
We will be talking about Mongolia, Russia, and the Trans-Siberian Train in this podcast as my dad joins me to talk about the month long trip we took in 2016….
Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world and 30% of the roughly 3 million people still lead a nomadic life and identify as a horse culture. It is landlocked between Russia and China and is sometimes referred to as Outer Mongolia, while Inner Mongolia is still part of China (the Great Wall was built between Inner Mongolia and China). In fact, to this day there are more ethnic Mongol people in China than in the country of Mongolia.
For most of history the people of Mongolia consisted of small, independent, nomadic tribes, but every now and then the tribes would be united and the Mongol people would strike out past the current boarders.
The two most know people to unite the tribes was Attila the Hun, who terrorized the Roman Empire in the mid-5th century AD, and Genghis Khan, who in the 13th century helped form the largest land empire the world has ever seen. Although it lasted less than 150 years when the tables were turned and Mongolia was conquered by China, who held it until 1924. Of course, the Chinese government did not recognize Mongolia’s independence until 1945 when they were forced to in order to obtain Soviet support against the Japanese invasion. Mongolia followed Russia’s example of communism until the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Over half the people are Buddhist and follow the Tibetan Lamas and are known as the Yellow Hat sect.
I spent six days in Mongolia with my father in September 2016. While it is possible to travel independently in Mongolia, the lack of public transportation (and to not be too blunt, the lack of actual roads) makes this a difficult proposition unless you want to devote a significant amount of time in the country.
For this reason, I chose to hire a guide and driver from Golden Gobi. This was the best choice because Alma (our guide) and Sanka (our driver) helped us see more of Mongolia than my dad and I would have seen by ourselves even if we had double the time. Golden Gobi even teamed us up with Steve (the Brit), which saved us some money and added a new friend to our lives.
We stayed in gers (Mongolian for yurt) each night and explored monasteries and the country side during the day. Our itinerary looked like this:
My favorite thing about Mongolia was the wide-open space. Did you know the country is over twice the size of Texas? This gave plenty of space to see the vast herds of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, ect and learn a little bit about what it was like to lead a nomadic life on the steppe.
The thing that got tiresome after a while is all the driving in the wide-open space. It seems like there are only four highways in Mongolia and they extend in the four directions from the capital. The further you get out the more potholes you will find. Then the pavement stops and you are on a dirt road which gives way to one of many dirt tracks all running across the endless steppe.
My recommendation is to contact Golden Gobi and have them set up a tour for you. They will take you to spots you did not know about and get there in ways you could only imagine. Due to their heritage, the Mongolian people are very good at wandering and finding their way across the steppe, so take advantage of it!
Soon you can get even more helpful hints by watching the travel video I am making for Mongolia. In the mean time, you can read what all I did during my time in Mongolia in my blog posts below.
We will be talking about Mongolia, Russia, and the Trans-Siberian Train in this podcast as my dad joins me to talk about the month long trip we took in 2016….
Today is the last blog from Mongolia, so I wanted to share a photo of the monastery in Karakorum as my “photo of the day”. If you go back to Sunday’s…
Since Mongolia is still a largely nomadic country as the herders move the sheep, goats, cows, yaks, and horses from pasture to pasture, I choose a photo of a goat…
When we visited the monastery in Karakorum, which use to be the capital of Genghis Kan’s empire, I found a couple of these dragons climbing the support pillars. I thought they…
Today is my dad and I’s last day in the nomadic country of Mongolia. It has been a fantastic experience and the last day keep up with the rest of…
And no I am not talking about my handsome mug. This was the camel I rode while in Mongolia. I wrote about this adventure yesterday and thought you might enjoy…
I left you on Thursday in Karakorum, the capital of Genghis Khan’s empire, where we visited the museum and various sights and shrines. By the way, did you like yesterday’s…
One of the more interesting shrines my dad and I saw was one dedicated to race horses. As you can see in this “photo of the day” there are horse…
As most of you know I get a lot of fantastic sunsets when I am on the boat in the Caribbean, but I still love seeing them. This one is…
Today we made it to the great Genghis Khan’s empirical capital city. The city was founded in 1220AD, but for the first 15-20 years was only a ger camp (Mongolian…
Do you remember what I told you about driving in Mongolia when you travel? We spent 4-6 hours each day driving along the “highway” system, which consisted of multiple dirt…
Did you enjoy yesterday’s “photo of the day” of the ger (Mongolian for yurt, which is a semi-permanent tent) we stayed in? Remember from Sunday’s blog this was in the…
Yesterday I told you a story about how we stayed in a random families ger (or yurt) in Mongolia. My “Photo of the Day” is a evening shot of the…
This is the second day my dad and I are in the distant country of Mongolia and it began totally opposite of how it ended. If you remember I finished…
After four and a half days on the Trans-Mongolian train, my dad and I arrived at the train station in, Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator), Mongolia. Why? Well since we were riding…
Today’s photo of the day comes from a monastery in Mongolia. This is the Amarbayasgalant Monastery and is found in the northern part of the country. If you come back tomorrow…
Since my dad and I are using the Trans-Siberian train to travel between Moscow to Mongolia and then back to Russia to continue our eastward adventure, we had to clear…
Can you see the big dipper with a shrine at the monastery in northern Mongolia? This is the first blog about Mongolia, but tomorrow I will post the last blog…
What was life aboard the Tran-Siberian train (TST) like for my father and I? Well let me share some insights into our life’s, those four and a half days between…
Here my dad and I are riding the Trans-Siberian train for four and a half days from Moscow to Mongolia and there is zero wi-fi on the train. I know…
This entire “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles World Tour” started with the idea of riding the Trans-Siberian train (TST) across Russia with my dad for his 70th birthday. Since I went…
Here it is in the morning and I still have things to do. Do I have a deadline to get them done by? You bet I do since I I…