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Published: October 3rd 2007
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Our first Ger camp in the Gobi Desert is called Disco I our home for the night, it was quite nice, shower stalls, a bar with lots of cold beer, the only setback is the occasional sand and wind storms. After dinner some people stayed late a had quite a lot of drinks this is the first time I saw Andy really drunk, Anne was teaching me and Tiny some sign languages and when youre drunk it will be even more challenging. I woke up to be ready for breakfast but turned out my watch was an hour ahead, somehow I forgot to adjust my watch and I sent John to breakfast promising him to meet up at the restaurant ger after my shower, poor guy he was the only one from our group and he ended up being sat with maybe few startled Germans, I came in to the ger i was the only one there but the waiter served me anyway, then he told me I wasan hour early fro breakkie, I was so embarrased but felt bad for John the more. We drove to Yolyn Am where there was supposed to be ice in the valleys but alas
torrential rains few weeks before we arrived melted them all, but nevertheless was a wonderful hike along the valley, lots of wildlife, ovos and big blue sky. Just outside of the park we camped out and we were serenaded by very talented local musician groups with some contortionist performer as well, quite an enjoyable night and here is where I bought my favorite Mongoilan hat for 7 dollars, I was bargaining hard for 5 from 9 but the young boy selling it was very tough and would not budge, Tamir helped me in the end to meet him halfway with the price.
Bayanzag is the next stop for us. It looks like a big hole in the ground, we drove near it stopped and Calire declared this will be home for the night and she was serious. It was really hot and dry we waited till dusk to set up tents. After lunch everyone basically did their own thing, some hike down the canyon gorge some reading books just chilling out. All of a sudden a wind storm swept our camp and everyone helped to get the tarp awning down before it tears into pieces. In the afternoon took
YOLYN AM
ME IN MY TRENDSETTING MONGOL HAT a walk on top of the canyons with Amy, Peter and Andy, colors are nice shades of red , got some good photos. Sunset was beautiful and we had a quiet night looking at the sky hunting for satellites passing by, I think we saw a couple. I pitched tent right at the edge of the gorge so got to remember to not walk straight out if i need to go to the loo tonite. I was reading the Gringo Trail to pass the time by, quite a stupid book but I was bored so I finished it in one day, especially we got stuck for awhile when the storm struck. Supposedly people found dinosaur bones in this area but did not see one myself.
The next day we moved on to ger camp at the Disco 2 camp, that night at the camp was a drinking night as usual, few rounds of vodka, soda water and what not and before you know it it's already 4am, struggled to get to my ger which I shared with Peter.
All the places weve been to are within a massive park called Gurvan Saikhan National Park in the Omnogov aimag.
Khongoryn Els is supposedly the best sand dunes in the Gobi, it looks impressive from afar, wind blowing the sands makes some beautiful music. I decided to do the camel ride to the top of the dunes, it was a bit uncomfortable riding the camels at first then quickly got used to it, we rode slowly towards the dunes then all of a sudden the weather turned and we got stuck in a torrential rain and wind storm, we have to wait it out, it was an experience rain pelting us with such force was painful. After 15 mins or so it stopped and we decided to head back to camp so we never really made it up there, may as well we are all soaking wet by this time.
WIKI INFO:
OOVO:
An ovoo (Mongolian: овоо, heap) is a type of shamanistic rock cairn found in Mongolia. Ovoos are often found at the top of mountains and high places and at borders and cross-roads. They serve as both navigational aids in a country with few roads and fewer signs, and religious sites, used in worship of the mountains and the sky as well as in
DALANZADGAD
OMNOGOV AIMAG Buddhist ceremonies.
Travelers in Mongolia should not pass by an ovoo without stopping. They are expected to stop and circle the ovoo three times in a clockwise direction. They should pick up a rock from the ground and add it to the pile before leaving. Also, travelers may leave offerings in the form of money, milk, or vodka.
Ovoos are also used in mountain- and sky-worshipping ceremonies that typically take place at the end of summer. Worshippers place a tree branch or stick in the ovoo and tie a blue khadag, a ceremonial silk scarf symbolic of the open sky, to the branch. (Khadags should not be removed.) They then light a fire and make food offerings, followed by a ceremonial dance and prayers (worshippers sitting at the northwest side of the ovoo), and a feast with the food left over from the offering.
During Mongolia's Communist period, ovoo worship was officially prohibited along with other forms of religion, but people still worshipped clandestinely.
GURVAN SAIKHAN NATIONAL PARK:
Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park is a national park in southern Mongolia. The park was established in 1993, and expanded to its current size in
2000. The park, at nearly 27,000 square kilometers, is the largest national park in Mongolia.
The park is named for the Gurvansaikhan Mountains, which translates to the Three Beauties. The name is derived from three subranges, the East, Middle and West Beauty. The range forms the eastern half of the park.
The park lies on the northern edge of the Gobi desert. The higher elevations contain areas of steppe. A number of rare plants and animals are found in the park, including the elusive snow leopard. Areas of sand dunes are found, most famously the Khongoryn Els - the Singing Sands. Another major tourist destination is Yolyn Am, a mountain valley that contains a large ice field through most of the year.
The park is usually accessed via the town Dalanzadgad, which has airport service to Ulaanbaatar.
YOLYN AM:
Yolyn Am (Mongolian: Ёлын Ам, Lammergeier Valley) is a deep and narrow gorge in the Gurvansaikhan Mountains of southern Mongolia. The valley is named after the Lammergeier, which is called Yol in Mongolian. The Lammergeier is an Old World vulture, hence the name is often translated to Valley of the Vultures or Valley of the
Eagles.
The valley is located within Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park.
Yolyn Am is found in the Zuun Saikhanii Nuruu (the Eastern Beauty) subrange of the Gurvansaikhan Mountains. The area, as part of the Gobi Desert, sees little precipitation. However, Yolyn Am is notable for a deep ice field. The ice field reaches several meters thick by the end of winter, and is several kilometers long. In past years it remained year round, but the modern ice field tends to disappear by September.
BAYANZAG:
The Flaming Cliffs site, really Bayanzag (Mongolian: Баянзаг, rich in Saxaul or Mongolian: Улаан Эрэг red cliffs), is a region of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, in which important fossil finds have been made. It was given this name by American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, who visited in the 1920s. The area is most famous for yielding the first discovery of dinosaur eggs. Other finds in the area include specimens of Velociraptor. The rock gives off a glowing orange colour, hence the nickname.
DALANZADGAD:
Dalanzadgad (Mongolian: Даланзадгад) is the capital of Ömnögovi Aimag in Mongolia. It is located 540 kilometers (336 miles) south of the national capital Ulan Bator. The
altitude of the city center is 1,470 meters (4,823 feet).
As of July, 2005, its population is 17, 000.
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