Day 13- Nomads, Temples and Vultures

My first concern when arriving in Mongolia (and one that I had foreseen) was that I was in severe danger of accidentally missing my train to China. My second concern was getting out of the city as soon as possible. Luck still being on my side, it was only two hours before I had grabbed some breakfast, showered, and jumped in a car with a guide, an Italian man, and a girl from Auckland, who happened to be going on a three day tour.

 

Camp 1: This is the scene the morning after the sandstorm. Our hosts were a nomadic family, living in the ger in the picture. Camels, I am told, are kept by most families in the Gobi desert, for meat and milk. These particular camels, however, are kept so that tourists can ride them, which they didn't look too happy about. The family live mostly on mutton, which we also ate twice a day.

 

An old Buddhist temple at Karakorum. This small village, whose name you probably don't recognise, once ruled over half of Asia. 

 

Karakorum also featured a museum and this ruined power plant. We had lunch with a friend of our guide who was busy setting up their own tourist business, and got in the way helped her to build a new ger. Hopefully when she puts the photos up on her website she will angle them away from the ruined power plant.

 

Camp 2: This family live (at the white speck) several miles from the nearest water, with the advantage of a spectacular view to the mountains. They also have a gun, to keep the wolves from their herd of goats...

 

The youngest member of the family instructs me on how to operate his motorbike. Handy, when your next door neighbours are a half hour walk away.

 

Off on a mission, towards the rocks where, earlier in the day, vultures were perched until we arrived. The sky then went dark as their enormous forms swooped right over our heads. I was quite thankful that they are scavengers and not hunters.