July 12 was quiet. We took a rest from activities in Ulaanbaatar and prepared for our short tour of the Gobi desert.
July 13, we left for Mandalgov, a capital of the Dundgov province of the Gobi. There was another alcohol test for Pablo on the roads of Ulaanbaatar. There was a very-very long queue of Chinese motorhomes, who occupied several petrol stations and also slowed down traffic by moving very slowly.
Half-way to Mandalgov, we took a 50-km (each way) detour to visit the rocks of Baga Gazryn Chuluu - dirt roads, of course. We decided to continue via these roads rather than going back to the motorway (the quality of which was surprisingly good - at least until the point where we took the turning towards the rocks). At some point, there were quite a few road alternatives, so we were free to chose.
At the park itself, we visited the eye water source - apparently water from this source has some miraculous properties for eyes. I already saw an eye water source in Arshan, Russia, so it must be something quite popular. There was someone at the source taking water with a long spoon from a small whole in the rocks and then pouring this water onto the eyes of visitors lying down. We decided to skip this procedure. If they eat fresh ground hogs’ liver for health purposes, I don’t think I would like to share their medical advice. Then we visited ruins of a small Budhist monastery where monks used to hide during persecutions in the Soviet times.
When we arrived to Mandalgov, we found a nice village with a newly built hotel, which we called home for the night.
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