Day 8 - Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs

Today was pretty low key. We had a late breakfast at 8:15am and left around 9am for the Yol Valley to the south. This is where we were supposed to go the first day after our flight in that was cancelled.

It’s not a long drive from our camp and we pass through the gates into the park and after a quick stop at the museum and gift shop, we make our way into a bit of a valley. We drive for awhile then park then start to walk the rest of the way in. 

The peaks on either side of us grow a little taller and the ground in the valley and up the hillsides is green and there are yaks and the odd horse grazing. It’s about 45mins to the end where this is a glacier that some of us walk out into. Unfortunately Fiona has a big wipeout and cuts up her arms and gets covered in mud. Glad I brought my first aid kit with me today. Robert ventures up one of the hillsides and gets caught in some sort of nettle. It’s just one of those days! 

It’s a beautiful and peaceful valley though and we enjoy the leisurely stroll. I continue to be amazed by the varying landscapes in the desert. 

We head back to our camp and have lunch and then we take a vote on when to leave for the afternoon activity. We are headed to the flaming cliffs and apparently they are best seen at sunset. The question is do we eat before or take something with us, or do we go earlier as the weather is not looking great. 

We also find out that UB is flooding quite badly. Apparently it’s been raining steadily since we left and some parts have been evacuated. Sara says her family is ok and we hope that everyone is staying safe. We won’t be in UB for quite a few days yet so hope it has stopped raining and that the city doesn’t suffer too much damage ahead of the upcoming festival. 

The majority rule to eat at 6pm at our camp and then drive to the flaming cliffs as soon as we are done. Dinner ends up being a bit delayed and this is causing some anxt for some people who really want to have enough time at the cliffs (fyi it’s Erik). 

We eat quickly and hurry to get in our cars and get going. 

For the last three days we have mostly been sticking to a consistent seating arrangement however for the last couple of rides there have been some changes. I’m the rush to get out Dave and I are in a car with none of our children and as we get going we start to question if anyone saw Fiona get into a car. Car #1 had left before the others and so we never saw who was in it and Fiona had last ridden with us. We try to message mom and Erik in the other cars but don’t get an answer. The boys have Avery and pull over awhile ahead and add to our stress by also asking about Fiona. Nobody had seen her and nobody in car #1 is picking up. We are about 70% sure she’s with the group but she may have gone to the bathroom before we left. It’s a stressful 45mins drive (service is out for most of the drive) until we finally hear that she is in fact with them.  We had resolved to turn around and go straight back if she wasn’t with them.  Phewf!

We spend an hour or so walking along the flaming cliffs. They are spectacular and the setting sun is glowing against them and lighting them up. This is the site of many dinosaur bone and fossil discoveries which we had learned about previously in the dinosaur museum in town. 

We grab lots of photos on top of the cliffs and then head back and drive around to get a full view of all the cliffs for the sunset. The clouds block the sun from being super fantastic but it’s still gorgeous and we are so glad that the weather held for us to get this experience. 

We hear back and it’s difficult navigating in the dark through the desert. Our driver takes the lead and has some sort of map to help him. There are no real landmarks so it’s a combination of experience and some help from some simple navigation to get us back to our camp. 

We have an early start tomorrow so it’s off to finish packing and to bed. We are flying back to UB and saying goodbye to Robert tomorrow. 

Day 7 - Sand Dunes back to Dalanzadgad

We are up for breakfast for 7am and on the road by 8am. We are headed back the Gobi Nomad Lifge for the next two nights.

We take a detour on the way back at the Khavtsgait Petroglyphs from the Bronze Age (4000-3000 BC). We hike up this sacred mountain and spend some time searching for the beautifully carvings on the rocks. 

The petroglyphs were carved and painted with motifs consisting of animals, hunting scenes and weapons.

After some photos and taking in the amazing view we make our way back down the hillside and make our way back to our lodge for lunch. 

In the afternoon we decide to head into Dalanzadgad and visit their new museum, the Gobi Museum of Nature and Hostory, which starts with a focus on dinosaurs as the area we are in has been the site of many amazing discoveries. The guide is really good and we learn lots about the area and more on history of Mongolia. The final section goes into detail about the mine which is fascinating. 

