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Much of the Gobi is mountains. Only a small part is a sandy desert. Archaeologists
believe that there are many undiscovered cities in the Gobi. Eighty million-year-old dinosaur fossils from Mongolia were seen
for the first time in the UK in a major exhibition Dinosaurs of the Gobi Desert at The Natural History Museum in 1997.The
sensational discovery of these fossils sparked off some of the most exciting dinosaur research of the last few decades.The
exhibition told the story of the intrepid 1920s researchers, who, while looking for proof that Central Asia was the cradle
of human evolution, inadvertently discovered these dinosaur fossil skeletons and eggs which fired the imagination of people
around the world. It also focused on the work of present-day scientists whose research has had a dramatic impact on our understanding
of dinosaur nesting and parental care.The nests and eggs tell us about the dinosaurs' way of life and how they nurtured their
young; they also provided the key to important information about the link between dinosaurs and their direct descendants,
birds.With emphasis on the family life of dinosaurs, a wide variety of fossils were on display. Very different from their
relatives, the North American dinosaurs we are familiar with, these brilliantly preserved fossils from Central Asia include
adults, juveniles, babies, embryos and nests of the first fossil eggs of meat-eating dinosaurs found anywhere in the world.The
discovery of an extremely rare Oviraptor, seen on display in the exhibition crouching over its nest of 22 eggs, was
particularly exciting as it was the first evidence of parental care in meat-eating dinosaurs.
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Mongolian deers... In winter
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The trip to Terelj
National Park is as much interesting as the park itself. On the way you would be able to see Khun Chuluu, meaning people-rocks,
former mines of mountain crystal, Silver Summit among others. The mountains that surround the park are called Gorkhi.The park is rich in flora and fauna and reminds of beautiful Alpine valleys. You can visit the tour
camps in the area or just arrange for a visit to a nomads family, which would be a better idea, to stay there for one or two
days.There is legend why one of the mounts has been named Silver Summit. In ancient time
a baatar (referring to Robin Hood like figures in Mongolian fairy tales) from Uld tribe named Luzansharav was called
to fight by another baatar from Khalkha tribe. Instead of fighting Luzansharav decided to run and he hidden his money
and jewelry in the rocks of the Silver Summit. However, his wife became overridden with grid and couldn't part with their
money and jewelry and decided to stay with them instead of leaving with her husband. Since then locals tried many times to
find the money and dig it from between the deep rocks. But every time the money would fall back into the whole and a female
voice would come from beneath. The legend says that until now the wife of Luvzansharav looks after the money and jewelry that
caused the dispute between baatars from Uld and Khalkha tribes.
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Mongolian wild horses (Prejavlski horses) {Khulan}
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