Oops! That Was More Sudden Than Expected

The big problem with Mongolia is that it’s so big. Big and empty. The distances between points of interest are usually several hundred km, there are few internal flights and a limited rail network. To explore multiple tourist destinations you are going to spend a lot of time on the road, and only a proportion of that will be on surfaced main roads.

On our second day we are therefore collected from the hotel by a convoy of five Toyota Land Cruisers, and set off on our long drive south. The jeeps are numbered, and to avoid any losses the drivers are determined to keep a tight convoy, in correct sequence, while making rather better progress than the official speed limit prescribes.

The resulting driving style can most politely be described as "enthusiastic", although we also exchange less printable terms. The drivers regard speed limits as non-applicable guidelines and no overtaking zones as vague suggestions. High speed progress is regularly interrupted by last-second braking and swerving to avoid potholes or crossing livestock.

Things are not helped by limited communication, even though each vehicle has a walkie-talkie. Following several near misses where our driver fails to brake quickly enough in response to brake lights in front, our jeep 4 is nearly into the back of jeep 3 during a more sudden than expected, unannounced, turn off the road to visit a family of horse breeders.

Sadly most of the horses are tied or corralled together, and difficult to photograph, but we do get some shots of the young lads riding bareback. However the family’s hospitality is unimpeachable, they welcome us into their ger and are happy to pose for portraits, although I decline the offer of fermented horse’s milk…

As we are getting back into the jeeps there is a more sudden than expected discovery that there’s been a cock-up on the accommodation front, and the camp we thought were expecting us for the night are not actually expecting us for four days. Fortunately the camp we had planned for the fifth night has space tonight, so the replanning is minimal, but it does mean turning tail and driving 100km back towards Ulaanbaatar, before we strike left on a rough trail to the revised location.

As per the highway speed limits, the drivers regard the unpaved routes as guidelines, and frequently strike out across unmarked terrain, or take multiple parallel routes to avoid being in each other’s dust trails. However the speeds are lower, separation a bit better and the surprisingly smooth progress is an impressive demonstration of just how good the suspension of a modern SUV can be when being put through its paces. Then, when more suddenly than expected the flat terrain turns into a steep climb up a narrow, rocky channel, you realise the Land Cruisers are in their element.

Although we arrive later than planned (the drive from the horse breeders has taken nearer 3 hours than the promised 1.5) we make arrangements to go and get some sunset photographs at the dramatic granite formations of Baga Gadzrïn Chuluu. This turns into an excellent 2 hours photographing the rocks in sunset light by camera and drone. This is the first time I have used my drone "in anger" as a mobile camera platform. The only challenge is working out which drone is whose, when you have all six in the sky.

A great end to a day filled with both the right and wrong sorts of excitement.