We also check out the local grocery store which I always find fascinating. It’s always neat to see what things cost and stroll the aisles to see what is the same or what unique things you might find. 

We then head back for some leisure time and then supper. We have been enjoying some of the local games which are normally played with the ankle bones of sheep. We’ve learned quite a few and they are lots of fun. We hope to find a version to bring home with us. 

Day 6 - Gobi Desert

We are up early this morning for breakfast at 7am and are in the cars by 8am and heading west. We are on our way to the Sand Dunes. 

My first impressions of the Gobi are not at all what I had expected. I had expected sand everywhere and very little infrastructure and few inhabitants. Instead the landscape is barren and rocky with very little sand and there is power out to at least our Ger camp and as we move across the desert there are wells dug throughout and quite a few settlements. There is hardly any vegetation which of course is to be expected, the rain they just got is very welcome. 

There are herds of cattle, camels, sheep, goat and horses roaming freely. Most are branded or marked in some manner, but they aren’t super fat and they need to work hard for their meals, travelling very long miles. 

We stop at a few spots along the way, once to get a closer look at some of the horses where we discovered they had no water and our group worked to figure out the valve to get it turned on. Dave was the winner and the horses all beat the crap out of each other trying to get to the trough.  

After a couple of hours of crossing the open desert we entered a small valley for a short stretch and our driver Moggie with his eagle eyes spotted an Ibex up in the crags of the hills. It was a large male and the drivers and our guides were very excited about this siting as apparently the males are quite elusive. He was very impressive and his ridge horns were pretty spectacular. 

We could start to make out the sand dunes in the distance and we pulled into our Ger Camp, Gobi Erdene. This place is quite different from our last one, it has log cabins on one side and Gers on the other and a large log chalet as the dining hall. There are no washrooms in the gers, it’s going to be a long walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

We get settled into our gers and then have a nice lunch and some down time. We plan to head to sand dunes around 3pm but push it back a little due to the wind. The sand dunes are located in Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park and we pull up and prep to start a climb to the top. The wind is still blowing fiercely and we all check the temperature of the sand with our bare feet as we decide that will be the easiest way to get traction. 

We are off and it’s tough going. We have visited sand dunes before in Oregon, and its tough to climb sand any day of the week, however this is super steep, its hot, and the wind is blowing hard enough to take your breath away and whipping against our skin so hard it stings. 

Robert veers to the right and takes a ledge all the way to the top. We watch him climb 15-20 steps at a time as he nears the top and then stops to rest. It looks impossible. Cadence, Avery and me go up partway and grab a photo and then call that done. Brian, Erik, Dave and Fiona trek up further and I’m shocked at how far Fiona make it. What a trooper. She and Dave finally make their way back down, but Brian and Erik slowly persevere..they won’t be outdone by Robert!

We wait for them to all come back down and then head over to where our camels are patiently waiting. They are two hump camels and sort of cute in their own way. The camels are branded and pierced through the nose around age 2.  The piercing is a bone or something that is attached to a long cord which served as a rein. They are peculiar creatures and make very funny sounds. 

We all get assigned to certain camels and they get our feet in the stirrups and then they signal them to stand up which is a very weird sensation. They tie the camel behind to the back hump of the camel in front. Dave’s camel is so close to me that when we stop for the first time I was surprised to find his camels head in my lap! Thankfully he didn’t snot on me like Robert’s camel did to Fiona. Haha. Her poor leg. She was horrified. 

Thankfully the ride is relatively short as it is not comfortable to ride. They have a very narrow and sharp spine that is hard on the you know what! The wind is also still blowing incredibly hard and despite trying to keep it out of my eyes and mouth, it is relentless and I’ll be cleaning it out of my ears for days afterwards!

After about 30mins we arrive at the herders house and the camels are signalled to lay down again which you’d better sit back and hold on for!  We are then invited into his home for milk tea (slightly salted) and powdered tobacco (which you sort of snort) which he offered all of us but only some of us partook in…not me…but Dave’s eyes were sure watering!

