Guest Post: Khongoryn Els, The Singing Dunes

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The Khongoryn Els, Gobi desert, are some of the largest and most spectacular sand dunes in Mongolia. Rising as high as 200 meters, the dunes are 7-8 kilometers wide and about 100 kilometers long.

Climbing the dunes is breathtaking, not only for the view at the top, but for the song the sands sing while you climb. Known as “Singing Sands,” the eerie music is evident when the wind blows, or when you walk or slide on the sand.

Our total climb time to the top took about an hour, while sliding down was accomplished in about five minutes. The downward trip was far more reminiscent of riding a camel than Space Mountain: pretty slow and required a good deal of pushing. The music of the sand was an incredible, thrumming, humming kind of resonance as we slid through it, almost as much a vibration in your soul as a hum in your ears.

Ellen Broadhurst and her family moved to China from the US when the children were 3 and 5. Living first in Nanjing, PRC, and now the Czech Republic has given them a world of perspective.

 

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