Yolyn Am canyon was a welcome stop in our exploration of Mongolia last summer. We had been on the steppe for over a week, baking under the Eurasian high summer sun, and we were headed to the even hotter Gobi Desert when we boarded a tiny propeller plane for the south and the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains.
From flat, scrubby expanses, we arrived in a deep, cool gorge for an invigorating hike inside towering walls. Yolyn Am (named after the yol, or lammergeyer, a vulture-like bird) is known in part for its ice field that lingers well into the summer, and we saw remnants of this as we criss-crossed a running stream at the base of the canyon.
Although the hike was lengthy and we had to pick our way carefully in some of the narrower stretches, there was only minor danger encountered that day. Nevertheless, we got a huge kick out of all the warning or admonitory signs on our way into the trailhead! Can you determine what to watch out for or refrain from doing here?
One Foot Out the Door 
General warning (just to mess with you)/no chopping down trees (were there any around?)/no digging on subterranean snake abodes/no hunting goatlike creatures/no disposing of rocks in the wastebin/no trumpet playing. Foreign road signs are always good for a laugh.
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Ha – I never would have come up with the snake abode or rock disposal advisories! Isn’t that horn hilarious?
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What? No sign for falling rocks? Looks like it was an amazing outing.
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Haha – that one must have been farther along! It was such a cool (literally and figuratively) hike. The deeper we went, the narrower it got, to the point where we were scrambling up the side wall to stay out of the water. I love rock hopping and I got my fill here. (I think I might have liked your sea of bowling balls!)
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Oh my, I bet you would have. Get yourself to Flinders Island. 🙂
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Trumpets 😂
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I know – that one cracked me up. I assume it just means no honking horns, but it’s such an elaborate instrument for a simple sign!
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No sounding of trumpets when you complete your spelunking Lex LOL!!!
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The trumpet seems to be everyone’s favorite! Some of them seemed more incongruous than others way out there in the middle of nowhere!
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A trumpeting gravedigger? Well, one never quite knows 🙂 🙂
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Ha – good combination deciphering! All were quite funny to me as we approached the canyon.
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No digging. No being noisy. No chopping down trees. No fires. And no being an antelope!
That’s a great shot from the plane.
Alison
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That’s the first time I’ve seen that as a fire, but yes, I think you’ve got it! Thanks for the photo comment; I loved that purple-fuschia propeller against the peach of the sunrise, all over the snaking water. It was a wondrous early morning flight.
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Oh these signs are hilarious!
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And so weird to have so many one after the other as we drove into the canyon area!
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Some fun, Lex, but the trumpet wins the prize! (The canyon hike looks beautiful.) –Curt
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The hike was a blast, and it seems you are not alone in awarding the trumpet the Mongolian signage prize!
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The trumpet sign is especially interesting, given the legendary role played by a trumpet in Polish/Mongolian history. Today, the Hejnał Mariacki , or St. Mary’s Dawn, is played by a trumpeter every hour on the hour to all four directions of the compass, from a tower in Krakow. This is from the Wiki:
“According to a popular 20th-century legend, during a Mongol invasion of Poland (the invasion usually cited is that of 1241), Mongol troops led by General Subutai approached Kraków. A sentry on a tower of St Mary’s Church sounded the alarm by playing the Hejnał, and the city gates were closed before the Tatars could ambush the city. The trumpeter, however, was shot in the throat and did not complete the anthem, and this is the legendary reason as to why performances end abruptly before completion.”
There are dozens of YouTube videos of the trumpet call; it’s really quite haunting. Perhaps the sign you found is a sort of Mongolian “No Trespassing” sign: no Polish trumpeters allowed here!
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OK, you definitely win for most creative (and well-researched) interpretation of sign meanings! I read about Subutai and all the Mongol warriors descended from Genghis Khan before going, but I don’t remember this detail; I love the connection, though.
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Signs of the times. But you weren’t supposed to have a blast – at least not a trumpet blast.
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Oh, Dave and his word play …! Haha!
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That first shot from the plane just may be the best shot from a plane I’ve ever seen!
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Chances like that are why I simply must have the window seat, Mr. Badfish! That shot presented itself and I snapped about 20 of them. Thanks!
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When departing Bhutan, I had to leave through the little lady at the window seat next to me…luckily she was cool with my intrusion into her space. I got one good shot. But I’m an aisle kinda guy.
