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Published: July 30th 2011
Dimecres, 27 de Juliol – Primer dia al Gobi
Un cop mes, tornem als horaris habituals I a les 5 del mati ens llevem per agafar un taxi a l’aeroport d’Ulan Bator. Alli, ens espera un Saab 340 B, un avio d’helices amb capacitat per a 36 persones que ens portara a Dalanzadgad, la ‘capital’ del sud del Gobi. Una mica com va passar a Tanna, a Vanuatu, la unica part asfaltada de la zona es el aparcament de “l’aeroport” una furgoneta dels anys 80 ens espera a la sortida amb una noia, la Octra amb un cartell “Alex Boscn & Claire” aixi que directament a un cami de cabres que ens porta al primer campament de ‘Ger’ a esmorzar.
Els Gers son les tendes rodones I blanques tradicionals del Gobi on hi viu tothom. Despres d’esmorzar ens adonem que la furgoneta no va gaire a l’hora I el Ozti (el conductor) decideix tornar a Dalanzadgad a cambiar de cotxe. Ara un petit jeep, Rus tambe, I dels anys 80 tambe que ens ha de dur 3 dies pel desert… no les tenim totes pero que sigui el que hagi de ser! I directament marxem cap al desert.
El Gobi no es un desert com pot ser el Sahara, aqui hi ha terra, no nomes sorra, hi ha algunes plantes que hi creixen, hi ha muntanyes, etc… les planes son impresionants, sobretot amb els caballs I camells salvatges que hi pasturen, tot fent arrivem al primer camp, on passarem la nit. Els Gers son molt acollidors a dins, hi ha llits, taules, cadires, etc.. el problema es que sempre acabes donan-te cops al cap quan t’aixeques I les portes son molt baixes. A mes, com que al desert hi fa vent, hi ha un sogall que penja del bell mig de la tenda i al final hi ha lligat una pedra forsa grossa!
Despres de dinar ens donen temps lliure, basicament per estar al Ger perque fora hi fa una calor inaguantable! Cap a les 6 tornem a sortir I anem als penya segats vermells que hi ha per la vora. Molt bonics I tambe una de les zones mes actives paleontologicament del mon! de fet, aqui hi van trobar els primers fossils de dinosaure del mon! I els que vam veure al museu d’historia natural d’Ulan Bator, son d’aqui! La posta de sol amb el vermell
es preciosa, fa un efecte com el de Uluru, a Australia! Pero el cel esta tapat, veiem pluja a l’horitzo I quan menys ens ho esperem comensa a ploure una pluja fredissima!!
Finalment, a sopar I a dormir la nostra primera nit en un Ger
Wednesday 27th July – outer Mongolia
Today Alex had to face his fears and get on a little plane for the one hour and fifteen minute flight to Dalanzadgad, the capital of South Gobi. I thought it was fantastic! There were only 3 seats across (one on one side, two on the other), it was powered by two propellers and the landing was like skidding on ice.
At the airport, we met our guide, took our bag off the luggage slide (no conveyor-belt) and went out to the car. After passing a range of new-ish Japanese 4x4s and even a Hummer, we saw our van… a soviet relic that looked like an off-road VW camper, only with better suspension, fewer curves and a fetching Matt grey colour. For the first time in my life I have had tour van envy when looking at the other options we could have had.
Anyway, we headed to breakfast at a ger camp about 15 minutes away, at which point the van broke down. Oh joy! So after a trip back into town and a swap for an old soviet Jeep (still in the fetching matt grey), we headed off towards the Flaming Cliffs of Bayanzag.
The fascinating thing about the journey was the fact that there were absolutely no roads. We drove wherever our driver chose, and in this vast, empty landscape, there weren’t many places the jeep couldn’t go. It was a wonder we didn’t end up in China!
As we approached our ger camp, we could see the Flaming Cliffs in the background, so after a rest and some lunch, we went walking as the sun started getting lower. The Flaming Cliffs were named after Roy Chapman Andrews and his team found the first dinosaur eggs here. Unfortunately the only fossils we saw were in a little ger which acted as a museum and which had a few broken bone bits and one egg. However, paleontology aside, it was a beautiful place, and the red of the rocks really burned as the sun went down.
