Discovering Mongolia

Simply put, Mongolia is Eastern by ethnicity and Western by culture. The dynamic here is something to observe. Women in designer jeans and high heeled boots mingling with businessmen in traditional Mongolian full body overcoats known as ‘dals‘. Even within Asia, Mongolians have a completely unique language, music and food balanced with Western TV programming, upscale bars, shopping plazas and European SUVs.


At first sight the capital city seemed a little bizarre but a look into the country’s history helps to sort things out. In most minds the looming historical reference of Mongolia is usually attached to the name ‘Chinggis Khaan’ (yes, it is Chinggis and not Ghengis). From our childhood education as well as references in pop culture, we know Chinggis and his band of Mongols to be ruthless, heartless thugs who slaughtered their way to one of the greatest empires known to man, covering 90% of Asia. Yes, indeed they were ruthless but no more than any other empire or crusade the world has known. Chinggis was actually well ahead of his time preaching religious tolerance, promoting education, enacting fair tax laws to promote trade and building up his empire’s infrastructure beyond his own front door. Fast forward several centuries to 1937 and Mongolia found itself at the center of what is referred to as the ‘Russian Purge.’ Essentially the Soviet Union absorbed Mongolia into it’s own empire and in the process destroyed much of the Mongolian culture. All Buddhist Temples were destroyed (Mongolia is 80% Buddhist) and monks were murdered or sent to the streets, museums and government buildings destroyed, cultural relics were shipped off and any references to their beloved Chinggis Khaan were banned. This all came to an end with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990 and Mongolia struggled for the following decade to stand on its own, independent of Soviet subsidies and support. Lucky for Mongolia, they have a solid foot planted in their historic past and much of their culture is vividly present today with new statues of Chinggis everywhere (as well as the odd Beatles monument). They continue to hold on to their traditional beliefs, traditions and housing but practice modern economics and business.

Mongolia is VAST. It is the second largest land locked country and is the least densely populated country in the world! Points of interest are scattered around the country and we immediately knew that if we were to see much in our 15 days that we would need to be organized. We talked of two smaller trips but settled on one large 10 day trip that would take us south into the Gobi Desert and then back north into the forests, mountains and grasslands of central Mongolia.

Another thing that was immediately evident as we stepped off the train in Ulaanbaatar, it is freaking cold this time of year! We had recently spent time on the beaches of SE Asia and we were not prepared in any way as we saw snow falling on our first morning in the city. Lucky for us, Ulaanbaatar has a very healthy blackmarket where you can pick up everything from livestock (live or dead) to school supplies to secondhand clothing and electronics and even everything you need to make a traditional ger. The whole big party goes on every day on the edge of town in a massive parking lot with makeshift blue tarp tents covering tables of goods. We hiked the 4 kilometers out in the snow, shaking cold with thin layers of clothing, and returned home warm with 6 pairs of wool socks, 2 pairs of long underwear, 1 sweater, 1 flannel, 2 pairs of gloves and some coloring books and colored pencils (for the kids of the families we were to stay with in the countryside). All of this was had for a meager $15USD.

The next morning the Soviet relic below pulled up in front of our guesthouse. It would be our mode of transport for the next 10 days and we knew we were in for an adventure.