Travel: Gers and other buildings covered in coal dust and challenging living conditions at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia.

Several hundred people seem to live in the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock). Based on the conversations I had when I was there, the reason Tsagaan khad exists is because of the nearby coal transfer station. At the transfer station coal is unloaded from Mongolian coal trucks into Chinese trucks who haul the coal the last 15 km or so through the Small Gobi B Special Protected Area in Mongolia to the border with China and beyond. The people in the settlement make a living by selling goods and proving services of various nature to the passing truck drivers. In addition to social problems, the environmental problems seem substantial. Tsagaan khad is close to the coal transfer station and thus the village is covered in coal dust. In addition, the trucks that pass along the unpaved gravel road generate enormous dust clouds. The social and environmental problems make Tsagaan khad a place with a post-apocalyptic feel.

Click here for images of mining and roads in the Gobi. Click here for images of the Takhi or Przewalski's horse. Click here for images of cinereous vultures. Click here for images of Siberian ibex. Click here for images of argali. Click here for images of Mongolian gazelles. Click here for wolf images. Click here for other images from Mongolia.

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The settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaThe settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia

The settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaThe settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia

Gers covered in coal dust at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaGers covered in coal dust at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia

Gers covered in coal dust at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaGers covered in coal dust at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia

Gers covered in coal dust at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaGers covered in coal dust at the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock), north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia

Coal trucks hauling coal to the border and dust, between Tsagaan khad (White Rock) and Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaCoal trucks hauling coal to the border and dust, between Tsagaan khad (White Rock) and Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia

Garbage blown by the wind with the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock) and coal dust clouds from the coal transfer station in the background, north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, MongoliaGarbage blown by the wind with the settlement of Tsagaan khad (White Rock) and coal dust clouds from the coal transfer station in the background, north of Gashuun-Sukhait, Gobi, Mongolia