Khongoryn Els, the famous sand dunes of the Gobi desert in the South of Mongolia. Often we believe the desert looks like the well known sand dune photos, but in reality it is only a small part of it. Mainly it is a rather rocky and of course dry region and only in some parts we can find the dunes, like in Khongoryn Els.
A bit of reality does not harm, so here you go. 🙂 Prior heading into the desert, you have to stock up especially with water. And that’s what we also did, not like at home by turning on the water tab. This kind of luxury does not exist in most of the countries on our trip so far and also not in Mongolia. You do it by visiting the local water house and carry the water home. At least we have the luxury of driving there, so we can save on the carrying part.
On the way to the desert you have then the opportunity to get evening visits by some nomands. Lovely and friendly people, even though the conversations are difficult as we don’t speak any Mongolian and only the kids sometimes speak a bit of English. But always up for a smile.
Even though they own not much, they sometimes even approach you with some gifts, like cheese and a home made alcoholic drink made out of horse milk. Guess you have to be grown up with this, what makes it even more unfortunate as they share it with you even though they have not much themselves.
Unfortunately Mongolia demands a lot from the driver and the car, especially when you avoid the main roads and rather travel on side roads or even 4×4 tracks, like we do at the moment. So sometimes it hits others…
…and sometimes it hits you. Fortunately only minor things so far, like our solar systems that decided to work now only from time to time, or a leaking water pump. But also disc-breaks can make funny noises in combination with little stones. 🙁
Still it is all worth it, amazing landscapes getting closer to the dunes of the Gobi desert, especially now after the rain.
And of course the reason for traveling here, the Khongoryn Els sand dunes, but let’s start with a short video message first (sorry guys, in German again but hope you’ll enjoy the pictures though).
More dunes? Well, here you go… Enjoy!
Well, and sometimes you just need to relax. 🙂
Hope you enjoyed it again, following us, especially with kind of reality focus in the beginning. Want to know more how it continues from here? Stay tuned! 🙂
