On the morning of the 2nd day, we had the chance to stop by a public shower shop where I had my first shower in 4 days. It was just some lukewarm water coming out from 2 small holes but it felt very refreshing. Every time the water ran through my body I felt all my cells crying in joy. I didn’t tell this to my tour mates feeling embarrassed about being touched by every little thing.
Later I met another traveler who had the exact same experience and was able to share the happiness I felt. He told me how the smallest things in life made people happy. We had already forgotten about this kind of satisfaction and always wanted more and more. The Mongolian nomadic families didn’t forget about this. They only had very minimum things at their home. They loved their family and sheep and that was all, they never asked for more. They knew what their happiness was. By living their kind of life style I was able to remember what was most important in life.
In the afternoon we drove to Yol valley, a national park to do some trekking. In this park, our jeep ran completely off road in the desert, the hills and even crossed a small river. Not one time did we have to push it from behind; it was mighty strong and reliable. We understood why this car was still running. The air conditioner didn’t exist so we had to stick an empty pet bottle between the broken window glass and the frame to let the wind breeze in. Still it was worth to have this car. We all agreed that it was the strongest car in the history.
In the evening, we set up a tent near a little stream where we cooled the beer. For dinner Dogi stewed sheep meat and vegetables in a pot using burning stones. We drank beer in a circle and everyone else except me slept outside under the stars in the cold.
On the 3rd day we visited the highlight of the Gobi desert tour. We drove in the never changing scenery for 3hrs until we saw sand dunes in front of us. As the jeep ran, the sand dunes became bigger and bigger and it became a giant mountain.
The air was very dry and the heat was burning us. It was dangerous to climb the sand dunes during the day because of the heat, so we waited until late afternoon. We took a walk in an area where it used to be a river. The dry cracked ground reminded me of the African savannas. Mongolia was a country with many faces and the greatness of the nature never failed to impress us.
When the sunset was close, we rode on the back of a camel and went to a good point to start climbing. I saw some people in the size of rice standing on top of the dunes. It was a long way to go. I understood that the goal of today was to see the sunset from the dunes. As soon as we got off from the camel everyone started to run. The sand was very fine so every step I took fell into powder and had a great difficulty going forward. The sunset was soon. My mouth was completely dry and it hurted every time I took a breath. My heart almost came out from my mouth when I arrived on the top taking me 40mins. Of course the sunset was beautiful, but I was more impressed when I looked back to see the very round horizon. Only the sky and the desert were there. It felt like I came to another planet.
On the way back was fun. Just with my normal shoes I skied down the dunes watching the great scenery in front of me. When we reached our tent, everyone was dead tired and slept like a dog. The next morning they looked more tired. Apparently a dog was barking all night next to our tent and no one was able to sleep. They told me that this dog was actually barking right next to my bed and wondered how I never woke up. I used to be very sensitive and had sleeping problems for the past 10years. Ever since I quit my job, this problem disappeared and I was able to sleep deeply anywhere. It was worth more than anything thing to me.
On the 4th day we visited the Flaming Cliffs, a place that looked like a small Grand Canyon and later the ruins of Ongi monastery. Dogi said it used to be a monastery with over few hundred monks studying, but the monks were killed after Choibalsan, the leader of the communist party of Mongolia took power in 1939. Now it was just a ruin falling into pieces.
At night we stayed at a campsite by a river. Across the road was a luxurious campsite with nomadic tent looking cabins for rich tourists with a shower and sauna. We paid $4 for our second shower but I never experienced the first feeling again.