In July, I joined a couple of friends for a two week vacation to Mongolia. For those of you who've never had the chance to visit this distant land, let me offer this summary: Mongolia is a soul-achingly gorgeous country, but it is a rough place. Outside of Ulaanbaatar, nomadic herdsmen drive prodigious numbers of sheep, goats, cows, yaks, and horses across the plains and rolling hills, and the animals do what animals do. So, during the short summer, the countryside is full of dung and flies. As beautiful as Mongolia is, the flies really got to me towards the end.
The countryside is simply breath-taking. Vast rolling hills make you nostalgic for pre-Colombian America, before European style development swept across the continent. Glimpses of the beautiful, deadly Gobi peak out from grassy outcroppings here and there. Grasslands turn into dense forests on places, streams and rivers cut through the pastures, and sweeping valleys steal your imagination as you off-road across the land. It is hard to find many analogs in other countries for the stunning emptiness of Mongolia.
A lot of people who visit Mongolia say they don't like the
food. In my opinion, though, there are a lot of good eats.
Tsuivin, a wheat noodle dish, is fantastic. Since I was there during the
Naadam Festival,
khuushuur - a meaty, fried dumpling - was widely available and delicious. If you are in Ulaanbaatar, you have to go to
Millie's for some great American-style breakfast. Her joint is next door to the
Choijin Lama Monastery, in the city center.
In the countryside, things can get a little more...adventurous. When you visit someone's
ger, the nomads there should offer you a large bowl of
airag, fermented horse milk. And under the rules of hospitality, you should drink the entire offering. You might also be offered an interesting kind of cheese witha very strong taste, or a kind of vodka made from yogurt. It's a pretty weak alcohol, and even children drink it from a pretty early age.
In another exciting incident, the family we were staying with killed a sheep by slicing open its stomach and cutting a central artery. After the sheep was skinned, bled and disemboweled, hot stones were placed inside to cook the meat, while the womenfolk prepared blood sausages and intestines.
I would recommend anyone who can handle some rough camping to go to Mongolia and get out of the city. There are lot of rewards to traveling through this land of horsemen and nomads.
Peruse the photos I took. These are, from a technical and composition point-of-view, the best shoots I've ever done. There are two pages.
Here are a few highlights.
