Leaving UB we discovered that driving in Mongolia takes some talent... thankfully, our driver had plenty...
Outside of UB you quickly enter the Steppe - a landscape of plains. If you flick to your desktop, this was essentially what it looked like. Soon we were stopping by Mongolian horses, more Gers, and very soon, kettles (had to look this one up) of buzzards and vultures were flying above and venues (again had to look it up) were on the ground . These birds were huge and not nearly as ugly as I had imagined. They were graceful but lifting their own weight looked difficult. Stopping for photos, we did not lay down to watch them.
Back to the roads. The dirt roads were in better shape that hte bitumen but pot holes were everywhere. As we drove through the Steppe, the sand below had droppd away. There were no signs on which track to go, in fact, I think people work out which direction they need to go and just start driving straight. Somehow, Dean, the miracle sleeper, managed to fall asleep whilst everyone else on the bus was reenacting the bouncing around of the Starship Enterprise under attack. He eventually awoke to us laughing. At him:). Three hours into the drive we were starting to wonder why our guide was pointing in anohter direction to our guide.... all good. Within an hour we arrived at our accomodation. Twelve Gers in the middle of the Gobi. The pictures will give you an idea, i'll just add that it was stunning. Just a few dasy ago we were surrounded by the frenzy of Beijing and its noise and now, silence, for miles and miles. It was awesome.
Taking a walk in the desert, as you do, Dean and I saw the remains of a horse, bones spotless from our vulture friends... until Dean kicked up a hoof hidden under the sands.... ew.
In the middle of the desert, it is always handy to have a cook - we ate very well over the next two days... still no drinks though - the previous guests had drank all but a couple of bottles of beer!
The days in the Gobi were hot and in the evenings we had a wind storm one night and rain on another. Nothing like curling up in a Ger or playing cards and being silly with new friends.
There was a family looking after us here and they had two little kids - Tukso and Saka. they managed to keep us all amused. Tukso was kind enough to show me stinging nettle... if only I understood not to touch it rather than reaching to pick it up... Doh!
To entertain us, we had a choice of a camel or horse ride. Being Mongolia (and having enough of camels in India) Dean and I opted for the horses. Quite a good choice since the camels were a little... floppy.... We rode our horses to an adjoining village/family in a Ger where we watched them herd the goats and milk them, build a Ger in 11 minutes, and the others on tour got to enjoy milk curd (they looked so happy about it too). We were all loving the Gobi. I personally could have chilled out there for a couple of more days. In fact, all I wanted to do was keep heading west...
Without smog protecting us, Dean and I were finally picking up a traveller's tan too.
It was time to return to UB. Back past the vultures, buzzards, some white-tailed gazelles, Microsoft backdrop and a temple stop which was nothing too spectacular. Farewell Gobi.
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