Author: Traveling Rockhopper

I think, all islands have kind of unique cuisine. In Malta, you’ll find lots of fish and sea food. You can go to the local fresh market or simply to a restaurant and enjoy what you like. 🙂

It’s always nice to meet cute creatures on your way, especially while traveling. Then, the given place stays in our minds as e.g., “a place of hummingbirds”, etc. In Malta, I met some nice cats, one of them is shown in today’s picture. 🙂

Comino Island (Kemmuna, Ephaestia) is the smallest from the three Malta’s inhabited islands. It’s called as an inhabited island, however there are only a few people living there! What’s interesting, there is even a hotel in Comino Island, so you can stay overnight.

I haven’t been to Comino Island during my trip to Malta, maybe one day…
Have you been there?

Gozo Island (Għawdex, Gaulos) is one of the three Malta’s inhabited islands.
It’s about 4 times smaller than Malta Islands. It’s also calmer, less touristic and less developed than Malta Island; well, it’s just different!
Many people go to Gozo Island by their own boat, or by boat from Malta Island.

Malta Island is the largest of Malta’s three islands.
It’s the most populous. The capital of Malta is located here, as well the international airport.
So, it’s more touristic than other Maltese islands, but definitely it’s worth visiting!

The Republic of Malta is an archipelago; actually, it’s one of the smallest archipelagos in the world.
Only the three largest Maltese islands are inhabited, i.e., Malta Island, Gozo Island and Comino Island.

Malta (officially, the Republic of Malta) is an island country, located in the Southern Europe (quite close to Italy), surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

Welcome to Malta!
Let’s “spend” September in a nice, warm, small, European island. 🙂

Have you been to Malta?
Recently, I often hear that someone is going to spend holidays on Malta. I scheduled Malta for September 2017, already some time ago – I guess it was a good coincidence. 🙂

Today, we finish the series about Mongolia on my blog.

If you like my photo-impressions – I’m very happy. 🙂
If you started to think about visiting Mongolia – I’m even more happy. 😉

I think, Mongolia is still one of these “unspoiled” countries, where tourists/travelers can enjoy the emptiness. So, it’s better to visit Mongolia earlier than later, before it’ll become a more popular destination.

I’d like to visit Mongolia once more, because there are many interesting places what I had to skip during my first trip. And maybe, I’ll change my opinion, that the Gobi desert is the most beautiful part of Mongolia. 😉

After one day on the Gobi desert, it came to my mind, that it would be so easy to make an album called “The skies of Mongolia”. I was really impressed by the Gobi desert, i.e., how many different places belong to it (sand dunes, mountains), or the variety of animals and plants I saw them. All stunning landscapes together with blue skies, gentle clouds, rainbows etc. made me fall in love with Gobi! 🙂

Today, I’m showing you a cute animal that I met in the Eagle Valley (see post from 23.08).

This small mammal, with big rounded ears, is called pika. Sometimes, people call it as “whistling hare”, because it looks a bit like a rabbit or a hare (well, a bit… maybe… 😉 ), and it makes an extra funny noise – kind of whistling or calling “peee, peee”.

If you are curios, what does the call sound like – check e.g., on YouTube (I smile each time while hearing it).

There are Bactrian camels (with two humps) living in Mongolia.

Camels are important animals for nomads. They are used mostly as the means of transportation, what’s very convenient on the desert.

I was simply enjoying seeing camels or horses on the desert – nice animals and lovely scenery – that’s more than enough for me. 🙂

I’m sure, everyone brings some “images” from trips; these kind of pictures that stay in our head forever.
I have a few of these kind of images from Mongolia. One of them, is similar to today’s picture from my blog – wild horses on the Gobi desert. 🙂
That’s also my first impression from the Gobi desert. 🙂
I hope, you like this picture. 🙂

Ger (Yurt) is a portable round tent and a traditional nomadic house.
In today’s picture, you see two gers located in the Gobi desert.

In Mongolia, it’s possible to spend a night in a ger, and I can really recommend it as a unique experience! Especially, when you’re in the Gobi desert, staying overnight in a ger is a must! 🙂
It’s even possible to spend a night in a ger in Ulaanbataar, just the surrounding view will be different. 😉

Today’s picture presents Singing Dunes or Singing Sands.
It’s a largest Mongolian sand dune, called also Khongoryn Els.

I know, it’s just sand, but I was fascinated by these dunes! 🙂

Today, a sad picture from the wonderful Gobi Desert: double human traces.
One of them disappear very fast, others needs much, much longer… 🙁

Today, I’m showing you a picture from the “Eagle Valley” or “Valley of the Vultures” (Yoliin Am). It’s a canyon in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains or the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park.

Some people say it’s one of the most beautiful places in Mongolia. I liked it, but was much more impressed by sandy dunes of Gobi or other places in the desert.

Do you know that, around 1920, dinosaur eggs were found in the Gobi Desert?
That was in the place called Bayanzag or Flaming Cliffs; partly seen in today’s picture.

Visiting the Gobi Desert was one of my dreams.
So, was it as I expected?
-No! It was much better!!!

The Gobi Desert is an amazing place. It’s not just sand, there is lots of variety within Gobi. You can find there different species of flora and fauna!
Gobi also has an extreme climate, from about -40C up to +40C !

In the next days, I’ll show you more pictures of Gobi and share with you interesting facts about the desert.

Nomadic lifestyle is not only a tradition in Mongolia; it’s still alive!
There are a few countries where real nomads live and Mongolia is definitely one of them.

Nomads live in “the middle of nowhere” in gers (tents like houses), and look after their animals. They have simple lifestyle, however it doesn’t mean that they don’t use modern technologies (e.g., they may have electricity from the solar panels).

Traditionally, a Mongolian nomadic family has five types of animals, i.e., camels, cows or yaks, goats, horses, and sheep.