The Gobi Desert. A
place often viewed with mystery and intrigue.
A place many have heard of and few visit. A place only a few hours from where our group
is staying… at least that is what they tell us.
A little more than a few
hours later, we arrive at Banyan Gobi, a fairly plush ger camp on the edge of the Gobi
desert. It is a quaint little camp that
consists of about 30 gers and a bath
house. There are herds of sheep and
goats calmly grazing in the pasture nearby.
Many of us felt the call of the wild as soon as we arrived. After dropping off our gear in our gers a group of us headed off into the
dunes.
The Gobi is not as arid as I had initially thought. There are many scrubs, grasses, and even
trees near where we stayed. On the walk
out, we encountered many bones and animal remains in the pastures we passed
through to get to the more desert-like region.
These were mainly goat remains left from a previous slaughter.
We stepped onto the sandy dunes past the pastures and it
immediately felt more desert-like. Josh
offered a bounty of ₮20 to the first man to defeat the highest dune in front of
us. I being on to take on almost any challenge (even if it is for just over 1₵)
took off sprinting.
As I reached the top, I looked back victoriously as my less
competitive compatriots walked up the dune.
The view was amazing! I could see
off into the distance for what seemed like miles. When everyone made it to the top, there were
photo ops galore. Then the time came
that we needed to head back to camp to have dinner.
Since heading into the desert had been made into a
competition, of coursing leaving also had to become one. On the way back Howard, Hayden, and I found a
nice, big dune that was fairly clear of shrubbery and shrapnel and we emptied
our pockets. We laid down at the top and
waited for the ward from Adam with his video camera. When he gave the word, we began to roll. Faster and faster we went as we gained
velocity down the sandy dune. When we
reached the bottom and regained our composure, I realized that I had curved
about 20’ to the left while Hayden and Howard made a fairly straight run. Regardless, Adam and others reported that I
had made it down the fastest. Sweet,
sweet victory once again.
We trekked back through the pastures of bone to our dinner ger, the largest ger I have ever seen. We
were served a fairly fancy dinner, an unexpected situation in the wilds of the
Gobi. After we ate and had class, the
wild called to us once again. Another
group of us decided to go see the stars in the desert before we went to
bed. It was a dark and storm free
night. We chatted for a while and after
seeing a few shooting stars and satellites, we headed back to retire to our gers but not before I was able to plan a
sunrise hike to the highest nearby hill with Aaron.
5:15 My alarm beeps in my ear. The fire has gone out and the warm woolen
blankets are my last safe haven of warmth in the harsh morning cool of the ger.
I am supposed to meet Aaron in 15 minutes. We have made a pact that if either of us is
not there by 5:45 the other will head out alone.
5:20 The soothing comforts of my covers still hold me
captive. Is this really worth it? How
much will we be doing later that will require me to be well rested? How cold is
it outside compared to the warmth of my covers?
I decide I still have plenty of time before I need to be up so I roll
over again.
5:25 I am still held hostage by my bed. I convince myself that there will not be
another chance to see a sunrise over the Gobi.
I pry myself out from under my covers, but only after dragging my frigid
clothing under my covers to put them on and warm up before I enter the cold,
harsh world that is our ger. I exit the ger and venture into the colder, harsher world that is the outside
of our ger and head over to the
designated meeting area. When Aaron is
not there, I head to his lodging to see if I can rouse him. Just as I walk up, he exits ready to go.
The regret from leaving the my bed quickly dissipates as I
warm up from the walk to the hill. The
hike is filled with good company and good conversation. We traverse up the undefined “paths” that
lead up to the peak of the hill. We see
various unique bugs and flowers on the way up.
Finally we reach the top.
We arrive just as the sun is rising in the east over a
glorious array of clouds in the otherwise clear, vast sky. Rays of orange, goldenrod, and pink spread
themselves into the blue-grey predawn expanse, illuminating the clouds causing
them to burn radiantly in the previously dull sky. The light shines brightly on the ovoo at the top of the hill, the warm
colors of the sun contrasting the blue prayer flags tied to the wood and stone.
We take plenty of pictures of the sunrise and each
other. As we are reveling in the majestic
early morning show, three eagles swoop in over the horizon. They banter playfully with each other and
other birds as we look on awestruck. We
take some more pictures of the eagles and a horse skull we find nearby and then
begin our decent.
As we take the bus back down the bumpy dirt road on the way
back home, someone notices a local herdsman with his herd of camel. We have been told that we would be given the
opportunity to ride camels so we have the bus pull over here. A group of Swedish Buddhists who was also at
our camp is finishing up their ride leaving the camels unoccupied and ready for
our group. Colin arranges a price with
the owner, though too late for some as Aaron has already handed a wad of cash
more than three times the decided price to the herdsman and gotten on a
camel. We all take turns riding around
in a small area around the bus while the others take pictures and watch those
on the camels. After the pictures have
been taken, we all pile back onto the bus and head out to our next destination.
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