Into the Gobi

We left Ulaanbaatar today, setting off to the Gobi. The city traffic was quite heavy but once we were out, it was ‘smooth’ sailing. I use the parenthesis as the road was only 2 lanes wide with potholes so there was a fair bit of off-roading to get around them.

We made two quick stops after lunch, one to check out the Choir Monastery which is still under restoration. I believe they were destroyed during Communist times but I’ll have to research this and fact check. The ruins of the temples still lay on the complex. One of the temples has temporarily been reset in a ger which is quite neat.

Another main temple is very modern in it’s reconstruction. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but it leaves an impression with its stunning dragon paintings on the ceiling. There were also floating spiral staircases leading to a library and archives as well as a fish tank of koi. A strange contrast but that seems to fit with what we’ve seen here.

The rocks for this temple were cut from a nearby rock quarry that we headed to next. It’s very quiet there and sound travels. Piles of rocks mark people’s wishes as well.

Our first ger camp of the night and it’s cute. Not quite what we pictured from the description but still cute.Leggi altro