Kubuqi desert.

Following on from yesterday, after visiting the grasslands, the bus tour went to the Kubuqi desert. This is just a couple of hours out of Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia. Hohhot was a mixture of Chinese and Mongolian, both sets of writing on all the buildings and street signs. Chinese is hard enough to learn, but the Mongolian language seems harder still.

Where it is normal for us to get out into the sunshine, and get a bit of a tan, the Chinese hate the sunshine with a vengeance, considering a ‘white’ skin to be far more appealing. So when the get out in the open they cover themselves up like you wouldn’t believe. The man is not covered up so much but look at the woman behind him, hat, face mask, and she would have covered up her hands once she got out too probably.

We were all given special ‘sand shoes’, a bit like soft wellies or gumboots that would make it possible to walk on the very hot sand. In our case, the sand was not too hot and after a while I walked in bare feet, it was much better.

This place was obviously set up for tourists, but nevertheless, you got a feeling for what the desert was like. We got a ride to the top on a special sort of people carrier.

 Once up there we had to queue for camel rides. Well, this was a really weird experience. I am no skinny minny, and it took a bit to get the leg over and on top of this animal. There was no saddle, I just sat on a blanket. And there was nothing to hold on to, I just had to hold on for dear life to the wiry hairs poking out of the top of his hump. I don’t know if it hurt or not, he didn’t say, but it was not very comfortable.

When a camel stands up, you may have seen this on TV, they roll forwards (so you feel like you will fall over their heads) then they roll backwards (so you feel as if you will fall over backwards) and they when they walk their bodies roll forwards and backwards, not side to side. They also have very bony backs, so by the time my ride was up, after about half an hour I was getting pretty sore. Anyway it was a great experience, something I am really pleased I did.