Mongolia's Flaming Cliffs

Mongolia's Omnogovi province is home to several interesting sights, one of which is the Flaming Cliffs.

Located about 95km Northwest of Dalanzadgad and close to Bulgan village, this place is known locally as Bayanzag. 

Our Sorento next to the signboard for Burgan, Omno-govi Province.

Bayanzag is the local name for the thorny saxaul shrubs that can grow up to two metres high around this area. On our way to the Flaming Cliffs, we passed a herd of Bactrian Camels grazing on the saxaul shrubs. The shrubs we see today are mostly knee high.

The entire area up to this point has been flat for miles. At this cliff, the elevation of the whole area drops from about 1,250m on the South side to 1,100+m on the North side.

The Flaming Cliffs refers to the striking reddish colour that the hills takes on when the sun rays hits it at sunrise / sunset. 

The time of day when you visit the cliffs matters as the colours of the cliff are more brilliant at sunset, as if the cliffs are aflame. We took the above photo at around 8pm. 

The same view at about 5.30pm is shown below.. quite plain and nothing fantastic.

In the 1920s, dinosaur bones have been discovered here. Of the twelve species of predatory dinosaurs, eight of them were found in Mongolia. Not hard to imagine how those giants roam this land. Believe it or not, you can also see black swifts here.

View to the South of the Flaming Cliff

Here's a video showing 360° view of the area taken from the top of the Flaming Cliff: