Mongolia is one of most unspoiled countries in the world, a country where most of the population still live as nomads on the steppe – together with their sheep, horses and yaks – and where they drink fermented mare’s milk and tea with salt. My first experience with Mongolia was during a summer in the middle of the 1990s, when I travelled around in a jeep and hitchhiked for two months. The hospitality is incomparable out there on the steppe, which made me return many times, both in autumn and in winter, when the harsh climate is evident, with temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius.
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 Father and daughter. |
 The nomads get money from selling the sheep’s wool. |
 In Mongolia more than half of
the population lives as nomads at the steppe. |
 Mongolians on a long horse ride (Lake Khorgo is in the background). |
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 The yak oxen are used as draught animals. |
 For thousands of years the Mongolians have used the horse as a mean of transport. |
 The Mongolian horses a small, but strong. The Mongol rider has company of Jeff from New York. |
 The Mongolians are very hospitable and usually invite a stranger inside their home
without hesitating. |
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 The horses use all possibilities to grass in the summer – otherwise they would not be able to survive the cold winter. |
 The Mongolian steppe is also called the world’s biggest lawn. |
 When cars and fuel is far away
it’s good to have a yak ox. |
 The Mongolian tent is called a ‘ger’. It’s made from felt covered by white canvas. |
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 The strong yak oxen draw heavy timber without problems. |
 A storm is brewing. |
 A grandmother with her children and grandchildren. |
 Inside a ‘ger’. Note the mutton which is drying above the oven in centre. |
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 Father and son. |
 On the way through the wooded Arkhangai Province. |
 The boys learn the skills of a shepherd from they are very young. |
 Milking sheep and goats. |
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 Milking an yak ox. |
 Milking is women’s
job, and even the small girls lend a hand. |
 The animals are
milked twice a day (morning and evening). |
 The Mongolian
national dress
(a ’del’). |
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 The life expectancy
of a Mongolian woman
is 69 years. |
 Mutton drying above
the fireplace. |
 The milk from yak
oxen is used for butter
and other milk products. |
 The summer in Mongolia
is usually nice and mild,
but thundery showers are frequent. |
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 Sheep-shearing. |
 The sheep’s wool is sold for further production. |
 Curious children are visiting my tent. |
 Grandparents with all their grandchildren. |
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 Two generations on the steppe. |
 The man holds a necklace and snuffbox in his hands. |
 It takes a couple of hours to erect the felt tent (’ger’). |
 Lake Khorgo in Arkhangai province. |
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 Bringing firewood back home. |
 Wrestling match during a local festival. |
 On the way to Tariat village for the annual Naadam festival. |
 Behind the steppe the mountains raise towards Russia in the north-western Khovsgol Province. |
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 A ride on a Russian motorbike. |
 Almost everything can be transported on a motorbike (here it’s a door for the felt tent). |
 Sunset in Khovsgol Province. |
 Nomads in their summer camp. |
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 Here (in an altitude of almost 3000 m) the nights are fu... cold. |
 The first snow has fallen – soon the winter begins and the nomads move down from the mountains. |
 Mountains in western Mongolia
– a part of Altai Mountains which reach far into Russia. |
 It’s not only in Gobi desert that camels live. They also do well
here at the foot of Altai Mountains. |
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 Winter in the western province Bayan Olgii. |
 Even though it’s cold, the winter precipitation is very small – often there is no snow or just a few centimetres. |
 In the winter the nomads keep the felt tents warm by heating them up with firewood or dried cow dong. |
 The woman prepare 'boov' (deep-fried pastry). |
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 During the night the grandfather sleeps on the ground, close to the woodburning stove. |
 The sheep are gathered for the night not to be eaten by hungry wolves. |
 The children learn how to ride a horse from they are very young. |
 Al preparation of food takes place on the woodburning stove. |
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 Note the bag with flour to the right – it’s aid from a Danish NGO after the severe winter in 1999 where many domestic animals died in Mongolia. |
 Why walk when you
can ride a horse? |
 Transport of a dead
sheep on the back of
a horse. |
 The shepherd takes
a rest on a mild winter’s
day in Altai Mountain. |
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 Animal transport in Mongolia. |
 Lake Khorgo in August. |
 Extinct vulcano near Lake Khorgo. |
 Yaks near Lake Khorgo. |
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