“Would you like to see a Museum?” We were in one of the most remote parts of Mongolia – and I wondered what my driver was talking about. Work Place Health and Safety in Mongolia really came down to you – ‘Don’t Do Stupid Stuff – because any help was going to be a long,… Continue reading Where Mongolians fought to the last man
Tag: Gobi Altai
When Corals Lived in the Mongolian Gobi
Corals in Mongolia – is there a better example of dramatic Earth-change?! The Gobi Altai -the mountains flanking the Gobi Desert, are far from the sea. They are semi- arid, bitterly cold in the winter, with lots of bare rock and virtually no trees. Nomadic herders keep their flocks on the move, there is so… Continue reading When Corals Lived in the Mongolian Gobi
In Mongolia any fool can drive, but…
In five years or so in and out of Mongolia, I’ve criss-crossed thousands of kilometres by 4WD Landcruiser. But I’ve only taken the wheel once, and that was for a short hop back to a village when my driver wasn’t well. Let me explain. Technically, anyone can take the wheels of a 4WD and go… Continue reading In Mongolia any fool can drive, but…
Mongolia – From Death-threats to a camel-ride
It’s March 2009 in Mongolia and there is an ill-feeling along the Gobi Altai. The year before, and some months after the last time I was in the area, a massive flash-flood had barreled out of the mountains. It funneled down what is normally a broad, dry valley. Many nomads, camping in the valley, died.… Continue reading Mongolia – From Death-threats to a camel-ride
A Glimpse in to the Rise of the Mongolian Gobi Altai
The Gobi is the great desert that extends along southern Mongolia and northern China. Its northern extent is marked by a series of mountain ranges called the Gobi Altai (Altai means ‘golden’). The mountains appear desert-like, with usually nothing higher than small shrubs growing on them, if anything at all, but isolated patches of forest show… Continue reading A Glimpse in to the Rise of the Mongolian Gobi Altai
Mixed-up with Mongolian Migmatite
When I was a novice geology student, the world appeared kind of simple. Faced with a rock, I could ask myself the most fundamental question – is this rock sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous? And there was some sort of expectation that the question could be answered clearly. It seemed the same in First-year Botany. We were… Continue reading Mixed-up with Mongolian Migmatite
Really Old Mongolian Limestone
We set up ‘camp’ at the base of Mongolia’s ‘White Doors’ — a gap in a massive outcrop of vertically-tilted limestone. ‘Camp’ was the three of us, our swags (roll-up beds we just placed on the ground and slept under the stars) and our big food box. We ate, and after dark, retreated to our… Continue reading Really Old Mongolian Limestone
Mongolia – The Lost Forests of the Gobi
When an entire landscape loses its forests, it can be so complete that most of us would have no comprehension of what had once been. The trees are cut down, or burnt, the soil washes away … and the very evidence has been obliterated. For this reason the odd ancient tree or patch of original… Continue reading Mongolia – The Lost Forests of the Gobi