The Gobi
Trip Start
Jul 17, 2008
1
11
26
Trip End
Aug 16, 2008
Gobi desert,
Mongolia
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Security at the UB airport is pretty tight. They are very insistent about scanning everything. Including passports. This is strange because even the US isn't that strict.
The flight was uneventful. Once again the beautiful countryside wowed the group.
When we landed we were picked up by our guide. We had been warned about pickpockets but with the airport so small, one room, it was unlikely there were any. Bags were unloaded from a separate building. You grab your bag and the baggage tag is checked.
We got into three vans and tore across the countryside to get to our Yurt camp. The Gobi desert isn't quite what I had expected. I had expected a nice desert. With sand. There was actually little sand, it was mostly small rocks, dirt and sand. There was also a lot of vegetation. Little shrubs and plants were growing everywhere.
We stopped for a quick bite to eat and took in some amazing scenery. Pictures later! Then we went into a very large gorge for a hike. Some people rode some horses (more like ponies though). We saw wild mice, larger mice (with big ears), a mountain goat and an eagle.
After the hike we settled into the vans and headed to the Yurt camp. The camp consisted of about 20 yurts and a central yurt for food. There were no evening activities planned so we made our own entertainment. In summary we cleaned out the fridge, were told twice that we were being too loud and sang outside in the desert until midnight.
The sky was amazing. Jupier was clearly visible. The milky way. And more stars than I have ever seen in my life. No pictures though. On my camera anyway, I may be able to get some from the people who have SLRs. Simply an amazing sight, hard to describe.
