It’s a dog-eat-traveller world out there

Travel editor Chris Rogers gives an account of a wildlife encounter with a bit more bite...and foam

Lonely Planet warns that “in the Mongolian countryside, family dogs are often vicious and can be rabid.” However, they fail to mention that they are also a source of much entertainment.

While staying in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, my travel companions and I decided to take a trip out to the Gobi. One man, who was starting up a tourist business in Mongolia, agreed to take us for a reasonable price. We were his first customers, and therefore many of his ideas fell through due to a lack of experience and organisation. However, his plan to show us the Mongolian wildlife did not.

One vivid memory I have is winding down the jeep window to meet the eyes of a dog with a look on its face that was not dissimilar to that of Linda Blair’s in The Exorcist. It was accompanied by a small boy, who looked more rabid than the dog.  This was our driver’s cue. He beeped his horn, waved his arm out of the window, and taunted the dog with a series of whistles and jeers as he put his foot down on the pedal. As we accelerated off, so did the dog. It tailed us, head-butting the car with foam seeping from the corners of its mouth and its tongue flying like a red flag in the wind. What struck me as I dared to peek out of the window was the expression of glee it had on its face; it seemed to love the chase, I could see by the look in its left eye. Its right eye was red with rage. This was the first of many memorable experiences we had with the Mongolian dogs.

I had the wonderful idea of filming these dog chases and making a montage of them accompanied by the song: ‘Who let the dogs out?’ Would that have not been absolutely hilarious? I could have even put it on Youtube. It’s a sad fate that moments of profound creativity like this can slip through our fingers and fail to materialise. It makes you wonder how many other great pieces of art have not made it past the mind of the conceiver.

Despite seeing wild horses running across the Gobi, curious camels venturing close to us and majestic eagles soaring above, by far my favourite wildlife encounter was with the Mongolian devil dogs. Although these dogs are strictly domestic, they are pretty wild when compared to your average British pooch.