Back from the Gobi!

Hello all!

We are back, a lot more tanned and mosquito bitten than before.

Our first day was pretty miserable. We drove all day in what can only be described as a dust storm. It was pretty hard to breathe or open our eyes. It was so hot that we had to keep the windows open, so by the end of the day we all were a dusty shade of brown/grey. We stopped along the way to visit a nomad family in their ger and had tea and this weird bread/cookie thing. There was another tour group with us from the same tour company and as we were leaving the nomad family, the family's dog ran under the other group's van. It was really sad, it looked really hurt and was crying and limping. We hope it is still alive. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch where we madeit clear that we were vegetarians. It was a good meal of rice and vegetables. Right before we got to the ger we were styuing at, we stopped at this cool rock formation that was also a sacred buddhist area where there were ruins (destroyed by the Russians). Monks used to live there. There was a group of mongolians singing mongolian folk songs and throat singing at the bottom of a valley. It was pretty cool.

The second day we drove all day (about 450km). By the way, we hadn't been on paved roads or paths since about 20km out of UB and were on the bumpiest terrain imaginable in a 80's soviet war vehicle with no air conditioning. It was about 45*C that day (as we had reached the desert). We stopped at an ovoo, a sacred rock pile whcih you circle around 3 times and then throw a rock onto. They were everywhere the whole trip, even when we didn't see signs of life for 100s of kilometers, we still saw them. The one we stopped at was an especially big one. We also stopped at a monestary which had prayer wheels. We stopped for lunch in a village along the way. The restaurant they had intended to go to was closed so we had instant noodle soup, our favourite meal. They had a sort of tap (not with running water, it had to be pumped) which we all stuck our heads under to get some relief from the heat. We also stopped at a nomad ger camp where they were pulling the fur from camels for camel wool. We stopped by some small sand dunes, which were cool. Near the ger we slept in, there was a giant ger shaped and painted to look like a turtle. It was apparently a bar, which was strange since there were about 4 gers in the area and no signs of civilization for over 200km.

On the third day, we woke up to camels at our door. We then went to the Flaming Cliffs. It was a canyon where the sand was a glowing red/orange colour. We also went to see the famous dinosaur eggs and fossils. We drove a bit and then went to a national park where we saw the most incredible rocky mountains. There was a stream that ran through the middle and had ice on it. We continued driving until we reached the Khongor sand dunes. They were huge. We went to our ger which had a clear view of the sand dunes. We walked to the sand dunes, it was so hot and tiring because of the sand. We climbed the dunes and slid down. It was insanely hard but really fun and cool. We collected some sand to bring home. We had dinner and then went camel riding in the sunset. It was really fun. To get the camel (or a horse) to go faster you say "choo", our mongolian is not so good so they didnt understand us and made us look like morons. We were singing lady gaga to the boys who were taking us on the camels (they were about 14). It is funny how in the middle of the Gobi, where they have no running water, tv, or even radio signal, they still know exactly who Lady Gaga is. One of the boys reciprocated by singing us a Mongolian song. It was really fun.

On the fourth day, it was really cool to look out our ger door to see sand dunes. Unfortunately, that was the most exciting part of our day, as we had a really long drive to the province capital. You should know, the doors to the gers look like something out of Alice in Wonderland. They are tiny and make you feel like a giant. A day where you don't hit your head on it is rare. We both sustained severe brain damage. That night, however, we did get to shower. The province capital was far from spectacular, there were dogs that barked all night. Actually the entire night!

On the fifth day, we drove to the waterfall. There was an abundance of goats and sheep. The waterfall was really nice. We did some pretty intense rock climbing to get to the bottom and back up again.

On the sixth day, we woke up early and went down to the waterfall to try and swim. It was about 3-4 degrees and stung when you went in. We sat on some rocks by the water instead. We drove to Kharkhorin monestary, the biggest in Mongolia. It had a gate with 108 stupas. It was one of the only monestaries that managed to survive the Russians. It was really beautiful and most of it dated back to 13th and 17th centuries. That night, in our ger camp, a cute old mongolian man put on a concert. His picture was in a Japenese guidebook, which he was very proud of. He spoke really good english and played 3 traditional instruments and did throat singing. In our ger that night, there were these weird black bugs that would drop from the ceiling. The boys were bothered by this and switched gers, we on the other had, were not bothered and decided we could handle the bugs and stayed. We had a sleepover with our guide Pagma, she is 21 and pretty cool.

On the seventh day, we drove to our final ger camp. We waited until 5:00 to go horse riding cause it was far too hot to go outside any earlier. Despite the Mongolian saddles (which are a lot rogher on the pelvis than the regular sort of saddle) and the flies (which the horses attract), it was really fun. We got to ride on our own too which was fun. We witnessed the making of "horehog"; mutton made with hot stones. However, we are vegetarians and did not participate in the eating of it. That night was so hot so we went to sit outside and suddenly about 500 goats and sheepc had suddenly appeared right outside our ger. Their eyes reflect light and makje them look oddly possesed. We noticed through our many encounters with goats on this trip that if nyou make eye contact with them, they will come to you. They scare us.

Today we drove home. We got back around 2:00 and showered and did laundry. Then we had lunch and bought fruit. Tonight we may go see a movie, because all of our friends are in the countryside on a PA trip that we couldnt go on cause it left yesterday.

We are going to put up pictures soon. It all depends on if we get internet at our apartment (we are at an internet cafe).

This week Jess will be working at the pediatric hospital in the baby clinic and Mathilda will be working in emergency. We will let you know how it goes.