Our first night
in a ger was really nice. They are small, round huts covered in a waterproof material (probably originally animal skins) and insulated with wool. They have a hole in the top to allow smoke out in winter and a breeze in in summer, but this can be covered if it rains. The cover is kept on by a rock suspended on a string in the middle of the ger, so we fell asleep with a rock suspended at our feet and with a hole straight up to the stars.
Dijous, 28 de Juliol – I de sobre… sorra
Avui la Octra ens ha donat per dormir fins a les 8, que tal I com van les coses en aquest viatge sembla super tard! Hem esmorzat I hem comensat a fer milles, avui passarem 4 hores al cotxe, tot terreny, I uns camins que en moltes ocasions, no hi son, sino que els fem! Hem trobat pluja de nou, I al passar un coll de muntanyes la veritat es que la temperatura ha baixat moltissim I feia forsa fred! Pero de sobre, a l’horitzo hi veiem una cosa clara, hi veiem Khonghoryn Els, basicament un mini Sahara
de 180 Kms de llarg I 15 d’ample en mig del Gobi! Totalment espectacular! El contrast de clar a fosc de les muntanyes es fascinant!
Despres de dinar al nostre Ger es l’hora del camell! Dins del tour hi tenim inclosa una volta d’1 hora en camell, despres dels 5 minuts jo ja vull baixar, la veritat! A mes, anavem el jefe de la tropa davant, amb una corda lligat a mi I jo portava el camell de la Claire lligat a mi, vaja que el cap del seu camell estava just al costat de la meva cama dreta, I no feia mes que estornudar I posarme la cama perduda de mocs de camell!! Afortunadament (o no) els mocs I el dolor a les cames/cul/entrecuix del camell no han estat res comparat amb el que ens esperava al final de la volta. Basicament, els camells et deixen a la base de la duna mes alta del mini desert, que fa 340 metres d’alsada, I s’ha de pujar a pota, pero es que la inclinacio es brutal! I a mes es sorra! O sigui que ens hem tirat hora I pico literalment arrossegant-nos per la sorra. La sorra es la
rao per la que es tan dur pero tambe es la rao per la que es pot fer ja que si fos terra seria massa empinat! Un cop dalt, pero, la vista es increible!! Es pot veure tot el que abarca aquest petit-Sahara I es impresionant. Baixar tambe es forsa divertit!
Finalment, despres de veure un parell de rierols que estan evidenment molt ben aprofitats hem tornat al camp I hem vist una posta de sol preciosa! Un altre dia genial al Gobi
Thursday, 28th July – Dunes – done!
Day 2 of the Gobi tour saw us waking up to a cloudy sky and freezing temperatures. We were soon back in the Jeep and heading towards the sand dunes of Khongoriin Els. The scenery was fabulous. We passed herds of horses and camels, fresh water springs and were always following the line of the rugged mountains to the south. In the early afternoon we reached our next ger camp, by which time it was starting to warm up a little and the sun was coming out. I’m so glad it was because as it did, the dunes looked spectacular. They stretch for 180km on one
long line and we could see quite a bit of that from our ger. We were very lucky to have an uninterrupted view of the dunes from the camp, but we were going to spend the afternoon getting up close to them.
Part of the tour involved riding a camel over to the dunes. I think it’s fair to say that neither Alex nor I found this a particularly pleasant experience. My camel was attached to Alex’s, which was in turn attached to the leader. Therefore, My camel’s head was by Alex’s right leg and my camel seemed to have a cold. It wasn’t long before Alex’s leg was covered in snot. And Alex’s camel’s arse was by my leg, so I spent most of the hour dodging poo.
Eventually we reached the dunes and started climbing. This was the highest point of the dunes, where they reach 360m high and at various points we thought about giving up, but after about an hour of literally crawling up the dune (walking didn’t work), we reached the top and were rewarded with 360 degree views over the valley to the north, the mountains to the south and the dunes
spanning miles to the east and west. It was really beautiful and utterly worth the climb. Plus, the walk down was great fun and took us no time at all.
After dinner we watched the sun setting, the dunes glowing red and the remaining clouds bursting into flame with the dying light. A really spectacular day!
