Monday, July 18, 2011

The Singing Dunes

Before heading out to the Sand Dunes, we visited Bayanzag, which means "rich in sexual shrubs" (dont ask...) but is more commonly known as "flaming cliffs" (penned by American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews). This area is famous for the number of dinosaur bones and eggs sites, first excavated in 1922 by Roy Chapman Andrews. The rock formation again looked similar to the American southwest. The cliffs are rich in red sand (hence the name "flaming cliffs"). Unfortunately we didn't stay long enough to see the sunset to truly see how the cliffs got its name.












The best part our day (and trip so far) was getting to the Khongoryn Els area, known for some of the largest and amazing sand dunes in Mongolia. The Khongoryn Els sand dunes are also known as the 'Singing Dunes' (the dunes make an eerie sound when the wind blows) and reach up to 300m high, 12km wide and over 100km long. We hiked up to one of the highest dunes to see the sunset - the views of the desert from the top were absolutely spectacular. While we waited for the sunset, we played in the sand like silly kids (see video).


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