A Resort in the Desert

A relatively quiet day today as we left the rocky barely there rounds to a smoother rocky road. Almost as good as asphalt. We did a picnic lunch near a flock of sheep today. Our fried rice was still warm!

We arrived at our ger camp for tonight early around 1pm. It is certainly the biggest one we’ve been to, like a desert resort minus the pool. A few of us got massages and then just relaxed before exploring the nearby Onji Monastery ruins.

This was the religious capital back in the day but many of the temples were destroyed by the communists and high rank monks killed. Today the ruins stand along with a small museum showing some salvaged artifacts.

The river Onji flows right next to the complex, the only one that flows through the Gobi and bringing a belt of green. Unfortunately it’s now very shallow and disappeared in width due to gold mining in the area. A harsh truth speaking to when we don’t take care of the environment.Leggi altro