Packing for Mongolia: four seasons in one day

A July day in the Gobi can start at 6°C, reach 34°C by mid-afternoon, and be back down to single figures by the time you are looking at the stars. Nothing you own handles that range on its own, which is why the whole list below is really one idea: layers you can take off.

Clothing

• A light down or synthetic jacket. It packs to nothing and you will wear it every evening.
• A windproof shell. The wind on open steppe is constant and is what makes 15°C feel like 5°C.
• Two or three long-sleeved shirts rather than t-shirts — sun protection first, warmth second.
• Trousers you can sit cross-legged in. You will be on the floor of a ger more than you expect.
• Walking shoes already broken in, plus something soft for inside the ger.

The things people forget

Sun cream and lip balm. The altitude and the dry air do more damage than the temperature suggests, and there is no shade at all between one range of hills and the next.

A headlamp. Ger camps run their generators for a few hours in the evening and then everything goes dark. Getting to the bathroom block at 03:00 without one is a memorable experience for the wrong reasons.

Wet wipes and hand sanitiser. Showers exist at most camps but not on the long driving days between them.

A power bank. Vehicle charging is possible but shared between everyone; a 20,000 mAh bank covers three days of phone and camera.

What not to bring

A hairdryer, a suitcase with hard wheels, and more than one book. Soft bags travel far better in a Russian van, and there is no room for a hard shell once six people's luggage is in the back.