Mongolia – Bayanzak or Flaming Cliffs

I had previously reported that I had visited Bayanzag, but a sandstorm had been raging and made a visit impossible; later I could visit the place [1]. However, I hadn't written about it yet; maybe because my pictures aren't that spectacular.

Let's get to the name. Bayanzag (Баянзаг) means rich in saxaul. Saxaul is a desert plant and I already written about it concerning a trip through Uzbekistan [2]. In the English speaking world, the name Flaming Cliffs is more common, which goes back to the American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, who visited the area in the 1920s [3]. The name isn't all that far removed from the alternative Mongolian toponym: Улаан Эрэг (Ulaan Ereg) or red cliffs. Wikipedia gives the coordinates: 44°08′18.66″N 103°43′40.02″E; the place is about 550 km southwest of Ulaanbaatar (Уланбаатар). The cliffs are part of the Gobi Desert. The Chinese name 巴彦扎格 is just a phonetic translation of Баянзаг. There are also local names such as Ширээ шавар and Тэмэн шавар Shiree and Temeen Shavar, where Shiree means table, Temen camel and Shavar clay, mud or probably in this context sandstone [4].

This is where Roy Chapman Andrews and his team discovered the first fossil remains of dinosaur eggs and yes, they don't look much different than in the Jurassic Park films. One of my pictures could show negative impressions of eggs, but I don't want to insist on this interpretation. Other remains of dinosaurs have also been found, Wikipedia names: Archaeornithoides, Velociraptor, Saurornithoides, Oviraptor, Protoceratops, Pinacosaurus - don't try to memorize these names, only paleontologists and 6-12 year old children can do that.

It's worth visiting even just after a sandstorm, but I hope to be there again when the setting sun bathes the cliffs in flaming red.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Mongolia - A Sandstorm and Playing with Bones https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/09/mongolia-sandstorm-and-playing-with.html
[2] During Soviet times the seeds of the saxaul shrub were distributed throughout the desert, changing the appearance and making some parts usable as pastures for sheep and goats, also for cattle. Most important saxaul fixes sand dunes, of which I could only see some small ones along the road.
The Kyzyl Kum in Uzbekistan https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-kyzyl-kum-in-uzbekistan.html
[3] Flaming Cliffs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_Cliffs
[4] Баянзаг Улаан эрэг https://www.mass.mn/n/6414

.