Strolling Through the Gobi Desert

I spent the last week touring the Gobi desert with three other backpackers, my wife Katie and a driver named Balgay. One of those three other backpackers was Ruby Tsai, from Taiwan. We climbed to the top of a sand dune, watching the sun go down over this marvelous land, and recorded a podcast. She's currently on her way to England, via the Trans-Siberian railroad. We talked about her trip, and she gave me some great tips for visiting Myanmar, as well as her native Taiwan.

Thanks for checking out the show and be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to see some pictures from the Gobi desert. It's a beautiful destination that I can't recommend enough.

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

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Show Notes:

• We talked briefly about the Naadam Festival in Mongolia. Here is some more information about Naadam.
• And for even more info about Naadam, you can listen to my podcast with Tamara Gil.
• If you want to learn about the reindeer herders, as well as the other nomadic people in Mongolia, you can listen to my podcast with Davaa.
• Here is some info about the Myanmar trek Ruby mentioned.
• The tallest mountain in Taiwan is Yushan (玉山), at 3952 meters.
• And the largest lake in Taiwan is Sun Moon Lake. Maybe we'll end up there soon.

Ruby shared the following pictures from her visit to Bagan, Myanmar (Burma). I can't wait to see it for myself!

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And, as promised, here are some of my photos from our trip to the Gobi desert:

Day 1: walking up the rocks of Baga Gazriin.

Ruby enjoys the open landscape.

Campsite on our first night.

There was a bit of grass in the desert. The animals love it like hamburgers.

The open road.

Camel ride!

Check out those choppers.

Post-camel group shot from inside a ger. We're eating goat cheese and hard bread. We're drinking yak milk tea.

Baby's first sand dune.

Walking on the dunes.

Tammy reaches the top of the 300-meter sand dune.

Ruby crawls to the top.

Gobi desert landscape.

The creamy desert.

Camels crossing the desert.

A footbridge to the dunes.

Katie walks along the Flaming Cliffs.

Checking out the Flaming Cliffs.

We spent one night in a ger.

We got to watch a guy take down his ger. He was moving for the winter months.

The White Stupa.

Sitting in the middle of this vast landscape.

The other side of the White Stupa.

Day 7: Back in the Ulaanbaatar

A quick stop at the monastery before ending our trip.

For more of my photos from the Gobi desert, click here.