Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
during the mating season in January and February - definitely a time to avoid ap-
proaching one.
Of the 260,000 camels in Mongolia, two-thirds can be found in the five aimags
that stretch across the Gobi - 80,000 in Ömnögov alone. They are related to the
rare wild camel known as the khavtgai, of which only around 800 remain in Mongo-
lia. These are all found in the Great Gobi Stritctly Protected Area (Gobi A). For more
information, see
www.wildcamel.com
.
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Erdenedalai
This sometime camel-herding community in the middle of nowhere (114km northwest of
Mandalgov) is known for the
Gimpil Darjaalan Khiid
(admission T3000)
, an old monas-
tery that survived Stalin's purges by becoming a warehouse and shop. The monastery
was built in the late 18th century to commemorate the first ever visit to Mongolia by a
Dalai Lama and was once used by about 500 monks. The monastery was reopened in
1990 and is now home to five monks.
The spacious temple has a central statue of Tsongkhapa (founder of the 'Yellow Hat'
sect of Buddhism), some large parasols and huge drums. Seek permission if you want to
take photographs inside the temple.
The small, dusty town here has a couple of very basic
guesthouses
(per person
8am-9pm)
and an
internet cafe
(2nd fl; per hr T500;
9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat-Sun)
next to a well-
stocked supermarket.
About 25km north of Erdenedalai, the
Middle Gobi Camp
( 11-367 316, 9912 8783;
GPS: N 46°08.816', E 105°11.013'; with meals US$29-40, without meals US$15)
is not a bad place
to spend the night if you are headed in this direction.
Although Erdenedalai is small, it is on a major jeep trail so a few vehicles come
through every day.
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Ongiin Khiid
This small mountainous area along the river, Ongiin Gol, in the western
sum
(district) of
Saikhan-Ovoo makes a pleasant place to break a trip en route to the southern Gobi.
