Camping in the Gobi Desert
“Taking a trip into Mongolia will be an interesting trip for any Westerner. There is no decipherable traffic system, terrible poverty, dead dogs/camels/sheep etc. besides the road and the odd drink/drug problem but the local people are more than happy and pleased to see you! Wonderfully the whole country is a relatively unspoilt by humankind with an array of beautiful scenery and culture.
Me, my friend Andy and a Swedish girl (who we met on a Russian train) took a 3 day trip into the outer reaches of Mongolia. We went to places where only the odd adventurous traveller gets to see with some local guides by mini-coach. We discovered that there were only two large tarmac roads in the whole of Mongolia and we wouldn't be travelling on them for long! The whole mini-van journey was a little bumpy to say the least on the bumpy, dried out dirt roads.
When we stopped for food we were given strange tough meat, vegetables we've never laid eyes on and warm goat's milk drink to wash it down. This meal was the tipping point for the two other travellers; cue vomiting and explosive diarrhoea, it wasn't pretty.
We arrived at our accommodation for the night which was a 'Gur' tent situated besides a rocky mountain in the sands of the Gobi desert, it was a true adventure! Our hosts were a family living off the land, they had a whole herd of goats and horses. They move their Gurs every few months to take advantage of the seasons, life was really tough for them it seemed but they loved to have visitors. We learned about their traditions and discovered the toilet was the mountain behind us; there's nothing like going to the toilet sitting on a desert rock looking out into the wilderness!
When the lights turned out it was pitch black, the nearest Gur was 10 miles away, no-one knew of the nearest settlement. We were “treated” to a Mongolian spirit made from milk I think, it tasted like fish and vodka but we all had to have a swig of it from the SAME cup passed around the whole group in the tent. When the cup came to your place you had to down it's contents and pass it on, any hesitation would get the odd nudge from other people waiting for the cup. Hallucinogenic snuff was also thrust upon you, it make your brain fizzle and eyes water, the night was a bit blurry after a while!
The next morning we fed baby goats and had some wild horses brought to us to ride through the desert. I've never ridden a horse before ever so having one gallop underneath me was a bit of a scary experience especially when I had no control over it's movements! We passed more corpses/skeletons of dead animals to arrive at the biggest sand dune in the area. The view was amazingly just sand and rocks; mile and miles of sand punctuated by bulbous rock formations, I highly recommend going to Mongolia if you want a cheap holiday adventure in a beautiful country.”
