Our first day to Inner Mongolia was definitely a memorable experience. Who could ever imagine lasting in a yurt for an entire night, whilst praying that morning would come. One of the coldest nights I’ve ever experienced in my life, probably not something I’d like to experience again but am grateful to have experienced at least once.

The second and third day in Inner Mongolia was much easier. For the second day, we made our way to the deserts. It wasn’t as hot as I had imagined it to be, but it wasn’t that cold either. Our tour guide got us a ticket that allowed us up to 5 activities in the deserts. It cost about approximately 150-200rmb. With our ticket, we were allowed to take the cable car back-and-forth from the hotel area to the desert, it also allowed us to ride the camels, gave us a chance on a short train ride and on a desert car. Our ticket also allowed us a chance to sand sled.

View of the distinction between the desert area and the area where grass still grows

Riding on the cable car that was to take us to the desert side

“Security cars” that go patrolling around the area, right beside camel pen

Riding a camel. Riding a camel is not as easy as it looks. The first time we met these camels, they looked really nice, all seated and roped together in groups. Riding them seems like an easy enough task, get on the seat-looking thing provided and voila, that’s it. Getting on the camel was not a completely easy task, even though they were sitting down, the seats were still quite high it was like trying to get on the back of a horse via a stirrup. The camels were made to stand up soon after we took our places, it was a painful surprise, especially for the guys in our small group of 5. As the camels moved, we were tossed forward and backward in our seat. Funny thing about riding a camel is that you notice the oddest things, like how they poop a lot, or how their tails move as they walk, things like that. Getting down from the camel proved an even harder task than getting on. We were given warning as to their moving into a sitting position so we could alight, but it still came as a surprise when they suddenly jerked forward (front feet went down first). My guy friend even said “我的鸟！” as the camel came to its sitting position, wouldn’t have wanted to be him then. Yikes!

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