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Ohhhh, the aisle, and I thought we were kindred spirits … haha!
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Well, I used to LOVE the window, always sat at the window, why wouldn’t you…see all that stuff out there. But then I got weird about hopping over two people to get out, I feel stuck in there. I got bumped up to Business once, and my solo seat was next to a window…that was heaven, I bet our spirits agree on that one??
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Solo, window, Business Class … our spirits agree, and mine soars at the mere thought!
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I agree with the comment above, that opening image has blown my mind. And the signs gave me a good old laugh. Interesting to see the Mongolians dislike overuse of the exclamation mark – maybe it’s the literary snob in them… 😉
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Well, thanks. I was telling Badfish that I must have the window seat on all flights, and this is why. Most of the time the view is a hazy scene through a dirty window, but every once in a while a beauty like this appears. I was entranced at the time and still love the photo myself! Love your idea that the exclamation point is being discouraged – haha!
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Wow! so many warnings, and some mighty ambiguous too. I see from other commenters that one of them is no fires, but I saw it as no littering. And yes, the trumpet is rather silly. But the exclamation point?
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I thought that one was about littering also, but the fire idea appeals to me more! (I think those shapes are letters – wonder what they say?) I’m sure the trumpet means no honking horns in that area. And the exclamation point was always near a rock slide area or steep place, so I think it just means to be careful.
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Aha, Shelley – I did some Google Translate sleuthing and XOR means litter!
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They’re not fans of music, guessing from the last sign? 😊
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Haha – everyone is taken with that trumpet! It does look out of place in what was basically the wilderness!
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Pingback: Danger: No Nukes 1982 | What's (in) the picture?
Whatever you do don’t ride your long horned animal, which in itself looks like one wouldn’t need to be warned not to do. I find it so difficult to refrain from bugle blowing myself while on a hike. 🙂
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Aren’t these crazy and fun, Sue? And they were all lined up as we drove into the canyon hike area – I had to run back and snap a bunch of them!
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Totally. I’m still chuckling. 🙂
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Clockwise from top left: beware of the warnings you’re about to see, don’t swing your ax under a dead tree, don’t row with your shovel, don’t use trumpet to get attention, don’t dance over the three Cyrillic letters, and don’t shoot when a gazelle is in your sight. Have a nice and relaxing weekend, Lex! 🙂
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Your interpretations gave me a huge laugh this morning! I especially love “don’t row with your shovel.” You have a good weekend, too – if I remember correctly, there is another Amazing World post hiding in my inbox, so I will enjoy spending part of my free time on that!
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Had it been England a sign to wear PPE wouldn’t have gone amiss!
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Haha! And I now know what PPE are with a daughter in the public health field!
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You just added another ‘fear’ to be checked off my list of fears, Lex. lol. I absolutely hate propeller planes and the first picture literally took my breath away. Loved your take on the challenge. 🙂
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Thanks, Cheryl! I was not a big fan of propeller planes either for many years, but a flight in Nepal and this one made me feel just like a bird floating out over the earth’s beauty. The views are incredible – so much so that the fear dissipates for long enough to get through the flight!
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No trumpets?? Whaaat? No “don’t throw trash” signs?
Those signs are too funny.
Did you say propeller planes? We took one in Nicaragua to get to Corn Islands and I can’t say I loved it! View is great though!
Peta
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Haha – aren’t they hilarious? I am not a huge fan of the smaller prop planes either, but two of my most memorable rides (and views) came from the seat of one in Nepal (flying into the Himalaya to start my Everest base camp trek) and this one in Mongolia. Worth the fear!
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I love the graphic signs!
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Thanks – aren’t they fun? I made all my fellow trekkers wait for me to snap all those!
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They sure are. Cheers!
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Ha, my camel crossing pales in comparison to your collection of danger signs Lex 😀 The opening shot is indeed fantastic. Mongolia has been calling out to me for a while. Shall lurk around your posts for some inspiration.
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Oh, do try to go to Mongolia! It’s exotic and yet largely comfortable – a great trip in so many ways. I am feeling nostalgic as summer approaches and I think back on how much I loved that country. Talk about wide open spaces … Texas and our western U.S. even pale in comparison with the wild and wonderful steppe in Mongolia.
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watch out for falling trumpets!
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Haha! That is definitely the most popular sign among my readers!
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