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| Fast Talk |
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| Written by Ron Swift / Fast Talk | |
| Friday, 14 November 2008 | |
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An adventure each day in the desert  Ron Swift / Fast Talk Thus, we knew it was 6:30 a.m. and time to start another day of our trek through the Badain Jaran Desert in western Inner Mongolia, a northern Chinese province. That’s how each morning started on our 15-day camel adventure around and over the world’s tallest sand dunes. After receiving the cups of tea, we rolled out of our sleeping bags, quickly dressed and packed our bags, air mattresses and miscellaneous gear into our duffels. For at 7 a.m., we were due at the dining tent for breakfast, leaving our personal tent empty and ready for packing onto the camels. The 13 travelers fit snugly around the dining table. As the mornings were cool, some wore windbreakers, warm hats and gloves while starting the day with a delicious meal. Fried eggs (imagine hauling eggs on camelback for 15 days across the desert), potatoes and vegetable dishes were thoroughly enjoyed.  Ron and Kay Swift (on camels, from left) trekked across the Badain Jaran Desert in western Inner Mongolia, a northern Chinese province, last month. Our riding camels carried no gear — just us. There were no saddles, just a light blanket over which the stirrups were hung, and then a thick blanket. Riders were instructed to hang onto the front of the thick blanket when going uphill and the back when going down. That was it. Falling off wouldn’t have been pleasant, so we didn’t. As I mentioned last week, two Mongolian women led our riding camels — walking the entire 115 miles over the sand. Kay’s camel was usually tied behind mine so that we could chit-chat whenever the need arose. However, questions like “What in the world are we doing out here?” were left unsaid. Of the 13 in our group, usually eight to 10 chose to walk rather than ride, and they got a head start on us riders about mid-morning. I admired their pluck, for trekking in sand — especially on the upward slopes of dunes more than 1,000 feet high — takes some effort. The highest of the Badain Jaran dunes, a megadune called Yind Ritu (or “Spring of Heaven”) is more than 1,400 feet from its base to its top, making it the highest dune in the world. Yet one day, early in the trip, about half of our group climbed to the top of Yind Ritu and from there spotted more than half a dozen of the desert’s mysterious lakes. Although only about two inches of moisture a year is recorded in this area, the groundwater table is fairly high. A few families live in this vast desert, most of them on the shoreline of the lakes, where a few trees have been planted. We had hoped to find families living in yurts — one-room round frames covered with heavy canvas or hides that were at one time moved from season to season by migrating herders tending their flocks of sheep, goats and a few camels. But we learned that most of these people had moved into cities outside the desert, where life is not as hard. At one lake where we camped, we met a family related to one of our camel drivers. They actually operated a restaurant and had sleeping accommodations for visitors who now can enter the desert in 4-wheel drive vehicles, using just a track to find their way, as there are no roads. We actually met such vehicles, whose occupants were experiencing the ultimate in dune bugging.  ACROSS THE WILDERNESS: The group makes its way across the Badain Jaran Desert in western Inner Mongolia, a supremely arid area that’s both home to the highest sand dunes in the world and several mysterious lakes. Each day by late afternoon we were ready to camp for the night, first picking as level a site as possible for our tent. Large bowls of water for washing were then brought to us, and we cleaned up for dinner. Because we ran short of fuel, we dispensed with hot water toward the end of our journey. The hot dishes at dinner were surprisingly numerous and often included rice, over which we poured our vegetables and meat. We couldn’t have eaten better in a restaurant. After dinner, our guide, Susan, often read passages from books and articles written by earlier explorers who challenged the desert’s dunes. And most nights we were off to bed by 8:30. One evening, we visited the tent of the six Mongolians who handled the camels. They spoke both Mongolian and Chinese, and through an interpreter we asked one another questions, exchanged information and even sang songs to each other. One of their interesting questions: “Why are all of you so old?” As our ages ran from 53 to 73, with four of us older than 70, it was a difficult question to answer. Early in the 25-day trip and again at the end, we stayed at modern hotels, although not everything worked at each stop. One time the heat wouldn’t turn off in some rooms; other times a shower wouldn’t turn on, or hot water wasn’t always available. But we have stayed in worse right here in our own country. The weather in the desert? Shirtsleeve warm the first week with not a cloud in the sky, then nippy cold, windy and cloudy the second week, with a freezing couple of nights. But everyone was prepared for cold weather, as well as a blowing rain one afternoon, which is rare in the desert. Snow was possible, but it didn’t come. To get to the desert, we traveled partway across China by plane, bus and finally 4-wheel drive vehicles. At the end of the adventure, those 4-wheel drives met us some 30 miles into the desert, but outside the big dune area. We bid our camels and the six Mongolians goodbye, after first buying a few camel blankets and stirrups to bring home as mementos. Before we parted, we asked how many tourist groups have trekked across the Badain Jaran, one of several deserts that make up the Gobi. Their answer: “You are the first. There haven’t been any others.” We proudly rejoiced.
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