UlaanBataar and the Gobi Desert Part 2

This is the morning on day 2 of the Gobi desert, and looking across this little dip in the land, you are looking at part of the Silk Road.  It runs from left to right through the middle of the picture, and was a trading route from eastern China to Europe.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road#/media/File:Silk_route.jpg

Here comes the girl!  Open space like this makes you want to run at full speed !

She wanted to walk part of the Silk Road, maybe something to do with learning about it in social studies class, so she got up early to walk with me.  

The last view of our ger before we get back in the car.  

We drove for about three hours, and this was basically the view.  We are heading to those mountains.  Every once in a while we had to take a potty break and just get out of the car because it is just dirt path. 

We are finally getting close.  Then we realize that we have to go through the mountains.  

It is pretty windy, and that is when Gary has to puke.  They say it is pretty common for people to puke, and so they are ready to stop and let us hop out.  Well, you know, there isn't any traffic or anything.  

While that is happening, R-man climbs to the top of the hill. 

This is where we are staying for the second night because all of the gers are booked.  These little cabins have bathrooms, which is super nice, considering how cold it is at night to walk to the shared bathroom.  

Wild camels.  OK, not really wild, but not in an enclosure.  This is our activity for day two- meet a nomadic family, ride camels, and visit the sand dune part of the desert.  

Here we are in the nomadic family's ger, and they are sharing come of their foods with us. There is camel milk, camel yogurt, camel cheese, camel jerky, and sugar cubes.  Here we are all drinking the camel milk.  

While we were on the camels, we were talking about all of the things that the kids have ridden: camels, elephants, horses, dolphin, and trying to figure out what to ride next.  

Do not ask about the hat.

So part of the ride was going out into the desert, and then on the way back in, we helped to herd the other, loose camels back to the ger.  A mom and baby were hiding behind a berm, and only their humps were showing.

Now we are back in the car and heading over a river to the dunes. 

You would think it would be scorching, from all of the deserts you may have seen in the movies, bit it was actually quite nice.  The only part that made it hot was walking up the sandy surface, and having to take tiny steps because the sand kept slipping down. 

This was SO amazing.  The sand was silent except for the wind blowing, and it was like being on the moon.

Here the kids are jumping off the sand ledge and rolling down.  

And here is a skeleton of some unlucky animal. 

Just enjoying the breeze. 

This is a spring that bubbles up from somewhere under the dunes. 

The entrance to our camp.  The gers are on the right, and our little cabin is on the left. 

Wow!  Sunrise over the gers; we are getting ready for day 3.