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THE GOBI, PART II: SINGING SANDS |
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Why does this camel have antlers?In the beginning, the Camel had lovely antlers and he was very proud of them. One day as he was drinking at the river, Deer came along and envied the antlers. "O, Camel," said Deer, "may I borrow your antlers for the party tonight? They would look so good on me." At first Camel hesitated, but Deer said "Don't worry. I promise I will bring them back in the morning." So Camel loaned the antlers to Deer who, of course, did not return them the next morning. So Camel lost his antlers and Deer kept them. And whenever Camel drinks and sees his reflection he is reminded of his missing antlers. Then he raises his head and scans the horizon, hoping that this is the day that Deer will return his antlers. Camel wasn't too bright - he lost his long beautiful tail to Horse in the same way. |
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| We stayed a night at the Gobi Discovery Ger Camp. These were the simple gers again (no running water) and the landscape was much dryer and dustier.
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| The winds are strong here most of the time and the ger was weighted down with rocks inside and out.
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The highlight of the area is the Singing Sands--one of the few areas of the Gobi that is sand dunes. Like many dunes areas, it has a river running along the base of it.
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| The more typical vegetation ends abruptly at the foot of the dunes.
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We prepare to hike the dunes. | |
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| The Singing Sands are so named because it is said that they make sounds when the sands trickle down the dunes. We didn't hear it, though.
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| Most of the group decided to hike to the top of the dunes.
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Chuck and I just chose a low hill to relax and enjoy. | |
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| Sunset over the Singing Sands.
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| Camel riding! The Mongolian view of camels is that they are sweet and naive (see story above). That is just about the opposite of how we usually view camels.
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At least the camels were a lot easier to mount than the horses had been. And they were much calmer--maybe the Mongolians are on to something. | |
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| Camels are really quite pleasant to ride, once you get used to the gait. And these Bactrian camels are more comfortable than the dromedaries in Egypt.
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On the other hand, from the rear it looks like they have sails that wave back and forth, which is quite comical. | |
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While we were gone a band of wandering goats invaded the camp--one of the perils of the Gobi. Poor things have to grab their food where they can find it. Fortunately, the doors of the gers were closed.
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