life, upside down: Mongolia - Khongoryn Els Sand Dunes

Our next destination was Khongoryn Els sand dunes - also known as the "Singing Sands" because of the sound of the sand whistling in the wind. The dunes are located at the foot of the Altai Mountains and are also in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (the same park of Yolym Am Valley.) The dunes are enormous- stretching 100 km long and 15 km wide.

It was another fairly long driving day and even though we had a bit of clouds in the morning, overall it was a hot one. We arrived at our ger camp in the afternoon and spent the afternoon resting and attempting to stay cool, then went to the the area of tallest dunes as twilight began to fall. Climbing up the dune was no easy feat - not for us nor all the other tourists - but somehow we made it to the top just in time to see the sun set. It was pretty amazing - but exhausting!

The next day we took it pretty easy - it was even hotter and there wasn't much to be done except try to beat the heat. We watched rain clouds pass over the dunes and kept hoping we would get some precipitation, even a cloud to pass in front of the sun--but no such luck. We sat under a covered gazebo, read and took photos of grazing horses, camels and a herd of goats and sheep that wandered by. Also, we experienced riding camels! It was interesting - but not one I am keen to revisit. Camels have a reputation for smelling bad because they smell terrible. Also, my camel seemed to protest and made a long, long screaming or shrieking noise for a good twenty minutes after we started. As I said: worth the experience, but not something I feel compelled to do again.

We left camp in mid-afternoon and drove along the dunes south-eastward, where the dunes are somewhat smaller until we found the passage through to the other side. We crossed over to the other side of the dunes which is very much off the tourist circuit and drove through wide open rocky plains beneath distant mountains. We filled up for petrol at the last town (and last petrol station) we would see for a few days and continued on our way.

We stopped to make camp in the middle of a wide open field, surrounded by mountains on all sides. It seemed absolutely empty and deserted but for an occasional vehicle driving by in the distance every now and again. But as night fell we could see lights of gers far away in the distance, tucked up against the foot of the mountains all around us. And when we woke up in the morning, there was a herd of camels crossing the plain: so we weren't so far from civilization after all.

We were lucky: even though we saw rain in the distance, we didn't get any the night we camped! It was quite lucky, although the next day would be cloudy and drizzly, but even that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Next up will be our drive to Naran dats and all the amazing rocks we saw there!