What photo takes you right back to Mongolia?

Our trip to the Gobi desert was probably the highlight of our stay in Mongolia, not only for the stunningly beautiful places that we visited, but also the interesting conversations (and playful banter) between the members of our group.

In order of height and in front of our trusty Russian vans: Thomas, Isaac, Oogii, Tsogii, Andrew, Rebecca, Khun, Jessica, Julie, Jason, Erkha, Terry [photo credit: Wasut (Khun) Pornpatcharapong]

Summarise Mongolia in three words.

• Scenic – the Mongolian countryside is breathtakingly beautiful with its vast unpeopled steppes and even the weather usually cooperates in great photos by providing interesting clouds
• Ger – Mongolia’s traditional house makes for a cool place to stay
• Meat – just read the post we wrote about the country’s cuisine…

You really know you’re in Mongolia when…

You’re faced with another large plate of mutton for dinner and all of the men around you have their T-shirts hiked up over their bellies (I’m not sure why, I can only surmise that it’s a way to keep cool).

What one item should you definitely pack when going to Mongolia?

Sun cream. The summer weather can be relentlessly hot and there aren’t too many shady places to hide. Despite numerous locals telling us that we could by sun cream EVERYWHERE, we struggled to find anything bigger than a 50ml bottle.