Mongolian Tour: Gobi and Sub-Gobi Desert PART 2

Both the desert and ice canyon in one day!

I still cannot quite wrap by mind around the fact we saw an ice canyon surround by the Gobi desert.  I understand the process that created it, but it just doesn’t fit with what you expect to find in the middle of a desert! We had a lovely walk around the area and had a competition to see whose icy hands would fall off first...naturally. The area in which we stayed was often a highlight of our days for me, especially when goats on barrels were involved!

Camels and singing sand dunes

Sometimes it is easy to forget just how long we spent on the road. Some days it was as much as 8 hours but it probably averaged around 6 hours. To get to the wonders of Mongolia a long time in a vehicle and a very bumpy road is not only necessary, but part of the experience. I loved the way we stopped off to talk to passing parties. 

One of our many roadside chats

After a morning driving we reached a family that herded camels. The children were again gorgeous and the camels were willing to take us on their backs! Due to the season you really only had to lightly touch the camel and its hair came off in your hand. 

Our ride on the two-humped camels through the desert was enjoyable but I am glad it was not longer than a half hour. Our destination was the GREAT 2015 CLIMBING THE SAND DUNES CHALLENGE. It was really hard going. We kept thinking we were close only to go a bit further and realise there was a lot more hill left to climb, and it was only getting steeper. I think our camel guide left us at the hardest bit as a joke! Eventually Sarah had enough and started to walk back to the ger. The rest of us, perhaps stupidly, persevered ten steps at a time. Not only did the sand in our shoes and clothes weigh us down but it really felt like 3 steps forwards 2 steps sinking back. We were well and truly rewarded at the top.

The "singing" sand dunes were known for the tremendous noise that occurred when you ran down the dunes, displacing sand as you went:

~ TO BE CONTINUED~

2 Months On: Packing Review

We thought it was about time to review our packing decisions. For a breakdown of what we initially brought see our post: "Packing hand sanitiser for a year?" Here are our thoughts, two months and three countries on:

Verdicts on the items of contention:

Sleeping bags (used many times)


Bottle opener (not yet used!)


Yoga mats (Used more times than I can count on my fingers)


Hair dryer (Brilliant in Malaysia and Nepal, less used in Vietnam)

Things we could NOT have lived without:

Sleeping bags/thermals (probably saved us from hypothermia at least a few nights)

Beanies (ditto above)

UNO (only a slight exaggeration, was great whilst hiking)

Muktinath: At around -15 degrees Celsius sleeping bags, thermals and beanies were essential

Not yet used!

Expandable bowls, utensils & bottle opener haven't yet seen the light of day. 

Thing we are glad we did not bring:

Tent

Rob's tigers

Leggings (still not pants)

Thing we could have done with:

Tiny stove (we probably wouldn't have used it yet but we are likely to ask a fairy to bring it to either Beijing or Dublin for us!)

Thing we could have done without:

Less underwear (Rob)

All in all, I think we packed okay. Though we have added a few things on the way, and lost a few things too:

New things

Day/hiking pack 

T-shirt for Rob and shirt for Kat (time to swap out some clothes)

Thongs x2 (Rob’s broke. Kat needed some)

Warm gear for Nepal (Proper jackets)
Gifts we have received (a certain 'China fairy' may help us here)

New t-shirt!

Wearing my new scarf and jacket outside 'Yac donald's' in Kagbeni

Lost things

Rob’s hat (left on a flight)

Our backpack rain cover (wanted to stay near the Himalayas, who could blame it?)

Rob’s mobile (Worst. Left in a dodgy taxi)

Kagbeni, Kagbeni, Kagbeni

Due to our altered itinerary and our dolphin sands road climax (thus far), we found ourselves spending three nights in the small village of Kagbeni. It is located in the valley of the Kali Gandaki River.

