Mongolia tops the list of my most favourite countries in the world. I love the deserts, mountains, flash floods and rural life more than anything else and Mongolia (outside of its capital Ulaanbaatar) had all of that.
Thus, when traversing through Gobi Desert in an old modified Russian van, everything about the desert felt enchanting. Mysterious and alluring – two words that seemed to define the desert in its entirety. It was full of surprises so much so that it was almost impossible to believe what I was seeing. But I was seeing it all and loving it.
I had spend exactly three days in the desert (without a shower or mobile connectivity, just saying…). On Day 4, we headed towards Yolyn Am (story in a separate post), another miracle of the desert. The desert trail passed through narrow stretches through the mountains, in some places barely enough to pass through. It was peak of summer, but we’d been told that in the Gobi Desert it rained during the hottest months. Smelling something in the warm air, the driver (also the guide and handyman) alerted us that it had rained closeby and if we were lucky, we would witness “floods” up ahead. Just at that moment, we went through a crack in the mountain and emerged on a flat, dry bed, which, as we stood watching, was quickly transforming into a raging stream.
Flash flood! The driver had bene right. It had rained somewhere. We stopped and alighted, delighted to witness something so dramatic. The weather had suddenly turned cooler and few stray clouds lingered above, promising some rain in the near future. It was the first time I was looking at the beginning of a flash flood. What a fantastic sight it was too!
The “flood” soon turned into a proper stream. We were warned not to walk into it – no matter what. The stream looked deceptively calm but it could be very deceptive. We waited over forty minutes for the stream to subside into a trickle before crossing it – our sturdy Russian van managed to pull through without getting stuck anywhere!
And it indeed rained later on…
Did you know…
- The Gobi Desert is home to many of the cities on the ancient Silk Road.
- The Gobi is a rain shadow desert which means it’s on the dry side of a mountain range. Another famous rain shadow desert is the Atacama in Chile.
- There are fossils throughout the Gobi Desert, some as old as 100,000 years old. American paleontologist, Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first known fossil dinosaur eggs here.
- The Gobi straddles both Mongolia and China. The Gobi covers three provinces in Mongolia, and three in China.
- The Khongor Singing Sand dunes are located in the Gobi Desert. The dunes stretch out for around 185 km.
I loved reading it.
Im leaving for Mongolia in a few days n wondered if the Gobi would flower after the rains. And I chanced upon your writing. Thank you for enlightening us.