I’ve been told that my ever dwindling audience would appreciate more regular updates. Small snippets for easy digestion rather than gut busting essays. So, unbelievably here I am again, not but a week after my last blog. Perhaps I did find myself in the Gobi….. oooor may be not.
So, as the more perceptive of those of you may have noticed, we’ve just spent the last 5 days in the Gobi. Although we were a hair’s breadth away from leaving last week due a series of last minute communications, we couldn’t really leave Mongolia without seeing the Gobi right? Last minute decisions aside, we managed to set up our own itinerary and cobbled together a small perfectly formed group consisting of myself, Southern, Nelis (our glamorous Cuban/American producer friend) and Kares (a Parisian ex singer/rapper? now launching into photography.) After initial doubts of my ability to cope due to his romantic overtures to Nelis which the announced aim of getting a green card in order to work in NYC we were off to the Gobi with our old friend Pata and a new guide, Dochema.
(where we stopped for lunch, in the middle of nooooooowhere)
Despite a LOT of driving on topsy turvy dirt tracks this trip was wonderful. It even topped the last one. We all know I love lists so please find contributing factors to this fabulousness below:
Despite a LOT of driving on topsy turvy dirt tracks this trip was wonderful. It even topped the last one. We all know I love lists so please find contributing factors to this fabulousness below:
- We all got on, we all laughed at the same things, we all drank, they all smoked (sigh) and we were all over 25. After what amounted to iPod wars in the van we all discovered we liked the same type of music, though none of us were quite as obsessed with Jay-Z as Kares. No one could be.
- Our guide Dochema was so determined to ensure that we had a good time that she pulled a camel ride at dusk out of the bag. What made this especially memorable was we were allowed to handle our own camels, our guide was a 17 year old boy who hummed away as the stars got brighter and the world got quieter, there was minimal chafage (!), we could get so much closer to the horses on top of the huge camels, and last but not least, the moon was so bright we needed no other illumination. Definitely one for the memory book.
- The Gobi itself is amazing, honestly, we were in the middle of absolute nothingness. A vast expanse of flat scrubland when suddenly out of the blue we would see sand dunes, deserted temples in tiny valleys filled with birch trees, the flaming cliffs that look like a mini grand canyon and dinosaur remains were found, and most importantly, a tourist camp in the middle of our trip where we could have tepid warm showers. Bliss.
- The people we met. We met a famous (but we would believe anything said to us right?) Mongolian pop star who sang the ‘Long Song’ in the aforementioned valley. Despite her incredibly annoying entourage with its mob mentality (shouldn’t the temple ruins be the attraction rather than us funny looking foreigners?) she was amazing, I can’t describe her singing so will put a recording on Facebook once I get it off Nelis mutter mutter.
- The family we stayed with on the last day. They should be contacted by the Mongolian tourist board. Handsome husband, bright, sparky beautiful mother and much loved and poised daughter (though I was slightly disappointed to see her wearing Liverpool shorts, honestly). They could not have been more welcoming, warm and downright fun. Even their dog was good looking and friendly. You could tell they just wanted to know as much about us as we wanted to know about them. The daughter sang the long song to us in the warm and cosy ger, they dressed us up in their clothes and fell about laughing as we posed for photos, the ate shared breakfast with us in the shadow of the holy mountain and they took us on a little detour up a mountain and spelunking through some caves. I’ll admit I got halfway through and caved (narf) as my claustrophobia kicked in. But it was definitely an adventure and the views were incredible.
The entire trip was a success and once again it brought home that you can have the most amazing scenery at your fingertips (which we did) but it’s the people who make it. Christ is this me speaking? I need chocolate. Now.
We are now back in UB and things have taken somewhat of a downturn. Our hostel are doing their utmost to test my legendary patience with their sheer disorganisation and belief that writing anything down, including bookings, is for losers. Despite booking for 4 nights we have already had to move out of our room as new (and I can only imagine more important?) guests were arriving and not a morning has gone by without someone asking if we are checking out today. ARGH! To counterbalance the incredible frustration this has caused we have the awesome news that Nelis is going to come and spend a few days in Beijing with us before flying back to Miami. She says she hasn’t been properly drunk in years so there’s a challenge! We’ve all had various ridiculous issues coming up against both Mongolian & Chinese bureaucracy whilst trying to get out of this country but Insha’Allah we should all be in Beijing on Monday. Don’t think that either facebook or blogspot work in China so this may be my last blog for a while. We are going to try to get into Tibet then head down to HK to sample Kai’s oat & blueberry pancakes (truly) but I have no doubts that power play and bureaucracy will scupper at some of our plans!
Goodbye from the Gobi!
Goodbye from the Gobi!
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