Divendres, 29 de Juliol
Nit a un llit dur aquesta pasada pero despres de pujar la duna haguessim dormit fins I tot sobre una pedra! Avui es el dia mes llarg de conduccio, casi 6 hores per fins I tot pitjors camins que els dels dos darrers dies. Cap al migdia arrivem a uns penyasegats creats per un riu I ens hi endinsem, passem a paiatje gairebe pirineic, impressionant. Despres de caminar una estona arrivem on 8 dels 12 mesos de l’any hi ha un glaciar. La veritat es que el canvi de paisatjes d’aquest desert es francament indescriptible. Despres d’un “museu” d’animals dissecats (lamentable definicio mongola d’un museu d’historia natural) baixem cap al desert pla I ens apropem a Dalanzadgad on hi farem nit, en un altre Ger. Poc despres d’arrivar veiem a la distancia una cursa de
caballs, molt tipic a Mongolia, hi prenen part nens petits I la cursa d’ahir era de 30 Kms!! Pobres caballs.
La ultima nit al Gobi ens dona una nit perfecta d’estels
Friday, 29th July - Gerrrrrrrrrr
After breakfast we left the dunes behind and started heading back towards Dalanzdgad. A little way from the dunes, we saw people doing a desert race. First we passed a Scottish guy (evident from the flag on his back) and then further down the track, many others. As we were bouncing along in the jeep, I was a little in awe of the people trekking for miles across this wilderness.
As we were both getting hungry for lunch, we left the planes and started driving through a beautiful gorge. We stopped and had our picnic beside a little stream with huge rocks on either side of us, before continuing our journey through beautiful valleys until we reached Yollyng Am in the Gobi Gurvan Saikan National Park. In English, the Valley is called Eagle Valley and we saw one of its namesake as we started walking through. For most of the year, there is ice in the center of the
valley, but we simply saw stunning scenery and lots of birds, strange crickets and very cute animals that looked like guinea pigs. On the way out of the valley, we stopped at a museum about the wildlife of the region. We walked very quickly round the small building stuffed with stuffed animals and left as soon as we could. On the way towards our next ger, we saw a small local naadam festival with wrestling in the valley below us, and later horse racing across the wide plain as we reached the ger. The gobi was such a fantastic experience!
Dissabte, 30 de Juliol – tornem a la realitat, I als problemes
Me les prometia molt felices a l’aterrar l’avio I veure que el cel era tot blau! Pero al despegar el vent hi pegava fort! El vol ha estat be pero el probema es que l’aeroport de Ulaan Bator esta entre 2 valls, I la veritat es que les 2 ultimes ‘curves’ han estat forsa aprop de les muntanyes del costat…
A Ulaanbator hem anat a buscar la maleta que haviem deixat, hem vingut a l’hostal I hem tingut un parell de problemes, principalment
que els xinesos no tenen car quan val el tren de Beijing a Hanoi (canvien els preus el dia 1 d’agost!) I ens pregunten si volem mantenir la reserva o no! aquest tren es vital ja que es un tren que nomes surt un parell de cops per setmana! No obstant, tot sembla que anira be I si no fos aquest tren podriem baixar a Nanjing I d’alli a Hanoi, o sigui que hi ha opcions!
La resta del dia d’avui, Skype, internet I relax! i menos mal que ho hem fet perque ara som a l'habitacio de l'alberg i acaba de fotre una pedregada que flipes!
Saturday 30th July – Ulaanbatar again
Our arrival on the early morning flight from Dalanzadgad also saw the departure of the Indian Prime Minister from Ulaanbatar , so we got stuck on the way back into town. We checked into the hostel, checked emails, had lunch and went to the monastery. After Gobi, the city is a little underwhelming, so we’re having a relaxing evening before getting an early train to Beijing tomorrow. Alex has already been to Beijing, so I don’t think he’s quite as excited as I
am. I can’t wait!
And it's a good job we have bought food for tonight because outside it is hailing! This country goes from odd to bizarre to weird! I have tan lines from this afternoon and now hail stones are falling the size of marbles!
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Claire jaimes
non-member comment
wowzers!
fantastic trip to mognolia by the looks of it! Love the pics. Great to see what you have both been up to :) x