Dinosaur Bones and Guilty People: Mongolia’s Gobi desert

Location:
Mongolia

Gobi desert, ecotourism, immersion travel

By Lili DeBarbieri

"The desert is a place where guilty people go to live," said Zolo, our young effervescent guide, as we headed south for the Gobi Desert, the arid but living heart of Mongolia.

Guilty inhabitants or not, deserts can be some of the most enchanting places in the world and the Mongolian Gobi is one of the most hypnotizing. Maybe it's the vast, empty space, the incredible colors, or simply the way such never-ending expanses force you to focus on nothing but the land’s imposing personality.

Mongolia is the American Wild West before settlement: horses rule on rutted tracks, stars not street lights give ambiance to the night, and outside the capital city of Ulaan Baator, pollution-free air allows daytime skies to revel in their true, sparkling blue hues. Truly, to walk in the Gobi is to kick the dust of another planet.

Our journey was from the capital to the famous Gobi Gurvansaikan (Three Beauties) National Park. The ‘National Park’ classification seemed in some respects redundant: the entire country is one giant nature reserve with protected areas only mirroring the beauty that sweeps across the entire nation in collusion with a sand-heavy wind.

These endless expanses of uninhabited land bewitch you with their purity and it’s easy to forget the practicalities and dangers of desert travel. The chances of becoming lost are high, even when guided by locals. Many a traveler has become fatally lost in the Gobi as a result of the "singing sand" dunes, which distract and disorientate people passing through, regardless of their regional knowledge. And as we passed, the dunes continued their muffled-wind chorus, and so too our guide became victim to the land’s ever-changing contours.

As the sun went down after a three turned ten-hour ride, Zolo confirmed we were indeed lost. A further eight hours of driving and back-seat praying that we didn’t run out of petrol, we finally reached the Ger camp that was to be our night’s rest, but only with the direction of some kindly nomads more used to the tricks of the shifting sands. Apparently, our guide had overstated his own desert guiding experience. To be fair, it’s almost impossible to find your way in the Gobi at night, even if you had made the same trip twice before.

The nomads’ assistance was only one demonstration that Mongolians, despite their inhospitable and unforgiving environment, are among the most hospitable people a traveler could wish to meet. My first night outside Ulaan Baator was spent in a private Ger – a traditional round igloo-like home – that a Mongolian family generously offered after we discovered the regular tourist camp was full.

As a people, Mongolians maintain a quiet dignity. Desert dwellers aren’t particularly interested in the money to be made from encounters with foreigners. Curios are sold in the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park but those passing through aren’t pressured into purchasing. Wealth in these parts has traditionally meant having an abundance of healthy animals rather than a wad of cash. They don’t pine for Internet access, expensive cars or shares of Citibank. No, these stoic nomads exist on two dollars a day but they greet you with a broad grin as though they had two thousand.

As we traveled through this world without fences, rectangle peaks the color of rust appeared on the horizon like a plant sprouting from the ground after a heavy rain. Bayanzag or the " Flaming Red Cliffs" are probably the best-known attraction in Mongolia, becoming world famous in the 1920's after the discovery of dinosaur bones by American Roy Chapman Andrews.

In Andrew’s long-gone footsteps, we played at being amateur paleontologists, a few in our group were lucky to find some small dinosaur bones. A year earlier, Zolo had found a full dinosaur tail and head. He tried to show us where they were hidden, but the cherished examples had vanished, taken by other fossil hunters or possibly swept away by the moving sands.

Supposedly, if authentic, dinosaur bones will stick to your tongue the way ice does, making them easily identifiable from human or animal bones. A self-conscious effort of licking various finds later, I had a sandy tongue, but no dinosaur bones. My disappointment at failing in the Jurassic hunt abated quickly, however, when walking back to the van I looked down and there, at my feet, a small dinosaur bone lifted from the sand.

With the weird sensation of bone texture still crackling in my mouth, we headed further towards the Flaming Cliffs. They materialized before us as scarlet sand splotches resembling an open wound spreading for miles, the shimmering heat making them dance true to their fiery namesake.

On the return journey, we stopped at a small well to ask for directions. As the nomads busily worked at weaving material to cover their Gers, we wandered over to give water to their horses. The thirsty equine beasts, horses unique to this part of the world, fought each other for the precious water being served up.

"Don't worry, they won’t hurt you," said Zolo, her assurances proven by the tenderness with which the nomad children and horses interacted. “They’re used to dealing with people from a very young age, as are the children used to dealing with the horses,” she smiled. Harmony in an unharmonious land.

The unscheduled activity, mixing in with the children who tended to the horses, helping a Mongolian tribe in their daily chores, made the Mongolian experience sink in more deeply than any bone-hunt. After all, to these people a bone is as valuable as a piece of paper with an effigy printed on it. More valuable is water for their horses.

In the end, I decided the guilty people weren’t those living in the desert, but those who hadn’t been there to gain an appreciation for the Gobi, its people and the value of a Mongolian smile.

Further Information

Other helpful information:

Details:

www.selenatravel.com Selena Travel conducts tours all over Mongolia and has a wealth of information about the country.

Tour operator details

Selena Travel

St. Teeverchid -35, Bld. Materialimpex, 2nd floor, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Tel/Fax: 976-1-136-3499 Mobile: 976-9-923-9695

Email: selena@magicnet.mn

www.selenatravel.com

Accommodation suggestions:

In the Gobi, you will sleep in a Ger at a tourist camp. There are roughly 15 Gers in each tourist camp. It is a full day’s drive between Ger camps. Not to worry though, Gers are very cozy, large with three beds per Ger, but usually no electricity, so bring candles. Ger camps have bathrooms with showers, but no hot water.

Costs:

Contact Selena Travel directly to enquire about prices, which vary.

How to get there:

Fly to Ulaan Baator Mongolia. From there you will drive for two days straight for 8-10 hours each day until you reach the Gobi Gurvansaikan. It is possible to fly from Ulaan Baator to an airstrip located in the largest Ger camp called Juulchin Gobi.

Contacts:

Sales Manager Ms. Geserbadam Nyama, selena@magicnet.mn or Ms. Zolzaya Olziisaikhan, Tour Guide Mobile Phone 976-91194245 email: zoloo_o@yahoo.com or shinoda@chinggis.com

Travel Tips:

If you don't like long car rides or get car sick easily, the Mongolian Gobi is not the place for you. You will be driving all day, almost every day of the tour.

Visiting the Gobi takes patience. For example, when you stop in one of the few towns in the Gobi to get petrol, your tour guide will have to find the home of the petrol station worker and then drive him to the petrol station which can take a little time. The people who work at the petrol station don't wait around for customers as there are so few people who pass through everyday.

Food in the Gobi is not varied and consists mostly of carbohydrates and meat with few vegetables or fruit.

Must see/do at this place: Horseback riding, camel riding, wildlife tours, visit with Mongolian nomads.