Mongolia - Sevrei and our drive across the Khongoriin Els / Sand Dunes

Woke up just before 9am this morning. Elevation 1,500m above sea level. Temperature in the morning was a cool 22°C but will soon go up.

We were 26km southeast of Sevrei Village and the plan for today was to get to the Khongoriin Els / Khongoriin Sand Dunes.

Sevrei is a district in the Omnogovi province of Mongolia. The village of Sevrei, though small, has a new fuel station at the edge of the village and several wind turbines taking advantage of the strong winds. There is a small mini market where we bought drinking water, bread and juice. It was Sunday and the day was getting hotter. The village was quiet with a couple of kids walking to the mini market to get some ice cream. We found a spot to make lunch and spent sometime to call home.

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 - Could not quite get to Yolin-Am and a trip to Dalanzadgad instead

Location: Near Gobi Bear. Temp about 20oC. Altitude ~2,000m. 

We left our campsite near the Gobi Bear to head towards Yolin-Am.

Sacred stone altar / shrine known locally as Ovoo near the Gobi Bear camp.

Mongolia - A chance stop at a waterhole near Flaming Cliff, Bulgan, Omnogovi

After breakfast we left the Flaming Cliffs at about 9am and made our way south to Yolin-Am.

We were still travelling on the dirt tracks.With no road signs, we set our GPS in the general direction to Yolin-Am......keeping an eye on the compass in our Sorento ....south wards

Along the way, we came across a water catchment pond used by the nearby village and local animals.. The pond is fed by an underground spring nearby. As the place was deserted, we decided to top up our washing water reserve and also took the opportunity to wash our Sorento and wipe down the dusts in the interior.

Wild life we encountered in Mongolia.

   
White-tailed gazelles spotted on the way to Flaming Cliff on 13 Jun 2018 at 6.45pm

Sparrow at Yolin-Am Ice Fields

Mouse at Yolin-Am Ice Fields. (15 June 2018)

Mouse near Yolin-Am (very common... seen often early in the morning and when the sun sets.. this photo is taken on 14 June 2018)

Chukar Partridge under the shade on the rocky hillside near Yolin-Am.
Spotted on 14 June 2018. There was two of them.

Another white-tailed gazelle.. this time near Yolin-Am (14 Jun 2018, 4.05pm)

Black-tailed or Goitered gazelles.
Spotted several large groups of them along the dirt track from Bayandalai to Sevrei at around 11.40am on 16 Jun 2018. Some of them crossed the dirt track and we managed to get some photos of them. Most of the groups were further away.

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.

Khyagt (Russia) / Altanbulag (Mongolia) border crossing

After a quick stop to get some groceries and tit bits at the supermarket in Khyagt on the Russian side of the border, we headed for the border. 

At 9.30am we arrived at the Russian Customs office located on the first floor. There were already a few people waiting for their turn. There is no queue ticketing system, so we placed our temporary import papers (we were provided this paper on entry into Russia) with the row of papers already building up on the counter top and waited for our turn. 

Meantime, downstairs, the Russian customs personnel have already started to check through our vehicle and belongings.