One of best thing about this trip was when I ask Alimaa about timing to wake up, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. Her reply was "your wish". It’s really one of the highlights of the whole trip. Everything was at our own pace, "your wish", I just love that! Khongoryn Els covers 100km long and 20km wide and reaches a height of 200m. Does the sand really sing? The answer is yes! The sands really do “sing”, the roaring, whistling or some say haunting sound was created by the friction of tons of tiny sand grains movement against one another cause by the wind.
En route to the sand dunes, we bypass a horse herder family whereby young children were helping to draw water from a waterhole to feed the horses. We decided to stop and have a look and I had the opportunities to have a feel of what they were doing.
I learned that those horses have a clan too, when horses from foreign clan tried to get close for a sip, you see those horse kick from horses indigenous to the herders came flying around. I was wondering how they manage to find that waterhole in this vast desert plain. We brought many candy, stationery, doll and some small toys along for this trip and we distributed some to the kids. After bidding them goodbye, we continue our trip to the sand dunes.
Approaching the sand dunes, we had this magnificent post card like setting showcasing in front of us.
The streaky cloud caught my eyes and I quickly stop the driver to allow me to snap a few shots before we continue. Upon reaching, Alimaa instructed the driver to scout for a camel herder so that we can have our camel ride. Prior to that we visited the herder family and suppose to sample their national beverage Airag and camel cheese. Airag is a slightly alcoholic drink, with an acidic sour taste and even more pungent aroma made from a mare's milk. However we somehow miss out sampling the Airag and cheese had the suutei tsai instead. Suutei tsai is another traditional and favourite Mongolian milk tea concocted from a mixture of tea, milk, water and salt. It is Mongolian customary to offer drinks when you visit them, and it is also rude to reject their offer. The camels were ready shortly and its camel riding time!
Beneath its docile appearance, the camels were quite cantankerous initially. Nevertheless, with the authoritative herder we were soon rocking on the camels to the dunes. The smell is one of the most lasting impressions of these grimacing animals. However trekking through the grandeur of the Gobi desert, with shadows from the clouds displaying different shades on the dunes forming another awesome sight, we soon immerse in the charm of it. Reaching the dunes, first things to do was to conquer the top. In fact, the nothingness and tranquillity of Gobi was more than enough to possess me. The herder's daughter lead the way and we charge up the dunes, while I was busy snapping away she was already few hundred metres apart.
At the top of the dunes, golden sand, green pasture and blue sky form artistry landscape which was simply spectacular!
Khongoryn Els was just a feast for my eyes. The pictures will tell a thousand words. For once, I felt like a rural travelling for the first time.
To tell the truth, I had never experience standing in such a vast expanse of land with virtually nothing in my sight except the four of us, and four Bactrian camels. Descending from the sand, I somehow felt heavyhearted even though it was just the start of this trip; I am already thinking of my next visit. Tomorrow we will be exploring Bayanzag also known as the "Flaming Cliff", where it was once the dinosaur’s playground and fossils were discovered in the 1920s.
