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Gobi desert - 1993
Gobi desert - 1993
Jacek Pałkiewicz2006-06-17 16:28:50
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The cold which greeted me was the real thing, yet there was no sign of western self-indulgence in the locals' dress : everybody was wearing long-sleeved coats of padded cotton, as in the days of Marco Polo, hung well below the knee to protect the body as much as possible. Nevertheless only their hats, which are furry and well-padded and which cover half of the Mongolians' smiling and red faces, seem to offer genuine protection from the cold.
I immediately found myself as well looked after as a child at nursery school : a man appeared at my side to accompany me to a waiting taxi, the driver took me straight to the town's only hotel, which spared him from the duty of asking me where he should take me. The streets were half-empty, only a handful of pedestrians were braving the freezing air. It was too cold even for snow. The houses were made of wood, a few had pagoda roofs. I noticed a temple, which stood out for the elegant simplicity of its design, before we arrived at the modern suburbs of huge concrete blocks of flats which are the pride and joy of the local urbanologists. Every effort is being made to eliminate the nomadism which has been the only way of living of the Mongols for centuries. The sun was like a neon lamp, white, milky and too distant to give off even minimum warmth.
My room was warm, and smelt of waxed wood. I was not yet raedy to rest, however, so I piled my luggage on the floor and went straight out. My escort was waiting for me in the lobby. When he saw I wanted to go out he offered to accompany me, though he would have preferred to stay in the warmth of the hotel. He was, however, being paid to follow me about. I left on foot. Since I was well able to ask my way about I did my best to get rid of my guardian angel, but to no avail. Only the day afterwards did a stroke of luck enable me to lose him. Unfortunately, when I returned to the hotel I found him there waiting for me with a tense look on his face. He came
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See photographs from:
Mongolia Gallery
