Day 7:
Up at 7am again and tents down as usual. We
were only 3 minutes out of our camp site when Bataar’s back wheels got stuck in a small
stream and he was unable to pull it out. Everyone piled out and
it took a few attempts, much wheel spinning and a breaking of a
tow rope before he managed to get it out. We left Khongoryn Els
to go to the Ongi River. We headed through the desert
to Bayanzag and stopped off at a town called Bulgan which was the
home of a man named Pol. Pol was/is a local farmer who is successfully
cultivating the Gobi. He had managed to pursue many careers in
his life time including politics and escorting the film crew from
Germany who made "The Weeping Camel”. We all sat in his ger whilst
he plied us with fresh salad – cultivated in the desert. He had
a western toilet which was great and I think everyone made use
of it. It was especially welcome to those with the squits.
After our visit to Pol’s house we drove on to Bayanzag and to
an area more commonly known as "The Flaming Cliffs”. These cliffs
rise out of a flat landscape and are a vivid orange colour. They
have been eroded by the wind to form unique shapes. There were
beautiful views and within 30 seconds of walking we found ourselves
in eerie quiet. The area is famous for its dinosaur finds and this
was where the first dinosaur eggs were found, proving that dinosaurs
laid eggs rather than giving birth to live young. Davey had us
all laughing as he picked up 3 "dinosaur eggs”. He was trying to
convince us all that he had found 6 neatly placed eggs in a pile
that was obviously in a location that no other person had ever
been. Andy took pleasure in assuring me that he thought it was
petrified dung!
Once we left the Flaming Cliffs we drove towards
the Ongi River and on towards our only stay in a tourist
ger camp.
We were all really looking forward to not having to erect tents. We
had a good time in the vans this day as we discussed films and
started off the A-Z Film game. As we drove across the flat plains
the 3 vans raced each other. As we were in Jaagar’s van there was
never any fear of us losing…
When we arrived at the ger camp we came across
our first "tourist
gimic” in Mongolia as on the cliff face behind the river (which
was actually so low it should have been called the Ongi stream)
were concrete argali sheep. The ger camp was supposed to represent
luxury – which it did in one respect, we had shelter that we didn’t
have to put up ourselves, we could stand up inside, unpack fully
our back packs, sleep in a bed and be truly warm. The shower, however,
which was what everyone was really looking forward to, turned out
to be a dribble and I for one was very disappointed and wish I
hadn’t bothered undressing for the miserable experience! We did
manage to wash our hair in the freezing cold water in an outside
sink.
As we could spend an evening inside – we took
the opportunity of having our meal around the table, rice and
tomato sauce on the
top for starters! Main course was a potato and turnip stew. We
also decided it was a great opportunity for a vodka night. Everyone
partook of at least one vodka orange or bloody mary and some had
more than others! We slept well that night.
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