The herder sat with us and we had a nice conversation with him about his livestock and how he feeds them through the winter etc. It was a very nice experience to be in an authentic home and to have a conversation with someone local. He was very engaged and Sara did all the translating for both of us. 

Our drivers pick us up and we head off to an oasis where the grass is green and lush amidst the desert around it. There are horses and cattle grazing and a spring with the coldest and freshest water coming out of the ground. Our drivers fill their water bottles from the spring…the rest of us aren’t as brave but I do wash my face in the cool water. 

After spending some time relaxing there, we head back to our camp. It’s time for a shower and dinner and then we sit around outside for awhile playing games. The wind has died down slightly this evening and I’m able to sit outside our ger and read for awhile.

It’s small moments like this that give me pause. Here I am, sitting outside a ger, watching the sun set and reading my book while looking out to the sand dunes in the Gobi Desert. I feel very lucky to get to experience this. 

Day 5 - Ulaanbataar to Gobi Desert

We were up at 2:30am this morning and got picked up at 3am to head to the airport for our flight to Dalanzadgad.

After getting checked in and grabbing a coffee we head to our small domestic gate. Fiona and I got a behind the scenes tour of the security when Avery’s kindle got flagged as power bank which I gather is not allowed. They actually let us go into the back security area to search the checked bag and pull out the culprit!

We head to our gate get loaded onto the bus to take us to the plane when we find ourselves doing a u-turn and heading back to the airport. We are told that it’s due to weather initially but then find out the plane has technical issues and that our flight is cancelled. 

There are several tour groups travelling to the same location, and all the tour guides spring into action to sort out alternate plans.  

The initial plan is for us to take a charter flight to Khanbogd which is a mining airport. From there our drivers in Dalanzadgad will drive out to meet us and drive us to back to our Ger Camp. 

That plan gets the kibosh, and they then want to put us on a bus the whole way, which is approximately 8 hours and a better road. 

They seem to want us to travel with another group of travellers who are keen to take option 2, however we pipe up that our preference is to take the plane partway there, and do the shorter drive. Despite the fact that it will apparently be a very rough road for 250kms, this feels like a better plan. Certainly more fun and more our style!

The airlines are pulling our luggage and trying to keep up with our evolving plans, but ultimately we fly into the mining town of Khanbogd landing around 6:30am or so. We have to wait for our drivers to come from our camp so we sit around the airport and grab a few snacks and charge our phones. Some games of cribbage ensue. In my opinion sitting in an airport beats driving for hours. 

It’s raining in Khanbogd and our drivers show up around 10:15am and we load into the 3 Lexus SUV’s and get on the road. The SUV’s are numbered and there seems to be a hierarchy…no passing car #1!! This ends up being fun later when car #2 keeps pushing things!

The roads are nowhere near as bad as we thought it would be and this way takes us past the largest mine in Mongolia which is the Rio Tinto (Australian - own 66%), which is an underground and open pit mining gold and copper. We also pass multiple open pit coal mines. There are trucks rolling past us regularly headed for the Chinese border which is only about 125km south. 

It’s a mixture of paved road and off-roading and the air is cool outside and it’s raining off and on. It is by no means as bad as what we have seen, and we are happy with our choice to fly and drive this way. 

The one thing to point out at this point is that it is windy…not a little bit windy…a LOT windy. It is unrelenting.

We arrive into Dalanzadgad around 1:45pm and then we head off-road again to our camp which is about 40mins out. We are staying at the Gobi Nomad Lodge which is owned by our tour company. It’s really lovely and the gers are beautiful inside. We actually get a washroom with a shower, although when we arrive the power is out, we suspect due to the wind which here seems to be blowing even harder. 

We grab some lunch and decide that we won’t do any further sightseeing for the day, so take the time to relax and read and wait for our next meal.

The dining hall ger is really stunning inside and the food is very good. They always have instant coffee, sugar and instant creamer on the table and serve got water and tea with every meal. We are offered lovely 3 course meals that consist of simple salads, carrot soup and mains which consist of roasted veggies and meat. They have been very receptive to my dietary needs and so far so good. 

