Gobi Desert

Friday...Gobi Desert

Up and to breakfast at 6:30. Really good omelets and bacon. With our bellies full we went to the room to grab our bag for the day and went downstairs. We took a few pictures and jumped in our car. We headed to the Gobi Desert for the day at 7:30.  

Rise and shine.

Here is where we are staying.

Nice hotel.

The first two and a half hours of driving were one lane road with a ton of construction projects going on. We made a stop to the bathroom and continued on our way. We finally made it to the highway and our driver put the petal to the medal. We drove over the Yellow River. Looked like the Mississippi. We drove past a cop in a car that was actually running radar.Wow, that's unusual. Luckily our driver slowed way down before we went past.

Some of the views we saw.

Where we stopped.

Yellow River.

Finally arrived at the Gobi Desert. AWESOME! We have never seen such a huge sand box. Our driver drove us right to the bathroom which was good. We went to the parking lot where our driver parked and made a call. He handed the phone to Todd. When he got off he said the lady from the hotel suggested we eat our box lunch first and our driver will buy the tickets. Perfect. We weren't really hungry but there was no way to come back in from the desert to eat later.

Oh yeah baby...we have arrived.

Here is the official name.

First view of the desert.

Our box lunch was a sandwich with chicken, lettuce, and tomato on it, a big salad, a big container of watermelon and cantaloupe, and an orange juice. Our driver also had a case of water. He handed us a wet wash rag before we started eating to clean our hands. It was a good lunch and gave us the energy we needed to explore the desert.

At 11:00 we were ready to start. We had to get on a bus to get to the chair lift to take us out to the sand. Our driver went with and made sure we got on the chair lift. He then went back to the car I guess. On the lift and up the steep hill. Off at the other end we were amazed that we were standing in the Gobi Desert. Todd started taking pictures, I was filming, and Cameron ran off the wood path right into the sand yelling "first one to stand in the Gobi Desert". He thought he was cool. There were a lot of sand activities to choose from. Todd went to the ticket booth and came back with the all inclusive package. Cameron just couldn't stop playing in the sand.

On the bus.

The lift over to the sand.

Excited for the day.

No clue what this says.

Classic Chinese shirt.

Wallace--Gobi.

First up was a "boat" ride. It took us to a whole other area that we didn't know existed. There was a restaurant, a swimming pool, music, a tight rope act performing, bio toilets, and activities everywhere.

The boat.

On the "boat".

View.

Different view.

Bummed we never even went in one of these.

We rode the quads first. Cameron and I were on one with a driver. Cameron was behind the wheel but the other guy steered. Todd was behind us. It was pretty fun. We went pretty fast and we got to drive over all kinds of hats that had blown off other people. Cameron thought that was funny.

Ready to go.

Todd's view.  He was a couple quads behind us.

We next went to the zip lining. There was a long line but we figured it would move fast because there were three lines. WRONG! 30 minutes into our wait time we hadn't moved very far. Then a Chinese guy came back to us and motioned us up with him. Come to find out he was telling Todd he was too big. This guy was also too big so they began comparing their bellies. The other guy made his friend take some pictures. Lots of laughter from the crowd. Todd decided to go check things out while Cameron and I waited. Another 15 minutes went by and I had had enough. We still hadn't moved and people were walking up and cutting in line with their friends. The crowd started saying things and people were getting mad.  I finally thought 'forget it' and I grabbed Cameron and went and found Todd. Cameron wasn't really bothered by it because he was building a model of the botanical garden out of sand. It was cool but we didn't get a picture since Todd was off exploring.

Such a big sand box.

Here is the line we were waiting in.

The zip line.

Cameron LOVES sand.

Who is that coming up out of the sand.

Oh, Cameron and I.

This is what Todd found exploring...beer.

Next stop was the dune buggies. They were fast and fun. The only problem was the ride was not long enough.

Dune Buggy time.

Getting in.

We walked over to the camel rides next. Oh my gosh was that funny. We all 3 get on our camels and we head out. We are tied together with 7 others. All of the camels stood up and Todd's camels face is right in my face. I'm squirming a little and all the people are yelling something at me but it was in Chinese. Todd finally said "get rid of your water bottle". Ahhh, he was trying to get my water not me. I threw the bottle on the ground and off we went. Todd was complaining about his crotch hurting and Cameron's camel kept farting. These two things were making me and Cameron crack up. Then my camel started making burping sounds. Funny ride. At the camel stop it was a little freaky going down with the camel to get off. It was funniest watching Todd. We each got our picture taken with our camel and ventured off for ore desert exploring.

Walking to the camels.

Loaded and ready to go.

Sand, sand everywhere.

Todd and his camel.

Cameron and his camel.

Me and my camel.

