20250901 Monday, September 1, 2025. Ulaanbaatar to Gobi

20250901 Monday, September 1, 2025. Ulaanbaatar to Gobi

After breakfast, we walked to the Choijin Lama Temple museum.  This Buddhist temple complex survived the communist purges, which destroyed all sorts of religious sites.  Alma was trying to explain Mongolia’s unique variant of Buddhism relative to the architectural layout and deities worshipped.  There are some very elaborate and even scary artwork and sculptures on the site.  

There are several buildings dedicated to different aspects of the practice of Buddhism.  There are gruesome depictions of human suffering in some of the artwork, but Alma says all human suffering has a reason, and understanding this helps devotees achieve success, as defined as inner peace.   

We were told by someone No Photography, but someone asked and was told if they went to the admissions window and paid $15 USD, they could take pictures.  In Beijing, we were told it is bad luck to photograph the Buddha face on.  There was a fair bit of gold decoration and Buddhas in different poses for different purposes.  In one building, there were multi-headed figures that were clearly copulating.  Some of the temples were lined by painted wooden statues facing into the center.  It almost felt like music should start up and all the figures should start their animatronic dancing, like in the original Chuck E. Cheese franchises.  

After the museum, we checked out of our rooms and carried our backpacks to a restaurant next to the Temple,  the Choijin Temple Restaurant, where we ordered lunch on Viking.  These lunches include soft drinks and water, but Ben bought a beer when we were told they were out of Coke.  That ended up costing $4.52.  The food was plentiful, but with Ben’s resolving GI issues, there was a lot left on the plates at the end of the meal.  

It took an hour to get to the old Ulaanbaatar airport where our charter flight to the Gobi would depart.  There was some confusion initially because Alma’s name was not on the passenger list.  We divided up into 2 planes, and after about 15 minutes, Alma was able to get added to the passenger manifest, and off we went.  From the airport terminal, we took a van through parts of the airport lined with derelict Soviet-era planes that were now junk.  We went off heading behind some hangars, and eventually came up to a hangar with a Cessna Sky Caravan waiting for us.  
We climbed in with our backpacks.  Ben was able to squeeze into the front seat directly behind the pilots, along with Alma.  Ben got a bird’s-eye view of the pilot operations from over their shoulders.  He was relieved to see this plane had a state-of-the-art Garmin navigation system.  

The plane taxied through a poorly maintained taxiway with plants sprouting through the pavement in many areas.  We finally got to the end of the runway and had a very smooth takeoff.  

It doesn’t take much to leave the urban development of Ulaanbaatar behind and see that most of Mongolia is undeveloped wild grasslands.  It took 2 hours of flying to get to the Gurvan Saikhan Airport.  From there, we boarded a small fleet of Land Cruisers and Lexus SUVs with one couple per vehicle.  It took about another 40 minutes to reach the Gobi Nomad Lodge.  Most of the time, we were driving on gravel and dirt roads.  

The Lodge is actually a cluster of Gers, with a large central Ger-shaped stone building.  The Gers are set up very nicely like luxury hotel rooms.  Each has its own private bathroom with Western-style toilets and a nice shower.  There are two double beds in the Ger, along with several chairs, tables, and a dresser.  

We gathered for dinner at the central building, which featured a pumpkin soup and beef tenderloins.  There was crème brûlée for dessert.  

Tomorrow, we begin exploring the area.