"Jostling and Jolting Through Mongolia " a Mongolia Travel Page by hayward68

The scent of the gasoline we carried in the van was in the air as we bounced our way along the countryside in Mongolia. We were here for two weeks, ten days of which would be spent travelling from Ulaanbaatar down to the Gobi Desert eventually making our way to Sainshand. As I looked up I came to the conclusion that "Land of the Blue Sky" was an appropriate name for this country. We'd arrived in the middle of April while snow was still on the ground in areas. The winds were cold and the nights freezing but it was still really early in the tourist season so we were the only foreigners to be seen for days at a time.
Our van was stocked with food for a few days plus plenty of water. Our Mongolian driver spoke only a couple of words of English but our guide was quite fluent. It was just the four of us, including my friend and I, and I hoped that we would get along reasonably well.

We would be staying with both nomadic families and cheap hotels and I looked forward to learning more of nomadic life. It seemed hard to believe that people, in this day and age, still live this type of nomadic existence, moving their animals and belongings as the seasons changed. I'd watched several documentaries depicting Mongolian life and I was quite eager to see it for myself.

The Gobi desert was the ultimate attraction for me. I've been fascinated by deserts for a very long time and the Gobi had been calling my name. To walk the dunes was a dream that I hoped to fulfill and my excitement grew the closer we drove to the South Gobi.

I'm not going to give you all sorts of history and political information about Mongolia. You'll want to buy a guide book before traveling to this country and all that will be in there. I'd suggest the Bradt Travel Guide, it is much more extensive than the Lonely Planet guide and the customs tips are great.

I'll add some travelogue pictures at a later date. Ulaanbaatar will be a separate travel page.