside the canyon mouth in a Ger. We all get along well, which makes it a lot

more enjoyable. I am bunking with a Scottish couple that are just a little younger than me. They were in my cabin on the train from Irkutsk. Very nice couple and good for me to have some people doing the same as me. The people we stay with at these Gers are true nomads. They live off the land with sheep and goat herds. Move when the meager grass is gone. They drink the goats milk and sometimes mare milk. They will either have camels, horses, or maybe a motorbike to herd their flocks. Not many cows this far south as the land would not be able to sustain them. The nomads are all over this desert and the country as far as I can tell. See their Ger tents set up in small towns as well. The Mongolian way of life. Day 4 and again we are slowly trekking across the desert. This time we went to the Khongor Sand dunes. 120km long and range as high as 300 metres. Quite a sight and very much worth the pain to climb to the top for sunset. Did a camel ride when we first arrived. Apparently these 2 hump camels don't like sand so we just went for an hour trip into the desert. Not a lot of excitement and definitely not much to see. Just desolate dry land. Stayed in a Ger just below the sand dunes. Made for a very picturesque camp site. We had a lightening storm about the time we were on top the dune. It was in the distance so it added to the ambiance of the dune and the sunset. The camel ride was not great for my hip, so I think we can say we did it and leave it for others to do next time.
Day 5 and on the road again. This time we took a long trip heading out of the south Gobi back into the central Gobi. We travelled up to see the Flaming Cliffs. Very similar in color to Ayers Rock in Australia. You had to see them right at sunset to get the full red colour view. They were good but I think we expected to see more. Our group of 6 drops to just the three of us for day 6 so we had a little party. It was a good farewell with hopes of meeting again in the future. Day 6 was a day of rain and slow travel. The rain made the land sloppy and rough. What may have taken us 6 hours took 8. We stopped at the Khalid Monastery on the way to our camp. An old monastery that housed over a thousand monks. In the 1930s Stalin purged the Mongolian monks killing a third of them and destroying the temples. We visited the remnants and what they have rebuilt since the Russians left in 1990. Day 7 we continued heading north. The land has become steadily more lush and we see lots of herds of goats, sheep, horses, camels, and cows. Also some yaks in place of cows. Just traveled on this day. Ended up in the Orkhon Valley where we have things to see on Day 8. Day 8 was a slack day in the sense that we were staying for a full day at this place. Got up at 9 and we were horseback riding by 10. Did a ride up a ridge so we could get a view of the valley and then into the forest which is heavily forested with Tamarack trees. Went down to the river to see a waterfall before returning for lunch. It was a 2 1/2 hour ride. Was a little painful. After lunch we went to see a bigger waterfall with the horses. Nice falls with a big gorge. Did some hiking in the gorge before returning to camp. All told about 4 hours of riding. Tomorrow we go to a hot springs! Good plan to ease the aches and pains. Weather has now turned colder with rain. Day 9 was a longer travel day than expected. Got lots of rain which made the land very tough to travel on. Arrived cold and miserable to a hot springs that turned out to be quite good. We got rained on while we soaked, but everyone was in good spirits despite the cold, wet day. Day 10 was my last day, the other 2 had one more day. Woke up to a very cold Ger. Went outside and found that a thick hard frost had happened overnight. Ate a cold breakfast and headed to the Kharkhorin city which was the ancient capital of Mongolia briefly in the 1200s. Not much left of the place as Stalin destroyed it in the 1930s as well. Had lunch and met the driver who was bringing me back to Ulan Bator. Said goodbye to my friends and was off on a 5 hour drive on paved roads to the city. Was a quiet ride since we couldn't understand each other. My driver played the same 10 song playlist for the entire trip. Good songs, but I was starting to hate Hotel California towards the end! Still it was comfortable and I arrived around 6:30pm. Off to China and Beijing tomorrow. Long trip on the train about a 28 hour trip. Should be fun! Sad to leave Mongolia, but I saw and experienced what I wanted. Very satisfied with my Mongolian trip!