Inner Mongolia

Journaling: A few years ago, back when I was planning this backpacking trip, I stumbled upon ONE photo of these giant statues, which ended up being the ONLY photo in the entire Internet of this place back in 2017. There was zero information about them back then. But hey of course that didn't stop me, I found them on satellite and ended up embarking on a three days trip from Beijing by bus and train (stayed in a native yurt overnight, learned archery along the way) until finally we reached a small town called Holingol, where NOBODY knew about these statues even though they were only a 30 minutes drive from them. I had to guide the taxi driver by looking at the satellite map. And oh boy, the feeling that invaded me when I finally saw them with my own two eyes, a teary bright smile accompanied by goosebumps, "Am I, perhaps, one of the first travelers in the world to ever discover this place?"- I thought.