A Journey Through Mongolia (Full Length Documentary

With visions of Chinggis Khan and his mounted warriors galloping across the Steppe, It Was headed to Mongolia. It would be a month long journey of epic proportions with enough memories to last a lifetime. Welcome to Mongolia! The country of endless blue skies. First you have to arrived in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, and have to getting ready for a month of adventures here in Mongolia.

You are mesmerized by the spectacular chaos of the capital. The architecture is impressive in its diversity, with temples scattered between old communist-era buildings, ultra modern skyscrapers, and a seemingly endless amount of karaoke hang-outs and dive bars. As winter approaches the cityscape sadly changes for the worse. Ulaanbataar has now become the third most polluted city in the world, mainly caused by coal pollution from the many Ger districts. The locals burn coal to heat their homes as temperatures plummetand the fumes settle in the valley with nowhere to escape.
The government is battling this grave issue but at this point to no avail. UlaanBaatar has one of the largest outdoor markets in all of asia. It’s called “The Black Market” but it sells all sorts of things not necessarily illegal things. Hopefully you can find some cool souvenirs and it should be pretty exciting. Let’s go check it out. The history of UB is quite remarkable and certainly unique. In true nomadic fashion, the capital of Mongolia originated as a large Ger camp and changed its location at least 25 times before settling at its current location in 1778. Today UB is a sprawling metropolis, home to around 1. 4 million people. A staggering number representing roughly half of the country’s entire population.

This really puts the vastness and the remoteness of Mongolia into perspective, being one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Although we thoroughly enjoyed our stay in UB, it was now time to leave the modern comforts behind and head to the wilderness. It only took us a couple of hours drive to get to Hustai national park from UB, not long at all by Mongolian standards. Your base for this first adventure would be a Ger camp not far from the park entrance. In 1993 the only remaining true wild horse, The Takhi, was reintroduced to the area and has been protected since. Legend has it that the sand of Moltsog Els has healing powers, great for aches and pains in your back and your kindness and general body and healing awareness.
After relaxing for a bit you could venture deeper into the heart of the parkin hopes of spotting the highly endangered Takhi horse. The park covers an impressive 500 square kilometers of stunning wild nature and in 2002 UNESCO certified the park as a member of the world biosphere network of natural reserves. Scattered around the park are ancient burial grounds with deer stones dating back thousands of years, a humbling reminder of a very different time.

You could warmly welcomed by a local family of herders and they can invited into their warm and comfortable Ger, a welcome break from the bumpy and dusty roads. Even with more than 200 guests arriving the upcoming weekend, they somehow still found time to show us their way of life. Our horses at home, if you whistle, they all come running. It’s a little different. The next part of your adventure would take you into the northernmost part of the country, right on the border of Russia and the great siberian forest. The Tsaatan tribe have been living in this remote area for thousands of years,and still to this day have managed to keep their traditions alive. We were looking forward to the long drive across the steppe, followed by several days on horseback.

Then Think about the wilds, The relationship between hunters and eagles is truly remarkable. The hunter will steal the eagle from the nest at a very young age and train it until its ready to join the hunt. Then once the eagle reaches breeding age it will be released back into the wild, so it can reproduce and maintain the eagle population. This great respect for their animal companions is astounding and something which should serve as an inspiration across the world. During your stay you can joined Bashankan in the mountains scouting for prey. And although we did not have much luck bringing home the prize, the experience will stay with you forever. A visit with the eagle hunters of Mongolia is a journey back in time. And you can elated seeing the traditions still thriving and feel confident that the culture will hold its ground against the attractions and the lure of the modern world. What an epic way to end our Mongolian adventures.This trip has been absolutely amazing, from visiting the Tsaatan in the north, to urban UB, to finally up here with the eagle hunters and the eagle festival.