TRAVEL

Stepping Out in Mongolia

The passengers on the 5½ hour flight on Mongolian Air from Tokyo to Ulaanbaatar were noticeably different in appearance from the Japanese whose country we had just visited for 2 weeks.

They were bigger-boned, heavier set, rugged, and dressed much more individually than the Japanese.

They were Mongols en route to the “Land of the Eternal Blue Sky”—so called due to its 250 sunny days per year. Never mind that the capital city Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world with temperatures in Winter of minus 40 C°, making Ottawa seem almost balmy.

Mongolia is one of the few places on earth where nomadic life is still a living tradition amid a vast emptiness of extremely harsh seasons. In 2009 almost 10 million range animals

Mongolia is one of the few places on earth where nomadic life is still a living tradition amid a vast emptiness of extremely harsh seasons.

(one sixth of the country’s sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and camels) froze to death that Winter. The nomads move their house and herds four times per year with each season change.

Mongolia is approximately twice the size of Texas but is almost entirely void of people among its vast emptiness. The harsh lands are comprised of the Gobi desert in the south, vast grassy steppes in the middle, and mountains to the north just below Siberia.

There is almost no arable soil and the country is completely land-locked. Thus the diet of the nomadic people consists primarily of mutton and sheep

©iStockphoto.com/Muha04

and dairy products with little or no fruits or vegetables.

Forty percent of the country’s 3 million citizens live in the capital and 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. Ulaanbaatar feels like a collage of Soviet-style architecture with its Cyrillic lettering, grand monuments, and city square, mixed with modern towers such as our five-star hotel next to a community of gers—the traditional homes also known by the Russian name yurt.

Downtown Ulaanbaatar. Note the Cyrillic script.

Best known among the various Mongol leaders is Genghis Khan, who came to power in 1206.

An international marathon was held downtown and hundreds of children and some adults rode their bicycles around the grand central square in a carnival-type atmosphere. It seemed almost bizarre to hear our 60-year-old Mongol driver playing Lady Gaga as we rode through middle-of-nowhere Mongolia on our visit to The Steppes. History Since prehistoric times, Mongolia has been inhabited by nomadic people who formed great alliances that rose to power and prominence as far as Eastern Europe. The Great Wall of China was built to thwart the Mongol hordes led by Modu Shanyu in 209 BC.

Best known among the various Mongol leaders is Genghis Khan, who came to power in 1206. Under his fierce leadership, the Mongol Empire formed the largest continuous empire in history, encompassing 13 million square miles and ranging from Eastern Europe through all of China and vast Central Asia.

It is difficult to imagine such an empire when visiting Mongolia today, but that important history is certainly part of the country’s intrigue. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 allowed Mongolia to break from its grasp and introduce a multiparty system and a market economy.

This is a commodity economy dependent on world prices and foreign mining investment in the country’s vast deposits of coal, copper, gold and other minerals, in juxtaposition to its traditional agricultural, nomadic economy. Day on the Steppes En route to the steppes we visited the huge Genghis Khan structure that stands 160 feet high. A 15-pound eagle was placed on my arm while photos were quickly taken as I fretted

Best times for visiting are May/June or September since it is elevated, with very hot Summers and extremely cold Winters, along with wind and dust storms.

40-metre high Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue with Trevor and eagles

One of the most interesting days of my life was visiting with nomadic people a few hours’ drive outside of the capital. Travelling with a driver and guide we visited various gers as well as the nomadic families who lived in them.

Grandmother with baby in front of their ger

Constructing a ger. Four people can do it in half an hour.

We helped put up a ger and, at another, where grandparents were babysitting their 2-year-old grandson, we dined on mare’s milk and hard yogurt. We delighted the child by offering things like coloured stickers, balloons, and colouring crayons, which he undoubtedly had never seen before.

We also watched some army soldiers assist in separating an enclosure of packed sheep by sex. At one point I had to duck an airborne sheep coming at me while I photographed a soldier wantonly throwing females over the fence.

Ninety-five percent of ethnic Mongols speak their near-impossible official language of Mongolian but English and Russian are widely spoken, at least in the capital. Ulaanbaatar is only 2 hours due north

Nomad overlooking Steppes

Mongolian soldier assisting with sheep-herding of Beijing and should be considered as a destination when next in that part of the world. Best times for visiting are May/June or September since it is elevated, with very hot Summers and extremely cold Winters, along with wind and dust storms.

Mongolia is a very interesting and unique travel destination. s Trevor Todd restricts his practice to estate litigation. He has practised law in Vancouver for 42 years. Disinherited.com