Our travels started with a 2-day drive to the Gobi Desert with our colleague, Bold, his son Boyna, his buddy and fellow math teacher, Baggie, and a very nice young Australian couple, Jeff and Emily and their 4 year old daughter, Lily. Bold, Boyna, Baggie, Pam and I left UB to meet up with the Australian family flying into Dalanzadgad, the major town in the Gobi. Pam was in Bold's car and I in Baggie's. Eight hours after leaving UB we left the blacktop, and the drivers decided to test the cars' shocks and springs and our dental work. All remained in tack for the next 4-5 hours as we bounced on dirt tracks that at times were as wide as the Champs Elysees. We marveled at the green rolling terrain that morphed into patchy low scrub and, finally, to dust, dirt and rocks. Welcome to the Gobi Desert!!
The desert changed its appearance every half hour or so. We'd drive through a wasteland of dirt, rocks and small piles of sand that looked like ant hills seen between the cracks of a sidewalk. We'd take turns eating each others' dust created by whose ever car was taking the lead. Without much of a transition there would suddenly be a thin layer of grass making the new section of desert look lush at first glance. Then scrub brush with sand pooling around the base of many of the plants would take over the landscape.
A highlight of the trip was Khongoryn Els, which The Lonely Planet says, "...are some of the largest and most spectacular sand dunes in Mongolia" and "are up to 300m high, 12km wide and about 100km long." The book was on target here. As we came over a ridge, the yellow/gold of the sand dunes from a distance looked like a mirage. The enormity of the dunes didn't really sink in until we stood at the base second guessing ourselves if we were really going to climb to the top. It was about 4 PM when the shoes came off and the Australian dad, Jeff, and I started the climb. It wasn't long before I was regretting taking off my shoes because of the heat from the sand. It got to a point where the sand was firm and I had to soften it with my hands because my feet had developed blisters from the heat and coarseness of the sand. Then the steepness of the climb kept me bent over on all fours so I must have looked like some new species of sand creature that hadn't adapted well to its environment. However, the effort was well worth the reward of an amazing view from the summit. It looked like a scene from a Foreign Legion movie. The lines of the dunes were augmented in shadows with the setting sun. Kilometers away were jagged peaked mountains that provided a contrast to the yellow/gold color of the dunes. Looking down from where I had just climbed were patches of green that bordered the dunes and looked out of place. Suddenly a sight caught my eye that brought on a big grin. There was Pam doing the beastly crawl up the slopes with a look on her face that seemed to question her sanity. With shouts of encouragement and rest breaks every few moments, she found herself laying across the dune ridge with a smile of accomplishment and eyefuls of a magnificent scene. If we only had skis with us, it would have been an amazing downhill run.
The dunes also provided us with one more memory but not quite as positive. Camel riding was on the schedule for the next day. We arrived at a ger with the camel herd that was going to fulfill our dreams of trekking through the dunes on 2 humpers. The camels are controlled via a rope attached to a piece of wood that is pierced through the nose. We watched a nose-piercing occur on a camel and, by the screeching sounds the camel made, that part of the nose must be sensitive. Pam was the lucky one to get the newly pierced camel much to her regret. We mounted our humpers and with our ONE camel herder leading the way on foot, headed towards the dunes. We were making our way daisy-chained together at a leisurely pace when suddenly Pam's camel got spooked and began jumping and trying to run. The herder managed to keep her camel under control but, in the chaos, my camel's rope became free and it took off running as I held on to its limp front hump. For those that are not informed about camel humps, like many body parts, some are stiff and some limp. Camels' hump stiffness depends on the amount of fat in their bodies, not on the amount of water in its system. My camel must have been on a low fat diet. While I was clinging to my camel's limp front hump, I saw Jeff and Lily hit the ground, followed by Emily. Not being able to grab the rope to get my camel under control (their necks are pretty long), I made the decision to abandon the humps. When going for a camel ride the height of the camel is never a consideration but, when falling from one, a short legged variety would be appreciated. All in all, 5 of us ended up spitting sand. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but there were lots of aches and pains for the next few days. My camera was the biggest casualty as I was taking pics up to the stampede.
There were many other great moments during this first trip that didn't include the kids, but I don't want this to become a War & Peace type novel. The next post will share our experiences during Devon and Kyle's visit.
