I was sad that I was going to finish my assignment and did not have the opportunity to see a little bit of the Gobi. One should not say Gobi desert as it will be a pleonasm because Gobi means desert.

When you approach the mine on a plane you see nothing but naked desert. I say naked because you cannot see any vegetation or trees like you would see in the Namibe or Kalahari deserts.

However I read about a Buddhist temple located close by and one destroyed during the soviet fever. The Demchig Monastery was destroyed in 1937, but has since been rebuilt by the Oyu Tolgoi mine. Also I knew that a small village was being developed from the camps used during the construction of the mines around the area, the Khanbogd Village.

During my third visit I started asking how could I go for a ride outside the camp. I was then working in the electrical area with Naidan Purevdorj and he offered to organise a trip to the Khanbogd village to inspect the local substation, fed from the mine.

On my forth visit I finally left the confines of the mine camp and headed to Khanbogd and on the way visited some places around the mine site.

From the mine to Khanbogd the scenery is completely bare and with exception of a few horses nibbling “we don’t know what” we could see nothing else but desert. On the approach to the village a series of rocky formations started appearing and we saw the first trees devoid of any leaves or fruits. Also horses and goats started to be seen more frequently.

On arrival at Khanbogd we visited the substation, an outdated Russian designed plant with equipment that I have never seen. However it works and supplies power to the village and water pumping stations providing the water for the mine. The substation Manager was a pleasant person and happy to see us. I am not sure whether he gets many visits there.

If you exclude the Ger quarters this village could be like any village anywhere. With only one sealed road, OT have been investing in infrastructures trying to make it appealing for people to settle at the vilaage, reducing the costs of flying the workforce in and out from Ulaanbaatar. The pictures in this section will provide a better description of the village.

We had lunch at one of the local restaurants a surprisingly well decorated restaurant with very tasty food. I had a traditional soup and khuushuur which are similar to the Pasteis de Massa Tenra in Portugal but bigger.

After lunch I asked Naidan if we could visit the Demchig Monastery located near Khanbogd and he agreed because was on the way back to camp and he had visited it before. After 3 hours lost in the Gobi and with a very embarrassed and frustrated Naidan, we could not find the Monastery despite the directions given to us by several people we found in the desert.

We found instead a monument to Genghis, a VIP visitors centre and lots of camels and horses by I enjoyed immensely the day in the desert and the company of Naidan.