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We really enjoyed our visit to the horse breeding nomadic family. We stayed for a few hours, walking around, sitting in the grass, enjoying the endless views, looking at the horses, playing with the kids.It was nice to see the horses in this natural environment. These small Mongolian horses (no ponies!) were looking lovely with their different colours. We could approach them rather easily.
The horse breeding family we visited, welcomed us and invited us to drink an airag with them.The grandmother showed us how she made airag. Airag is a fermented mare's milk and a very beloved drink in Mongolia.Of course we tried the airag, because you couldn't refuse. It tasted good, but it will not be one of my favorites, so I don't miss it now, back home.
The driver of our bus introduced us to a family living in a ger and breeding horses.We had a very warm welcome.Mongolians define themselves as the ''people of the five animals'' ; horses, cattle (including yaks), sheep, goats and camels. Survival of the nomadic people, and the country, still depends enormously on these domestic animals. Half of the Mongolian's people lives on the land and primarily raises animals. An intimate knowledge of animals, both wild and domestic, and the environment is a major feature of Mongolian life.
The Mongolian people in the countryside live in gers (in Russian yurts), in traditional tents. The gers can easily be moved to another place. Mongolia is partly still a nomadic society. The Soviets transformed Mongolia from a nomadic society into an industrialized and urbanized country, so many people moved to the city. In Ulaanbaatar you can find large living aeras of hundreds of gers.After the Soviet Union felt apart in the 1990s, many Mongolians returned to the countryside and the nomadic life depending on domestic animals, as they did allready many centuries.
Travelling in the countryside of Central Mongolia, you don't meet many people along the track. Maybe a solitary motorcyclist or horseman. We met these three horsemen.Nearly all Mongolians in the countryside learn to ride a horse as soon as they can walk. The horses provide a perfect transport and can endure harsh winters, allready many milleniums.There are 2.6 million horses in Mongolia.The Mongolian horses are smaller than those in other countries, but don't call them ponies, Mongolians will be offended !
We didn't visit the Gobi Desert during this trip, so we were very excited to find these camels in the grasslands of Central Mongolia. Our busdriver drove our bus through the grasslands to show us the camels nearby.There are about 367.000 camels in Mongolia.These two-humped Bactrian camels are indigenous in Mongolia. Camels are very useful for long distance transport and valuable because of their adaptability, especially in the desert.
In Central Mongolia we crossed the endless green grasslands from Khujirt to Karakorum.We saw some wildlife like marmots, hawks and falcons along the track.We stopped at the place were our track crossed a stream to have a look at the water and the bridge, happy with every variety the landscape us gave.We walked bit around looking, if we could spot some birdlife.
Mongolia, also called ''the land of the blue sky'' or one of the last unspoiled travel destinations in Asia, called up images of camels walking in the Gobi Desert or horses galloping in the steppe. The Gobi desert we crossed only by train, but in central Mongolia we spent some days in the endless grasslands. And yes, there we saw horses, but also camels.The endless landscapes, sometimes with some scattered boulders or some mountains at the background, were really amazing. Being there, just walking in the grass or sitting on a small hilltop, feeling the clear air and the freedom, looking at the green and blue colours, was a great experience.
We entered Mongolia by rail, from Ulan Ude in Russia. From the Mongolian border to Ulaanbaatar our destination, it is 404 KM to go. At Sukbaatar, Mongolia's chief border town, 21 KM after the border, the Mongolian officials came into the train to study our passports and examine our faces. And from then we have all the time to have our first look at the Mongolian landscape through the train window.The first images of the Mongolian landscape are more mountaineous, wet and woody then I expected. The more south we went, the more the landscape changed into the endless steppe and sky. We saw some herds with cows and horses, scattered gers, a solitary horseman or a tractor with chart, further only spacious and empty grasslands.
Ride a horse:) basically all mongolians can ride a horse and like to do so. In the countryside many people use it as regular transport. Every imagined aspect of a horse has a name in Mongolia. The horse is still very important to Mongolia has commerce, transport, sport, and culture. If you ask alot of city mongolians what they like to do on their holidays, many will say "go to the countryside and ride our horses"
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Q: We have the opportunity of visiting Ulaanbaator for two days in December this year. Could anyone tell me how difficult it is to...
A: That depends, do you know what -20 to -30 C fells like? The locals are used to it. Just because it's cold, doesn't mean the whole city goes into hibernation. Things are...
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