Day Five 02.08.2012 Gobi Gurvan Saikhan to Khavtsgait

Late start today, so we have the morning to do what we will.  Some walk, some wash bodies (again!) and find more laundry.  We have a leisurely breakfast before packing our tent and going for a walk up in the hills.  It’s another lovely day with high cloud and a very mild temperature. 

An early lunch before heading on along the gorge, out through a very narrow gap in the rocks…will the trucks really fit through?...yes, they will!!!...and out onto the plains.  We come across a stupa built by locals to commemorate the monastery once on this site, but destroyed by the Russians.  We explore the ruins and watch a lady from a nearby ger milking the horses.  The foals are tethered near the ger and the mares roam free, but return to their foals at ‘suckling’ time.  This is the opportunity for the herders to allow the foals to feed and then milk the mares for their airac (fermented mare’s milk) supplies.  We haven’t had an airac tasting yet…our drivers are the connoisseurs and they will let us know when the milk is right for the tasting, probably when we get to Bulgan in a couple of weeks.

The afternoon heats up and we are driving across, rather than parallel to, the dry stream beds created by mountain storms.  Makes for uncomfortable driving for passengers and requires skill by the drivers.  We are camping in another gorge tonight, but we must cross rolling desert plains, all green, and along the base of a mountain range before arriving at ‘our’ hidden gorge.  Small sand dunes are visible in the distance.  We turn into the gorge where evidence of monster rain greets us and the road is eradicated…it is now a large ‘delta.’  We pass 2 stationary tour trucks and go on to get first choice of campsite.  The camp site we used in 2009 is overgrown so we go on to a flatter area further up the gorge and set up.  It’s still very warm but we spend a pleasant evening, and “Dug” gives us our first ‘private’ toilet of the tour!!



Young Ibex from afar

Take-off

Khavtsgait