Next stop was the sand sculpture area. On the walk there Cameron decided to climb a huge dune and then tried to slide down it. That didn't work so well but it was funny to watch. There was a tent set up with a snack shack. We tried to buy a half of a watermelon but ended up with the whole thing. It was sliced right in front of us. It was good and just the kind of snack we needed. We commented on how much Grandma Janet would have enjoyed this treat.

He could not get enough of the dune climbing.

Walking on top of the world.

Watermelon treat.

Yum.  Nice and refreshing.

We walked past all of the sand sculptures, which were cool. We made our way to the train. Yes a train on tracks in the middle of the desert. As we were sitting waiting for the train to leave a worker came running up. He handed Todd a picture. It was of me back at the beginning of the camel ride. He must have been looking for us. Todd bought it just because the guy came that far but it was a horrible picture. Pretty uneventful ride on the train. Off at the next stop we boarded the "boat" again. It took us back to the starting point. 

That is a big chick...no, not me.

This man seems unhappy.

So cool.

A shot of the hotel.

Just sitting on a train.

Checking out the entertainment off the train.

Traditional Mongolian lifestyle.

What is that coming over the hill?

Just a sand man sitting on a goat.

Nice shot.

Cruising on our "boat" ride.

The last real activity to do was sand slide. We each paid our 20 rmb and we were ready. I was a little nervous. It was a BIG hill and I didn't want to wipe out. I was first. Todd wrapped the camera in his shirt and sent it down with me because he figured I would go the slowest. On my wooden sled and pushed off. You must drag your hands which I did more than probably needed. It was a fun ride but I definitely got sand all over from that ride. Next was Cameron and then Todd.

Someone always wants a photo with Cameron, Todd, or I.

View from the top of the slide.

Here comes Cameron.

WHEEEEE!

Here comes Todd.

At the bottom there were lame dune buggies but we all still wanted to drive them. They told us we each could drive, no problem. I decided not do it so I could film and take pictures. Todd went first and then Cameron. Todd was back and took the camera. Here came Cameron. We could tell by his face he wasn't happy about something. It turned out the guy didn't let Cameron steer at all. Oh well.

Not as fun as it looks.

Todd needed a chaperon.

Cameron wanted to climb up the huge sliding hill to ride the slide again. Todd and I both said we weren't doing it. Cameron still wanted to. Todd gave him 20 rmb to put in his pocket and he started up the hill. As he was doing that the photo people showed us our sliding pictures and Todd bought them.. Then Todd went to the snack shack to see if they had cold beer. She did but only one big one. We shared...about 80/20 in favor of Todd. Cameron finally made it to the top of the hill. He waited his turn and down he went again. He said the hill was harder and steeper than he thought going up.

That is a hard hill to climb.

The beer we shared.

Almost to the top.

Making his way down again.

Back to the lame dune buggies. I saw a two sweater and a kid driving so I told Todd to take Cameron on that one. This time Cameron was able to really drive the dune buggy. He was happy with that.

He is ready to try again.

Cameron is doing all of the driving.

Happy kid.

Cameron did some last minute sand climbing and then we got on the chair lift back to the real world. We found our driver, hit the bathroom, and made our way back to the hotel. We used the wet rags from lunch to get some of the sand off our hands...Cameron used it on his whole body almost.

Way up there again.

Success.

Out of the desert we go.

What a cutie.
Most Chinese do not like the sun on them.

This was an AWESOME day spent in the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia. I asked everyone to choose their favorite activity of the day. Cameron said "ah, probably just playing in the sand". He is easily entertained. Mine was the dune buggy ride. The camel ride was a close second just because it was funny. Todd said "the dune buggy ride".

The only activities we didn't partake in was the zip lining, obviously, and the Erods traditional wedding ceremony. We didn't think that would be too cool.
Almost back to Hohhot we saw a car pulled over to the side of the road. Standing on the back side was a dad and a little boy about 6 years old. Both had their pants undone and streams of pee flowing freely. Our driver looked in the mirror back at me and we all started to laugh. Oh the Chinese are funny to see and watch.

Back to the room we all showered. Oh boy did that feel good. We then went to the lounge for snacks, drinks, and Skip Bo. The food choices were not so good. We made up a new way to play Skip Bo and it was pretty fun.

A little shower fun.

Went to dinner at 7:30. We went to the Cafe again for the buffet. Basically the same as last night but a couple new dishes. It was still really good. Of course we had more ice cream and chocolate fountain yumminess. Cameron and I were watching some kids (maybe early 20's) make cotton candy. They started talking to us and asking Cameron of he wanted some. He said no and then one of the girls asked if we were going to the grasslands tomorrow. I said yes and she started to laugh. She then told us she was our translator going with. The hotel is sending someone with us because there is no English spoken there. I asked the girl if she knew it was us because we were the only giant Americans in the restaurant. The group laughed but then one of the other girls said "no, we knew because you are VIP". I laughed and said "oh yes we are". Not sure how we got so important on this trip bit it's pretty cool.

Back to the room to watch some Olympic action and then off to bed..