First load in the washing machine and I haven't even picked up the cat yet but I know the next trip will be waiting for this review so here goes. All 11 travellers confessed at Heathrow to some trepidation about this trip particularly with regard to the ger camps and the luggage restriction - what to pack?
The luggage restriction is actually to do with the flight to South Gobi and not the 4 x 4's. The weight limit is actually 10 kg for the flight but JY covered the excess baggage charge and have said they will continue to do so. The 5 kg hand luggage is also enforced on this flight although they aggregated this across the group. Most of the group took back packs for hand luggage and this is definitely the best bet. Although there was enough room in the 4 x 4's for the hand luggage to go in the back with the suitcases I understand that the next group is larger than ours so this may not be an option plus only one of our 4 x 4's had 5 people in. Our TM Yvette (fantastic all the way through) rotated the make up of the 4 x 4's daily by random draw so that we all had a chance to be in a 4 x 4 with 3 travellers plus driver which gave more room and also the option to travel with Yvette or the local guide Bolor (who were always in car 1 and 4). Drives varied between 3 & 5 hours always arriving for lunch around 1 pm so starts were not too early apart from the flight to South Gobi from Ulanbaatar.
As to what to pack. The first 4 days were unsettled with rain one day so pack a waterproof. Nights in the Gobi can be cooler so if you feel the cold pack a sweater or light fleece. Torch is essential to find your way to the facilities at night as electric may not be on. In some ger camps electric was 24 hours but at others it was available between approx. 7 & 10.30 pm. Some yurts had their own charging sockets, others were a communal facility but no-one had any problem charging what they needed to. With 2 nights at the Kempinski in Ulaanbataar at the start you can make sure everything is fully charged before you go - it is also an opportunity to wash clothes you have travelled in and stock up on toiletries if you need to. Make sure you have all the medication you need and toiletries as once you leave here there will not be an opportunity to buy anything. We only saw a couple of towns with shops in our time in the Gobi.
As to money this is local currency and there is currently a better exchange rate for sterling. We changed money at a bank where there was also an ATM and we did have an opportunity to change more during the trip. In Ulaanbaatar and some ger camps you can use $ so I would suggest taking sterling to exchange and dollars as back up spending money or tips. I exchanged $150 but $200 might have been better. It depends on what your needs are. Drinks are cheap - beers approx. £1.50 - £2, local vodka £2 for a large shot. Wine, soft drinks, non local drinks are relatively more expensive as they are imported. Some ger camps have gifts for sale and offer additional facilities such as massages - the two night stay also did laundry, approx. £75p - £1 per item. Only one camp we stayed at took credit cards.
The ger camps which we all were a bit nervous about were fine - some providing more facilities than others but all were clean to an acceptable standard, some excellent. Staff were friendly, beds were sometimes a little hard but you are provided with plenty of additional blankets etc so pile these under you and problem solved. Food was plentiful and good quality given that all ingredients had to be brought in. Lunch and dinner were nearly always 4 courses with delicious salad starter, soup, main and sweet of either fruit of chocolate biscuit. Mutton and chicken were the staple meats with occasional beef. Vegetarians are catered for although the food offered may not be what we are used to. Breakfasts were a little more challenging at a couple of the gers so I suggest you pack a few cereal bars if wheat porridge or chocolate biscuits are not your thing first thing in the morning.
I am conscious that this review is getting rather long so I will answer any questions anyone may have rather than ramble on much more. The drivers of the 4 x 4's were fabulous and despite a lack of English we got on great, Bolor our guide was OK but could have been more proactive with information. Mongolia do not have an industry of professional tour guides so I don't want to be too critical as he was a lovely guy. Yvette the TM was brilliant and always looking to add in more experiences and tweak things around. In particular she made sure we visited the Chinngis Khan statue and this will now be included in future trips. This was absolutely mind blowing and one of the many highlights.
In summary if you have a taste for adventure, can bear to be parted from your en-suite for 9 nights, love wide open spaces and want to experience the Nomad way of life that has not changed for centuries, then this trip is for you. And yes it is the land of the great Blue Sky - after a rocky start we had glorious weather, the light was fantastic and phot opportunities abounded all the time sometimes appearing literally out of the blue. The drivers were always happy to stop for a photo shoot or any other reason.
The Bejing add on was a great introduction to China for me but I am not sure it will tempt me back. I am glad I did it and saw the Great Wall (which has an option to descend by toboggan) and the Forbidden City which was awesome. This was considerably more expensive than Mongolia and cost as much for 3 nights spending money as all the time in Mongolia. Here again you can use dollars in some places and credit cards were more accepted. Money can be changed at the hotel although the exchange rate was not great and there is an ATM at the hotel.
Right time to pick up the cat and do a lot of grovelling to get back in his good books. Plus get ready for the next fantastic JY trip
