Traveling Rockhopper

Nomadic lifestyle is not only a tradition in Mongolia; it’s still alive!
There are a few countries where real nomads live and Mongolia is definitely one of them.

Nomads live in “the middle of nowhere” in gers (tents like houses), and look after their animals. They have simple lifestyle, however it doesn’t mean that they don’t use modern technologies (e.g., they may have electricity from the solar panels).

Traditionally, a Mongolian nomadic family has five types of animals, i.e., camels, cows or yaks, goats, horses, and sheep.

Maybe you’ve seen amazing pictures from Mongolia showing eagles or people holding an eagle on their arms?
It’s something typical for Mongolia.
And there is also an Eagle Festival. At the end of September or beginning of October, eagle hunters gather.
I believe, it has to be a very unique experience to go there, however, I don’t like so much the idea of hunting…

There a few large and famous festivals in Mongolia and definitely, it’s a good idea to visit Mongolia during one of the festivals.

Every July (11th-13th of July), the Naadam Festival is held in Ulaanbaatar. It’s actually a “sport festival”. You can see lots of wrestling, archery and horse racing, i.e., very traditional activities in Mongolia. If it doesn’t sound interesting to you, forget these sports – think about the festival as a short period in Ulaanbaatar when the city becomes very colorful and people wear beautiful traditional clothes! Perfect time for photographers! 🙂
I regret, that I couldn’t experience the Naadam Festival when I was in Mongolia, but I had my reasons to travel in August.

I think, tourists often visit Ulaanbaatar during the trip to Mongolia.
I was flying to Mongolia, so I had to visit the capital.

Is it worth visiting Ulaanbaatar?
Well, I wasn’t really impressed, but I think it’s a good idea to spend there a day. Take a walk in the city center, visit Gandan Monastery or some museums.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you when it’s “the best time” to go to Ulaanbaatar. 🙂
Stay tuned!

Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia.
Ulaanbaatar is also known as Ulan Bator or UB.

Ulan Bator is the largest city in Mongolia, and actually much, much bigger than other Mongolian cities. It’s also growing very fast, because many people are moving to Ulaanbaatar.

In general, I prefer to travel by myself. However, there are places where it’s more convenient, easier or simply safer to get some help from a local travel agency.
What about Mongolia? From my point of view, you can travel by yourself in Mongolia, but it’s not so easy; it’s possible but it needs some effort. There is also a problem with understanding, because not so many Mongolians speak English.

I usually, don’t give this kind of practical information on my blog, because they depend on your nationality and actually rules may change quite fast. So before traveling somewhere, it’s always very important to check the current status and all conditions (visa or required vaccinations etc.).

So why am I writing now about visa to Mongolia? Well, just to share my story with you.
I wanted to travel to Mongolia in August, a few years ago. Shortly before, I had to change my passport, so I was checking how long does it take to get a visa to Mongolia. The schedule was quite tight, but I expected to finish everything on time. Just after I got my new passport, some rules were changed and it happened that I didn’t need a visa to Mongolia any more! So I was lucky, perfect timing! 🙂 About one year later, my friend was planing her trip to Mongolia and she told me that she has to apply for a visa. I was surprised. Then we realized that rules were changed again so currently I need a visa to Mongolia.

On one the popular way for visiting Mongolia is to take a train. You can take the Trans-Siberian Railway and arrive from Russia or China. It’s also possible to take a bus from Russia or China. However, if you choose a train or a bus, then you need to arrange more visas. If you’re anyway visiting these countries, then traveling by train/bus sounds like a good idea.

You can also simply fly to the Mongolian capital – Ulaanbaatar. I was flying to Mongolia from Europe and didn’t have any problems. But be aware, that flights may be delayed or cancelled because of the bad weather, what apparently is not a seldom case.

“You don’t go to Mongolia because of food” – that’s what I read before visiting Mongolia. I don’t remember where I saw this sentence, but I remember the moment when I understood the meaning of it… 😉

To be fair – maybe, I’m not the best person for talking about food; I’m a bit picky… And I don’t eat meat – that’s something extra weird for many Mongolians.

In general, Mongolian diet is based on animal products. We can distinguish “white” and “red” food.
-“White” food consists of dairy products (often made of fermented milk) and it’s eaten in summer.
-“Red” food means simply meat, and it’s the main source of energy in winter.

Just one warning; if you visit a nomadic family, it’s very likely you’ll get some diary products made of fermented milk. They are healthy, but if you’re not use to them, your stomach may get upset…

Traditional Mongolian clothes are very nice, unfortunately mostly older people wear them.
As you can see in today’s picture – the older man is wearing beautiful clothes (Deel) with an interesting belt; a young one is wearing just jeans and a T-shirt.

Each ethnic group in Mongolia has their own traditional clothes. There are different clothes for men and women, some special ones for summer or winter, etc. I heard that the most unique are traditional Mongolians head wear; apparently they have hundreds kinds of hats!

If you want to see different traditional Mongolian clothes – visit Mongolia during one of the bigger festivals, e.g., Naadam festival (later, I’ll tell you more about this event).

Mongolia is an empty country, well, almost empty. 😉
There are about 3 million people living in Mongolia, and 40% of the total population lives in the capital!

Typical Mongolian family is quite big. Usually, Mongolians have at least four children.
When I was in Mongolia, I saw many young pregnant women, as well as women with small children.

The majority of Mongolian people belong to Khalkha Mongols and Kazakhs.
However, there are many ethnic groups living in Mongolia, often having a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle.
If you have a chance, talk with Mongolians or spend some time with nomads – it can be a very interesting experience!

In the 16th century, the Yellow Hat Buddhism came to Mongolia from Tibet. These days, Mongolians are mostly Buddhists, however Mongolian Buddhism is different from Tibetan one.

Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia.
Russian is known by many.

What about English?
I guess, Mongolians learn English; but in general, don’t expect that a random person can understand English. Even your “English-speaking” guide may not understand you so well; he may speak English and be able to explain you a lot in English, but he often uses sentences learnt by heart.

Mongolia has a continental climate with extreme low temperatures in winter (up to -40°C or even lower) and extremely high temperatures in summer (up to +40°C). Of course, the weather varies a bit from region to region.

So when is the best time to visit Mongolia?
I was there in August and it was great. However, July seems to be the great period because of the Naadam Festival; on the other hand it may be too warm for enjoying the Gobi desert.

Mongolia is called as the “Land of Blue Skies”.
There are apparently about 250 sunny days a year.

I’m not so sure is it true. Anyway, the name is nice. 🙂

Do you know what Mongolia has in common with the Great Wall of China?
The Great Wall was built because of Mongolians; well, kind of.
The Great Wall was built to protect China from the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe, e.g., from Mongolia.

p.s. Today’s picture shows the Gobi Desert; it’s not the Great Wall of China.

Mongolia shares their boarders with only two countries, i.e., Russia and China.
And this affects many aspects of Mongolia.
Apparently, Mongolians don’t like so much China; Russia is definitely the favorite neighbor.

Welcome in August on my blog.
This month, I’m taking you to Mongolia.

Have you been to Mongolia?
I only spent in Mongolia about a week, and mostly explored just one region. However, I think, I was lucky to see one of the best sites of Mongolia. Hopefully, you’ll agree with this sentence after seeing my pictures in August. 🙂
Well, there are many beautiful places in Mongolia, but the Gobi desert stole my heart. 🙂