Last weekend I took a ride out in the countryside to visit the very much hyped Winter Horse Festival – organised for the third year running by a local NGO, it aims to showcase the Mongolian herdsmen culture. Since a stallion picture taken last year during the very same festival was named one of the best…
Tumen Ekh
Anywhere you travel, the natives (and the well-informed expats) will tell you of what they think the local must-see attraction is. And they did not have to tell me twice to go and see the Mongolian National Dance & Song Ensemble – Tumen Ekh. Staffed with the state’s leading artists and carefully guarded as a nation’s treasure, it…
The Hidden Gems of the Mongolian National Museum
We are all visual creatures and harness a multitude of mental imagery and associations with pretty much any term stored among our vast, dusty memories. If I asked you to think about London, you would probably immediately see the Big Ben clock tower before your very own eyes, shortly followed by Tower Bridge or, perhaps,…
Mongolian Winter
Mongolia and the Mongolian people surprise me everyday – from the food, the customs to some more prosaic challenges a naive expat faces when venturing out to the coldest capital of the Earth in the middle of the winter. The winter… a challenge in a league of its own. Although it officially starts on the…
Tsagaan Sar
Whilst our Chinese friends are celebrating the New Year this weekend, any celebrations in Mongolia are subdue or almost nonexistent. This is because the Mongolians get to celebrate a New Year of their own in a couple of weeks’ time. Despite a very significant influences coming to Mongolia both from the north (Russia) and the…
Khorkhog
I was invited today to join in a Mongolian barbecue, prepared by local Mongolian friends, on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. After over 30 minutes of driving we reached a little settlement of gers where the cooking was going to take place. There were eight of us, getting to know each other during the trip, sharing the curiosity of…
Onwards and Upwards
How does one reach Mongolia from London? The 7,000 km journey is, to my own surprise, most conveniently made with Aeroflot – the pride and joy of our Russian friends, and a thriving relict of the Soviet era. Though the standards might have evolved a little since its first international flight in 1971… Certainly one should…
Welcome to my winter adventure
Wooden dolls in traditional Mongolian dress, as proudly displayed at the Mongolian Embassy in South Kensington I have specifically set up this blog to document and share the adventure of my lifetime – a two-month secondment to far-away Mongolian capital, followed by a two-week trip across China. To all my family, friends and colleagues, thank…
MONGOLIA 