Before heading out to the Gobi, we stopped off at an old Buddhist temple from the 1200s that is now just a museum. It was incredible to get to see, but a little creepy too. Parts of the inside were really ornate and beautiful, but a vast majority was very violent and almost evil looking. Art on the ceilings depicted men being gutted and tortured, one area even had this depicted in silks, hanging from the walls. After our tour, we all hopped into our 'nice' Russian jeeps and headed out to the Gobi, a 4 hour drive to our first stop. We drove 4 of the most bumpy hours I've ever experienced in my life - I can't even explain how bumpy this ride was, and I was one of the lucky ones in the middle! The best I can do is to have you imagine going 45mph over railroad tracks A-L-L D-A-Y L-O-N-G. The 'roads' are just one lane dirt paths, and the only 'directions' people have are by looking around and remembering. A tough thing, since it all pretty much looks the same!
We stopped at our Ger camp- we were all so excited to stay in a REAL Ger - finally!!
We hung out, played cards, and the boys were complete idiots (should I be surprised?) and decided to hike up to the tallest hill in view right as a lightening storm was rolling in. And then it started pouring - so badly, you couldn't even see that there were hills in the first place. I was a nervous wreck (also not surprising), and they finally made it back (soaked) about an hour later. I was so glad they made it back fine, and then I was so mad... I hate worrying like that!
We turned in pretty early, as we were completely exhausted (as I have been every night by around 9). Keith (the guy who brought us on the trip) came by and warned us we might want to shake our beds out before we got in them, because he found bugs in his... so we did, and thus the start of the one of the most miserable nights I have EVER experienced! There were bugs EVERYWHERE - they kept getting on the beds with us, falling from the ceiling (we could hear them thudding on the floor continuously, and occasionally making a soft thud... which we realized meant they had landed on our bed, not the floor). With tears in my eyes, in my genuine Mongolian home on my tough-girl trip, I was desperately wishing for a Hilton to materialize across the way! Trying to talk myself into it being something I could do for one night, I put in ear plugs, covered my nose & mouth with a bandanna, pulled my hood on my sweatshirt tight, french rolled my pants and resolved to keep my shoes on. I would doze off a little, then wake up to something crawling on me, and one time, biting - I would sit up immediately, brush it away and turn to find at least 10 more on the bed. Then, my adrenaline would be rushing and I would be hot and not able to calm down... just lay there. listening. thud. thud. soft thud . thud. something tickling my arm . HORRIBLE!! We finally got up (the other 2 girls I was rooming with, who initially told me 'it's fiiiiine' but freaked too) and left the Ger (which, by the way, smelled like wet, dirty dog - well, actually... wet, dirty sheep - but I'm sure you can imagine the dog smell a little easier) and just walked around. Finally we saw one of the Mongolians that came with us (Bear - he is AWESOME) leave his Ger and drag his entire mattress out into the mud to sleep. They were now not only crawling on him, but actually biting him. We felt much less like weenies with a big, burly Mongolian not able to sleep in there either. I casually asked 'so...any chance we can get the jeep keys?' He laughed, already guessing our plans for the jeep. He opened it up for us with a little bit of laughter. Jenny & I totally bailed on the Ger and slept there for the rest of the night (this was about 1am, so we did give it a good try, seeing as we went to bed around 9:30!). We had never been so excited to sleep in a car in our lives!! We thought we were going to get a lot of crap about it for the rest of the trip, but instead, the guys were like, "Ya, that was smart - that was a good idea." AAGGHH!!! This became our bed for the Ger portion of our Gobi trip.
I may not have made it through the night, but I'm proud to say I gave it a really good try, and I'm not afraid to recognize my limits (especially when they've been severely breached!!!!)
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