Kali Gandaki River and mountains all around

Initially the arid landscape appeared very other worldly, especially compared to the Annapurna region. The brown valley, which reminded me of Colca Canyon in Peru, was in stark contrast with the blue sky and mostly white mountains around us. The beautiful scenery made us very excited about what would follow as we hiked further north into Upper Mustang, perhaps compounding our later disappointment!

(I will have to warn you here that this post is going to contain many photos because although Kagbeni mostly represented a place we weren’t meant to be, or a substitute for where we wished to be, I found it a really nice village with incredible and unique scenery.)

On the morning of our walk to Kagbeni, I tried my first Tibetan tea. The drink is made from the butter and milk of a yak, and though it wasn't anything to write home about, it was nice to try something new. (There was certainly not much else to look at at this point as it appeared we had stepped into a Wild Wild West movie. I couldn't even find a tumbleweed!)

On the road to Kagbeni

Passing a Kagbeni orchard

Apparently there is gold to be found

Our guide, Krishna took us around Kagbeni village and further into the valley

When we arrived at our hotel in Kagbeni I quickly found a window nook to bask in the sun and enjoy the view. I told Rob it was categorically a cat/Kat window which was confirmed the next day when we found a ginger and white cat napping in the very spot.

Room with a view

Kagbeni town and surrounds

Whilst in Kagbeni we tried to (respectfully) get some photos of the Kagbenians doing their thing. Most people were not interested in partaking, which I can understand. As we milled around town we saw scraps being given to birds, goats being herded back before sunset, men gambling in the streets and a goat's head hanging from the bridge. 

Home time!

Beautiful eyed boy

Unexplained goats head dangling from a bridge

Kagenians doing their thing

We also passed the unexpected no-hiking time with, UNO special rules (the game that keeps on giving as the dealer chooses the rules each round), reading, writing, napping and of course, eating dahl baht and drinking milk tea. We were in the midst of reading Around the World in 80-days together which we both enjoyed immensely. (No, we are not trying to speed up our journey to win a bet!)

River-side Kagbeni (Kali Mukti joins from the north-east/right)

Could be out of Game of Thrones

On our second and third night in Kagbeni, I tried hard to rest my ankle. It was not too bad but still painful. The next morning we would hike back to Jomsom for the return flight to Pokhara the day after. This time we walked in the riverbed, again having the sense that we could be somewhere other than Earth. Though the trek was short it felt long, as I was eager to return to Jomsom. We entertained ourselves with conversation, looking for gold and throwing rocks into the river. 

Rock games- Rob hit the mountain!

All smiles!

Up the icy path

A lovely part of Nepal

Which planet?

Kagbeni to Jomsom via the riverbed, all gold-prospecting

Blue skies and many browns

Eventually we made it to Jomsom where the colourful new monastery stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the browns and whites of the mountains. We were keen to use the wifi as we had been speculating on the prime ministership on our trek. It turned out that there had been a vote for a spill. We also caught up with the news of our friends, which included an exciting very recent new arrival to the world! 

Jomsom seemed pretty interesting until we started walking around and most things shut down. Nevertheless we decided to try and have a third tea for the day. Arriving at a small tea shop, we asked a young boy where to get it. He misunderstood thinking we were looking for beer! It is funny how us humans just hear what we expect to hear sometimes. (Rob was even speaking Nepali).

Arrival at Jomsom: new monastery

Jomsom

My heart almost stopped on our flight back to Pokhara. We had arrived very early at the small airport and waited around for a long time. They only fly in the morning because it is too windy and dangerous later on. We boarded the tiny plane of 15 passengers and my seat was requested so a mother and adult son could sit near each other. It was for the best because it was the woman’s first time on a plane and it just so happened that this one would drop at least ten metres in the sky. I lost my stomach and didn’t find it again until much later in the day. What made it worse was the woman had covered her eyes with a scarf so she couldn’t see.  It was definitely the most scenic and terrifying short flight I have been on. I don’t think I would do it again, opting for the multi-day hike to avoid it!