The ger beds are a little hard, but it’s been a crazy long day and sleep comes quickly!

Day 4 - Seoul to Ulaanbataar

It’s an early start this morning. Our flight to Mongolia leaves from Incheon at 8:00am and it’s an hour to the airport. Mom has booked us a mini van as the trains don’t start running until 5:23am and we are worried that won’t get us there in time. 

In typical fashion, the van doesn’t arrive at 5am as planned..we don’t panic immediately…but nothing like a little stress first thing to get everyone all a little excited!

He does finally show up and is very apologetic. Another example of how pleasant it has been in Seoul. The people here have all been incredibly kind and polite. In other countries we have visited, this would have gone down very differently. 

The ride to the airport is uneventful and security is very efficient and we are through in record time. Other major cities should take note! 

Time for coffees and a snack and then we are boarding and on our way. 

The flight to Ulaanbataar is just under 4 hours. We are flying Korean Air and the meals are good and they have thought of everything at your seat, there is even a small hook for hanging a bag. 

The immigration line is long in Mongolia, but there are no issues and we are warmly greeted by our tour guide “Sarah” once we are through. 

We successfully manage to take out some local currency and then head outside to our driver. The exchange rate is around 2700 CAD to the Tugrik, so we are feeling flush with cash. Lol. 

The weather is amazing after the heat of Seoul. It’s cool and crisp and such a welcome change. The airport is located in what honestly feels like the middle of nowhere, it is surrounded by rolling hills filled with horses and sheep and speckled with gers (yurts). 

The drive into UB is peaceful and Sarah tells us about life in Mongolia as we drive. They face incredibly harsh winters here, UB is apparently the coldest capital in the world. It means that once the temperature finally warms, they have a short few months of a flurry of construction activity and fixing and maintaining roads to prepare for the next winter. 

They burn coal here as their primary heating source and apparently the air quality in the winter is quite bad. We see the soviet looking coal power plants as we drive into the City. 

There are half constructed buildings everywhere and the mix in architecture is vast. With so many influences over the years, you see Gers next to Soviet style buildings, next to modern buildings. The City is clean, however the traffic is bad and there are huge pipes running above ground everywhere which is for the steam that heats the buildings in the City through the winter. There are certainly moments of beauty in UB, but overall it’s not a particularly beautiful city. That being said, the people are warm and friendly and people here dress in a very casual way and honestly look no different than if you were walking down the streets of Vancouver.  

After a quick stop at the Cashmere factory we get to our hotel and have a great lunch before we are off again to visit the City. 

Sarah’s son Johnny joins us. He is 15 and loves history and mom is showing him the ropes. He is a lot of fun and his English is amazing. Self taught off the internet. The kids do not learn English in school and he doesn’t speak fondly of the school system. His desire to learn and eventually study abroad pushes him to teach himself about Mongolian and other world history. 

We visit the Monastery first, and the history of Mongolia is long and complicated and I won’t get everything right here, the bottom line is that in 1990, they built this amazing statue that is 25m high. It is filled with soil from all corners of the country as well as other Mongolian items that symbolize their culture and lifestyle. It is a very important landmark for the people here. 

When we step inside it is honestly breathtaking. The building from the outside  is fairly plain so that when you step over the threshold, you are struck with the absolute enormity of this beautiful statue. We walk around a little and then visit the newer and more modern monastery. Approximately 40% of the population here is Buddhist, but it is practiced in different ways. For Sarah and Johnny it is part of their daily lives and it’s more a philosophy of doing good to others and living in the moment. The more I listen to them speak about it, the more I’d love to learn more about it. 

We then head to the Chinggis Khan Museum which is beautifully done. It’s Johnny’s favourite museum and he spends hours here. He excitedly walks us through each floor describing the history of his people. Given what Mongolia has been through over the years, including living under communist rule for 70 years, it’s amazing how much they were able to find and preserve. 

We then make a quick stop at the main square and then head for dinner at a hot pot restaurant called “The Bull”. It’s delicious and we eat a feast and then head back to the hotel. We have to leave our hotel by 3am in order to catch our flight south to the Gobi so we need to get some shut eye.