Culture of Mongolia, A short travel Guides
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.
You can just landed in Murun which is a little bit north of Ulaanbaatar, about an hour flight. And you should getting ready to go on your Tsaatan adventure, which is about ten days roundtrip to see the reindeer herders which are some of the last reindeer herders in the world. It would be a strenuous haul through some of the most rugged terrain in Mongolia. You can spend a few days living alongside the Tsaatanand get a better understanding of their life and daily activities.
just woke up from your day two to see the reindeer herders and we drove about 4 hours in the middle of nowhere towards the reindeer herders, and then found a local family. The hospitality in this country is just unreal. And it is said that the nomads can travel for days and if they see a Ger they can stop and stay, because the people that are inviting them into their home might be in the same situation with no place to stay. So the hospitality is out of this world over here, its pretty incredible. After ten excruciating hours we finally reached the town of Rinchinlumbe, which is on the border of Siberia.
It is the last outpost before you reach Russia. The road was excruciatingly painful, really bumpy, up and down mountains, over valleys, through rivers, but it was absolutely stunning and beautiful. I don’t want to talk too much about the weather, because I hear the weather is particularly rainy and nasty around here, but the weather today was absolutely stunning and it was a beautiful drive. It’s September here in Mongolia so a lot of the trees are turning yellow,which is absolutely a surprise and we are lucky to be here at this time. You should have a long day as well riding horses for about 5-6 maybe more hours to get to the Tsaatan. But this is my Ger camp for the night so come check it out. Pretty nice, you can got a fire for when it gets really cold. And beds are all laid out.
This is your traditional Ger camp that is made for tourists. But it is the same sort of idea just without all the personal stuff from a nomadic family. Well today was another really really long exhausting day. But we finally made it to our camp, we are camping tonight. In this beautiful valley, rivers around you, a few little houses and Yurts but not much around. It’s really beautiful, you will crossed some rivers, just open plains, clouds in the sky, the mountains in the distance. And again we had spectacular weather. So you feeling pretty fortunate . . . and pretty stinking sore. So tomorrow should be interesting. But survived the first day and really happy to be at camp at the moment. So this is day 5 of our Tsaatan adventure. And this is the day we have been waiting for because today you can get to meet the Tsaatan tribe.
They are on a border with Russia and Mongolia in a no-go zone. So you need special permits to get into this area, and notify the border police and go through a lot of paperwork. All our paperwork is in order. You can stayed in this beautiful valley behind me last night and today is finally the day we get to meet the Tsaatan, so it’s pretty exciting. It should be interesting, hopefully not too cold. The Tsaatan is one of the few tribes in the world, who rely completely on their Reindeer for their daily survival. The reindeer are used as pack animals and for transport. Their milk to create butter, curd and other dairy products, their antlers for tools, such as knives and their pelts for clothing.
As well as you can get some invitation to ones house. and can enjoy the journey with them. As tourists you have a huge responsibility. And must be extremely careful not to exploit tribal communities like the Tsaatan. you must always show our utmost respect for their ways.