Mongolia - Gazelles and sandstorms on our drive from Bayandalai to Sevrei

The road just outside of Bayandalai was sandy but it got better after 15 minutes of driving.

For a short while, we also drove on some dried up river bed.

A stupa in the middle of the Gobi desert

Mongolia - Stuck in the desert sand at Bayandalai

Once we left the Yolin-Am junction, we were back on good paved road, driving 40km west to  Bayandalai

VIPs crossing.....

Mongolia's Ice Canyon - Yolin Am

An ice field in the middle of the Gobi desert?

Located in the mountains of Gurkhan Saikhan in Mongolia's southern province of Omnogovi, Yolin Am is a long and narrow gorge that becomes an ice field each winter.

Sometimes known as the Gobi Glacier, the ice field can be several metres thick and about 2km long. Some parts of the gorge are so narrow that the sun does not reach the bottom of the gorge easily or long enough to melt the ice. Hence, in the past, the ice formed in the gorge at winter can remain all year long.
Of late, the ice tend to disappear as early as August.

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.

Mongolia - Bactrian camels and fetching underground water in the Gobi desert

11 Jun 2018  -  Day time temp 30°C, Elevation 1,200m

It's a fun day for us today as we made our way to the Flaming Cliffs of Mongolia.

We were entertained by hundreds of Gobi desert double hump camels as we drove towards Mandal-Ovoo. Some still had their full winter coats on. Others are in various stages of shedding their thick coats.

The camels roaming the Gobi desert are the Bactrian Camels. These camels have two humps, unlike the Arabian camels or Dromedary Camel which have just one.

Mongolia - Middle Gobi - The dirt track we took to the Flaming Cliffs and a little lost lamb

10 Jun 2018 - We drove on the main highway connecting Ulaanbaator to Dalanzadgad in the south. At Khuld (just after Mandalgovi city), we left the highway and turned right to take the dirt road via Delgerkhangai to the Flaming Cliffs, near Mandal Ovoo  

The dirt track, of course with no road signs, is well defined/used. 

The track to Delgerkhangai runs parallel with the electric poles, guided us .

The terrain were mostly flat and bare with the occasional ger. 

Just before the village of Delgerkhangai, we turned south and drove through the hills. As the daylight is  fading fast, we needed to stop for the night. 

At about 9.30pm, our driving lights caught a lone lamb in the middle of the track. We stopped and picked it up, its so light and fragile, its fur so soft, we just hope we could find a flock of sheep along the way to reunite this poor lost lamb.

After a short drive, we noticed the silhouette of a flock of sheep on the hills to our left.