We see our vehicle for the first time. Its called a Furgon and is a Russian-made beast, ready to take on the toughest of 'road' environments - of which Mongolia has provided all. I say road with a hint of sarcasm because half an hour outside of UB we hit dirt and continued on for the next 13 days of driving. Back to the van - Mohsin was really impressed with the hubcaps, which remained clean for the entire journey, thanks to our absolute-sherpa-of-a-driver, Bayra. Bayra knew minimal English but it was enough to get by, and more importantly he knew how to drive and fix his machine. On the way out of UB we stopped to fill up the two fuel tanks and Jerry cans with fuel, and then headed South.
Stopping for lunch a few hours in, at a Ger on a crossroads in the middle of nowhere, we played with the animals outside while Bayra went in to ask if they had any food (the first thing you say when you stop at a Ger hoping to eat.. obviously). We had read the usual malarkey in the Lonely Planet about Ger etiquette and we were not really sure what to do but eventually we headed inside, sat down and drank the salty milk tea which is ubiquitius in this country. Gers are great things; warm, felt-lined nests for nomads in which you eat alot of noodles and mutton and escape the dusty desert winds. During lunch we were lucky to witness a whole load of family life. The man of the Ger is processing the finest Cashmere in your M&S cardigan. The little girls are always so sweet in the Gers. One of the most surreal things was that the family had a small black and white TV in one corner of the room, connected to a huge satellite dish outside, and we were watching young Mongolians taking part in a spelling-b. This patronising American accent would come on if they spelt a word correctly - "Very Good!". It was all a bit surreal.
Moving on, we drove a further few hours that day past dust tornadoes, wild horses and Gazelle to a rock formation close to our sleeping Ger. We took in the view and checked out a nearby Eagle. Our Ger for the night was pretty big and we dumped our bags and went to explore the local area. It was desolate, with only goats and a telephone line (which we walked to followed by that dog, which later got too play full with my leg and Justin had to wrestle, but thats another story) on the horizon. We were expecting to have alot of contact with the families we would be staying with but its more set up so that they have their Ger, you have yours (with beds and a stove in the middle), and they cook you food and bring it to you. So we were looking for that contact with the people, which we did get in places, but its not set up that way.
Check out the Star Wars-like terrain. Im sure Ill write more here later.
Dalanzangad - our first town stop, for a shower. The next day onto a national park, and the Gobi desert (which is something like 33 different environments). Amazingly we went to both the Ice Valley and the 'Flaming' Cliffs in the desert in the same day. I had to get a shot of the Tesco bag, I was that surprised. Those cliffs are actually where the Zoologist, Roy Chapman Andrews (the character on which Indiana Jones is based), did excavations for dinosaurs etc. More importantly, we rode camels. Note the Sumo on the telly - they love Sumo in Mongolia, as the current Yokozuna is a Mongol.
Thanks everyone, for my gifts....
Sand Dunes
Arkvaikheer Town and our first Yak sighting
On the way to Kharakhorin
Tsetserleg - Beautiful place. Justin and I got quite drunk.
On the way to the White lake
It snowed overnight so we woke to amazing views. Our driver decided to hunt an animal, which I named a Pine Martyn (although Ive got no idea!). Basically, he used the van, and we were pulling hand brake turns in the snow after it. It was later skinned for its pelt when we arrived in Moron town.
Khovsgol Lake
Ambayarghast (?) Temple on the way back to UB
