Gobi Desert - Khushtai National Park

I did not sleep at all well last night, being up three times in the night and feeling far too hot, again.

Breakfast

The traditional Mongolian breakfast staple of bantan, a soup that is essentially baby food, but is also popular with adults for breakfast. It is said to be particularly good for hangovers.

Cheese omelette with sausage, tomato, cucumber, orange, and watermelon

Beautiful Countryside

Today we are travelling through open countryside to reach Khushtai National Park, stopping on the way to photograph various things of interest. Mantakh, our lovely driver, is always very willing to stop, whenever we see something, and between him and Daari, our guide, they do a great job of explaining what we are looking at.

Dead Horse

A number of vultures are gathering at the side of the road, around what we discover to be the remains of a dead horse.

The carcass also attracts some local dogs

Drone

Daari and Mantakh are rather taken with my drone and often ask if I’d like to stop to send it up.

Mantakh, Daari, David, and me by the car. David goes off for a walk again, while I play with the various functions on the drone such as circling a subject (David) or getting the drone to follow him.

Later, we see some impressive striped fields that make a good subject for aerial photography.

Off the Beaten Track

We turn off the main road and head across green fields to reach the National Park.

Marmots

Daari explains that this area is well known for being full of marmots. All we see is the head of a single one far away.

Later we spot our ger camp in the distance, miles from anywhere.

Khushtai National Park Ger Camp

This is a much more traditional camp, run by the national park rather than a private company.

While there are a few newer ‘luxurious’ gers with en suite facilities (on the slope to the right / top of the image below), they are unfortunately not yet completed, so we are given a ‘normal’ one (circled).

The entrance to the ger is low as per tradition, and the inside has beautifully decorated beds and a table.

Daari manages to obtain a porta-potty for us, which is a great relief (pun intended). I really don’t fancy trekking across the camp to the toilet block in the night, especially if it is raining.

Outside the ger a butterfly is sunning itself.

Shuttle Debris

This interesting spherical item is a liquid oxygen tank Delta-2, from an American rocket. It landed in Khushtai National Park in 2010, having been launched into space a few months earlier.

Lunch

Luckily we manage to access the buffet before a large group of Koreans arrives, as well as several smaller groups of varying nationalities. It is telling that with 80 people in the dining room, there is one voice we can hear above everyone else: an American.

Wall decoration in the restaurant

Potato Salad with Mustard Dressing and Gherkins (really lovely), Fruit Salad, Buckwheat, Red Cabbage, Potato Wedges

We have a bit of chill time in the ger this afternoon. Today’s observation: hail is incredibly noisy on the roof of a ger. Thankfully a member of staff covered over the crown (open top in the middle of the ger, where the chimney goes through) as the storm started. A staff member also turns up with a flask of hot water, so we can enjoy a coffee while listening to the rain. When it stops, we saunter down to the Information Centre to learn all about the park and its inhabitants.

Dinner

Daari has requested an early dinner for us so that we can go out at dusk into the park. As a result of not eating with the other guests later, we are served rather than having to line up at a buffet. I much prefer being served, so that suits me perfectly.

Salad to start

Beef in a sauce with vegetables, potatoes and rice. It is reasonably tasty, but the portion is much too large for me. Dessert is tinned pineapple.

Przewalski's horse

The main reason to visit this park is to hopefully spot the Przewalski's horse, said to be the only remaining totally wild horse in the world. Named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikolay Przewalski, the horse was once extinct in the wild. In the 1990s it was reintroduced to its native habitat here in Khushtai National Park.

Sign in the Information Centre

The horses usually come down to the river in the evening to drink, depending on the weather and other conditions. We leave the camp as the sun is low on the horizon, and head into the park.

Initially, we see just a couple, and then more and more horses come into view on the hillside and ridge.

We only have about ten minutes or so of sunshine, before the sun is too low to illuminate the slope.

Upon return to the camp, we retire to our ger to try out the gift Daari gave us a couple of days ago: commercially made Milk Vodka.

I have to say that it is very much better than the homemade variety, and with the addition of some Coca Cola, it goes down very well.

I cover myself with two quilts while wearing my fleece and hat before I manage to feel warm enough. Goodnight from Mongolia, and thank you Undiscovered Destinations and their local team for arranging this exciting trip.