July 15 (Tuesday) – Drive to the Gobi Desert

Our long-awaited trip to see and experience the Gobi Desert has finally arrived.  We were off early for the 9 or 10-hour drive.  Turns out that there was actually a paved road for all but about the last 30 miles.  There were a few stretches in bad need of repair but for the most part it wasn’t too bad. It was definitely desert scenery but surprisingly green.

Along the way we saw some nomad camps with a lot of horses pulled up near their gers.  Turns out this is the time of year for milking the mares to make fermented mare’s milk.  It is after foaling and it looks like a lot of the foals are just about weaned so they just keep milking the mares for a couple more months.  This is a big job as they milk the mares every two to three hours.

We saw a lot of other livestock on the drive…horses and cows early on.  As we got farther south it was mostly more goats and sheep and some camels.

As we entered the new province there was a large welcoming gate and some statues. 

There was also a small stupa nearby.

We had a lunch stop in the first major town we hit on the drive, Ӧmnögovi.  Fancy table decor.

The bathroom featured child size fixtures. 

Across the street from the restaurant was a souvenir shop so we checked it out and Mary bought a refrigerator magnet to add to her collection.  We also stopped at a large store for water…looked like a scaled down Costco.

Then we stopped for gas.  At that point our luck ran out.  One of the two cars we are traveling decided to start but not go into gear.  After trying to get it to work it was decided that we four would pile and our luggage would pile into the working car and head for our resort.  Rainbow and the other driver would follow once he got the car fixed (we were assured they would only be a couple hours behind us.)

Shortly after we pulled out of the gas station, we hit dirt roads, and we would be on them for about 30 miles to our resort.  There were a dizzying amount of tire tracks heading out in all directions.  But it seemed like our driver knew where he was headed. 

Part of the drive was on good dirt tracks…

and then across unmarked steppes or with very faint tracks. 

The beautiful clouds over the Gobi Desert. 

We are seeing more camels in this area. 

And after some time it became clear that the driver was lost.  But at least he had ask directions and was headed in the right general direction.  And fortunately, while Jessica still had internet access back in the town she had found our resort on the map and was able to point him in the right direction.  We actually weren’t too far from the Gobi Mirage Resort.

We arrived to the grand gate...

and settled in to our rooms.  The large ger...

had a most interesting bathroom setup...toilet floating in the middle of the room. 

and then headed to the restaurant for dinner.  Just about then Rainbow and the other driver showed up…took them about the two hour’s she had estimated. 

That evening we had a lovely sunset over the Gobi Desert.  Lovely way to end the day.