Can you believe, these are the Khongoryn Els sand dunes as we drive toward them. From this angle, you can really get the perspective to see how impressive they are– a mountain range in scope.

Khongoryn Els is a chain of beautiful sand dunes that rise up like mountains in the otherwise flat / rocky Gobi. The biggest sand dune and the one pictured here is 100k long, 10k wide, and 300m high. And that’s 300 meters of your feet sinking through the sand about a foot. It felt exactly like climbing up a mountain of fresh powder: tough, but fun and silly, with amazing views at the top.

The magical Khongoryn Els by day

another, addictive sunset

Rocky beauty right outside Khongoryn Els.

Tara V. the massive sand dune

Tara V. the massive sand dune

We took a day to adventure around Yolyn Am, which is a beautifully runnable mountain range in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains of southern Mongolia. Here we explored the ridges to our heart’s content, and fell in love with trail-less running alongside hundreds of mountain animals.

it’s amazing to see the hills rise up from the steppe

lucky for my fetish with clambering over rock, rocky sections are characteristic of the Gobi.

Laurel whispers to mountain goats on our exploration run up and down Yolyn Am’s valleys.

a ger is a Mongolian yurt, it’s where Mongolians live, herd, cook, and hang out, and we joined them from time to time for a fun way to spend the night.

Camels are a legit form of transport in Mongolia, down in the Gobi.

The elusive quest to look like a camel in pairs…

desert sunsets are so addictive…

Often we saw more animals crossing the “roads” than humans or cars. Mongolian roads are like animal highways!

Tara nearly pulled her hip from the camel ride, it was an intense hip-opener. Pretty funny.

chillin in the land rover. I used to figure skate in this makeshift turban (gold sequined overcoat).

Just endless space… where you can go ANYWHERE!

For whatever reason we would end up running during daily highs, (~30C) maybe it’s a Vancouver thing, the desire to feel more sun?

asking for directions on the way to Yolin Am.

this is what a Mongolian major road looks like, today. (!!)

looks a little bit like the Grand Canyon, don’t you think? An interesting canyon on our way to Yolin Am.

camping in Mongolia at sunset is the most beautiful thing!

do not drive into this cliff…

quality time, Laurel and our driver. It must have been really windy at the top, hence Laurel’s jacket.

we chose to run in the middle of the day in the desert, which was relaxing but HOT!

for days we drove and saw more animals than humans. Animal traffic crossings are like cross walks in Mongolia.

and the sky suddenly turns to perilous shades! But we run anyway.

we’re running right toward an inviting rain and hail storm!

asking for directions and driving conditions ahead seems to be a Mongolian pastime.

When another storm rolled through, we got a chance to learn about the Mongolian culture of interdepency. Without any hesitation, a local family hosted us for shelter and tea, before 9am. Check out the set-up, this is a common type of home for Mongolians living in the countryside.

Mongolians have an amazing education system and very high literacy rate, teenagers from the remote areas attend boarding schools in larger towns. Giraa, a teen we met in the Northern Gobi, even had Facebook!

rainy season means roads are impassable!

locals help dig dirt in a failed attempt to get their van on the move

the storm settles, and we find a ger for cover

our first horse sighting!

exploring the hills of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

sunset on our first night in the Mongolian country

I haven’t seen moonlight this bright since North Korea (Alicia)

our driver from northern Mongolia! He was down to eat whatever we were eating, although he laughed at the freeze-dried packages. He loved meat!

this was our last sighting of water for a while, as we headed south to the Gobi Desert later that day…