Juulchin and the Singing dunes

  Singing Dunes, Mongolia
Thursday, August 17, 2006

Several more hours in the van, with a brief delay as we waited for the other van to catch up after a flat tire, and we arrived at our camp for the evening. Again we enjoyed good food in relatively austere, but nice conditions. Again we saw the pervasive influences of western culture as Britney Spears music eminated from behind the kitchen door. Again we were able to ignore it thanks to Alta Gobi beer and the incredible sunset over the dunes.

hedgehog

Hasaa and Uka, our drivers managed to catch a hedgehog which was rooting about in their ger and presented it to us. According to something I read or heard, no journey to Mongolia is complete until you catch a wild animal, so this was fortuitous. Even though I didn't personally catch it I figured I fell into the we grouping. The next morning we prepared for our visit to the main attraction of this camp, the Singing dunes. They are so named because of the noise produced when the wind travels over them, and the harmony of millions of grains of sand moving in unison.

The laughing camel

First we met up with a camel herder who lived in his own ger camp several miles away and bartered for some trusty mounts. All set, we set out on a Lawrence of Arabia style trek which lasted several hours. My camel was pretty unruly and I found it difficult to steer using the traditional Mongolian style single reign. But at least he was photogenic! After several hours on the camels and some sore humps, we dissembarqued and set about climbing to the top of the tallest dune which was over 3000 feet tall! Unfortunately, the midday heat had the sand beneath our feet burning, and it was very difficult going. It was soo steep, that for every step I took, I slid two steps back. It was amazing to hear the dunes groaning though, as little avalanches of sand would cascade down the dune everytime someone took a step. You could litterally feel the bass vibration if you sat on the dune!