Summer in Mongolia – Pack Your Thermals!

 A few weeks ago I wrote about my last trip to Mongolia back in the early 1990s when the country was in economic tatters.  Well, I have just arrived back and I am delighted to say that everything has changed apart from the weather!  Last time I went much earlier in the year and I expected it to be freezing , and it was!  This time I really thought that by going in June there would be a chance of getting my legs out.  It is after all on much the same latitude as London (where it’s been 30 degrees recently).   We were lulled into a false sense of security when we got to the capital Ulaanbaatar – it was indeed sunny and warm. 

A bird's eye view

The next day we flew to the far West, Kazakh country, a dry high desert wrapped up by the Altai Mountains.  Here the temperature dropped almost immediately and worst of all the wind picked up, adding the wind chill factor.  Our small team spent all week working on a cliff edge in a valley with the winds pounding us.  At one point I was wearing three bottom layers and five top layers (I wore less when I went to Antarctica!).   Our wonderful local fixing team plied us with hot black tea in Great British tradition, and kept telling us that the weather had been wonderful the week before.

Dina (left) and Dale (right) wrapped up in yak hair blankets

Dina and I couldn’t wait to get into our Ger each night, but now the temperature dropped even further (as it usually does at night especially in high desert).   As you will see from the picture we used every blanket available to us to keep warm; we both looked like extras from some clichéd Spaghetti Western.  One thing’s for sure, if you are planning a trip to outer Mongolia in the summer don’t worry about forgetting a toothbrush, you’ll find plenty of those in the shops nowadays but whatever you do, don’t forget to pack your thermals!

A local eagle keeps warm