I got up before sunrise. Ok. So, if I were to be honest, I never slept.
A. I was not in a familiar environment.
B. Asian beds are really hard.
C. I froze all night, because I was too cold to keep feeding the fire. I’m guessing the night time temperatures were probably in the high 30s.
But, on the brighter side, Andrew was in bed, sound asleep. That was a blessing and an opportunity to sneak out for a quick, private adventure at Elsen Tasarhai, which literally means, “an isolated torn-off piece of sand”. It is a biome of desert (part of the Mongol Els) and lies in the midst of the steppe and an outcrop of granite mountains.
Sunrise Adventure at Elsen Tasarhai
I watched the sunrise come up over the desert. It was quiet and serene, except for an occasional bird call that I didn’t recognize. Camels and goats dotted the landscape. I could have hiked back to the dunes or to the steppe where the camels were grazing, but I was taken in and drawn towards a green oasis. The little, meandering rivers shimmered in the morning sun.
I half expected to see a golf course; instead, I felt a woosh of air and a beating of what sounded like a drum. I was taking photos of the wetlands when this monstrous bird swept down directly in front of me. Just as fast as he came down, he rose until he was a dot over the horizon. Later, I realized it flew right into my photo. (How often does that happen?)
Later, that morning, when we were driving out of the area, we saw a field of large vultures. I am not entirely sure, but I don’t think this bird was hunting like I initially thought. If it were a vulture it would have been looking for something dead, or maybe, Mongolian vultures are into photo bombing!
Meanwhile, Back at the Ger
Andrew was up and dressed and was messing with the family dog by the time I got back to the ger. He didn’t seem to care about what I had been up to, he was more interested in the breakfast that Nymka was laying out. I am definitely not use to such service and have never felt so spoiled! Nymka was a great cook and every meal, during our time in Mongolia, was fantastic.
We were packing and getting ready to move onto the Orkhon Valley. Every trip, I try to teach Andrew to keep his bag organized and packed, so that all we had to do is close it and go on our way. This concept was proving to be more difficult than it should have been because, once again, he had stuff everywhere.
King of the Elsen Tasarhai Dune
We couldn’t depart without one last time to play in the sand. King (Queen?) of the Mountain seems to be an international game that everyone is familiar with! Most of the time the boys were just being boys but how could Nymka and I let them have all the fun?
The dunes were teaming with signs of three types of critters: live, dead, and those invisible. One of Andrew’s adventure at Elsen Tasarhai included tracking a little sand toad until he found it. Andrew was overly interested and the little toad was not hospitable towards his boyish interest. Eventually, it disappeared into the sand.
The Mongolian Deserts
Most people think that deserts are hot and lifeless, yet, in reality, it is just the opposite in Mongolia. The Gobi Desert is home to many rare animals as well as the Bactrian (two hump) camels. It is the coldest desert on earth which is no surprise since the winter temperatures typically dip to -20 degrees. Elsen Tasarkhai is a part of the Mongol Els sand dunes, and is similar (albeit smaller) in many ways to the Gobi Desert.
Even the Mundane becomes a Mongolian Adventure!
Traveling is like life, when one adventure ends another begins. Even the typical errand, like “filling up” proved to be an interesting photo opportunity!
Look! They like each other! This wandering herd was very animated and very loving towards other family members in the herd.
I could spend hours in small towns and shops. We stopped for a quick fill up on snacks, drinks and other goodies – namely school supplies. It is fun to purchase school supplies as souvenirs and then remember the memories as we use them throughout the year. Andrew collects notebooks from the countries we visit. The pages and line-styles are always totally different than what we use.
Our favorite snacks were roasted fava beans and chocolate covered raisins. Typically at home, because of Prader-Willi syndrome, I serve breakfast, lunch, snack at 3, and dinner. Nothing else is ever expected. But when traveling I loosen this schedule. We were continuously hiking and wandering the hills so we were certainly getting our exercise. I came to discover the hard way, after the Great Meltdown on the Great Wall, that Andrew needs more calories and more protein when we travel.
Oh – the chocolate covered raisins, those were for Nymka and me. Togo got a few… Andrew even less…
Another tank of gas and we’re back on the road again. Well, one of ’em anyway!
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