Back to the city in time for NADAM!!

Been back from the outer outer for a day now.  We had 15 days and thousands of kilometers behind us by trip's end in the central Gobi-Altai; with enough brain power to give NASA the day off (I like figurative exaggerations). I learned so much and every once in a great while some of my own techniques proved to further the conversation or add to the greater picture the group was painting.  Phew, coming off totally stale in such a highly respected group was a big point of concern beforehand...

We are back just in time for the Mongolian national festival of Nadam, sort of an intra-national annual Olympics for the three major traditional sports of the country: Horse racing, Archery, and Wrestling.  Should have some good pics after it ends next wednesday (finally bought my own camera today!!).

As always I think photos with one-liners are the best way to get the experiences from the field across.
Enjoy!

Post sandstorm convection, radical!



Sometimes shallow rivers have deep parts...
I'll note that this is two cables being linked together
by a 20mm crescent wrench, which successfully
withstood the extraction.

A young family collecting camel dung to heat their home
(as you might have noticed,
not many trees or other burnables around)
but also checkin out what these crazy hammer carrying white guys
are doin in the desert
She is 3 and the boy is 5 - too small to see, but she is wearin
Abercrombie pants HA!!

Local herder movin his goats and sheep through the vast gobi sunset.

(L to R) Jim, Dendev, Zaya, Baigal, Me/Brando, Brian, Kurt, Badam

First chance to get wet in 4 days...watch that last step!

Alright rocks... where were you on the night of the fault in question?

Brando, a bit put off that he got ousted from his cush
backseat just to make room for another dang geologist

Sweet ball and pillow deformation.

Now seriously...we are where again?

Cretaceous bivalves

Cretaceous crawdad. Cajun anyone?

No ungulate deserves braces, dentures or deodorant
more than the camel.

Brando walkin the 1957 Gobi Fault rupture
on the north side of Ih Bogd Mountain, awesome.

Jim and Kurt really like camels...

Baigal and I takin samples and measurin section.

Brando resisting every instinctual bone in his body as the camels
pass through the valley.  Good dog.

Forget Texas, don't mess with Mongolia!

Sometimes really shallow rivers, that appear to have nice
gravel bottoms, are underlain by very deep slick mud.
Again the 20mm wrench trick does the job.

The rockstar driver/mechanic, Dashka.
This guy drove all night to get us fuel from a distant town
when we were stranded in a province with no power to run the
gas pump; only to drive 8hrs the following morning
to keep us on schedule.
He changed 3 flat tires (including a full tube repair and rim switch
using the weight of a van and two screw drivers to pop the bead).
He disassembled and rebuilt a leaking powerstearing unit
on the bank of a river while most of the camp slept.
Routinely, he provided comic relief, belted out some sweet songs
and apparently cleans house when all the drivers sit down
to play cards.  He is the Man!

The Fleet (foreground to back): Dashka's rally Buggy,
the tire troubled Tundra, the AC-less sweat box, and finally the
car I like to call the Serbian Love Wagon
(a truly hilarious vehicle to see motorin through the gobi).

Nothin like trompin through the desert workin your butt off
and comin back to a camp with refrigerated beer and
grand meals prepared.
Huge thanks to our cooks and logistics team!

....................................................................................................
Skydivin and Nadam are next on the agenda, I'll post some pics of both soon!!
Ciao-