Day 41 - Mongolia Tour. Yol Valley - Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park

We awoke at a similar time as the previous day, around 6am. I can see a pattern forming with our sleeping hours mimicking the suns descent & rise.

Breakfast is served at 8am & the cat joins us in our ger where she begs for some egg, acting so sweet & cute, only to reject every piece of food offered to her. We leave camp at around 9am and set off on a dirt road, today we leave the Central Gobi Province & enter the Southern Gobi Province. We stopped at a small city at 1pm for lunch & more supplies. As we head off after lunch a sand storm, followed by a rain storm rolls in. With nothing much outside the van windows I have a nap. Tom wakes me up only 40 minutes after I fall asleep, we have arrived at the next ger camp! It's only 3pm though. We are soon told to put on our 'cold' clothes cause we are going to see a glacier, tucked up in between a mountain range. At first I think our guide is joking, how could there be a glacier in the desert ?

In the middle of the Gobi desert, lies a deep and narrow gorge in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountain that holds a permanent ice glacier that is several meters thick and several kilometers long. It is well hidden from people & protected from the sun by the mountains & requires you to trek a few kilometres before encountering the ice. Walking on it, sometimes hearing it crack under foot was super cool.

The ice sheet & the surrounding mountains are absolutely stunning! The mountains have new shoots of grass & clumps of ever green Juniper can be seen.

We walk along the ice sheet for a few kilometers before deciding to turn back. There are little streams running next to & underneath the ice sheet, the gurgling of water under foot is a little bit scary & very exhiliratung. On our way back we see a herd of stocky, little Mongolian horses standing on a section of ice. It was a glorious sight. It feels like a lot of the photos captured in those moments represent Mongolia & its incredible, hidden beauty.

Once we arrive back at the camp, Tom unpacks the car & dispenses drinks for himself & Jordan while I go to make friends with the resident animals. A nightly ritual I get a lot of joy out of. I approach a scruffy white goat & squat down to give her some love, only to discover she is completely covered in ticks!! I realise all the sheep and goats are covered in ticks. Feeling slightly disappointed I retire to our ger where we start to drink beer & teach Jordan card games & drinking rules we use in Australia.