If we say ‘Mongolia,’ and you imagine an eagle hunter on horseback silhouetted against an endless blue sky and vast open plains, you are not wrong. Ditto for thinking of Chingiss Khan, frigid winters, and resilient nomads in gers (yurts).
While those perceptions are valid, Mongolia may have some surprises for you. The sun shines 250 days a year, and summer days are luxuriously long and warm. Yes, Khan is a national hero (see: the 3-story glimmering steel statue of the Mongol leader on horseback), but Mongolians are most welcoming. The flap door of a ger is open to all, friends and strangers alike — and a hot bowl of milk tea will appear as soon as you cross the threshold.
In the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, you can eat in restaurants, visit a temple, and wander through museums. When you’ve had enough of the bustle, ride into the steppes — on a horse, a camel, or an all-terrain jeep — and back in time. Under that vast sky, you can head north to spruce forests that stretch toward Russia, or west to the jaggy Altai mountains, or south to the wind-swept dunes of the Gobi Deserts (and, eventually, China).
In this episode, we meet a formidable Mongolian warrior princess, listen to the otherworldly sound of Tuvan throat singing, and travel back in history with the annual Naadam Festival (a.k.a. the Mongolian Olympics).
Then we recommend five great books that took us to Mongolia on the page, including the story of an ancient warrior woman, a nonfiction account of the world’s toughest horse race, a YA novel about a female eagle hunter, an illustrated travelogue of riding the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and the tale of a road trip across Mongolia with twin-brother monks.
Read the full transcript of Mongolia: Under the Eternal Blue Sky.
The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford.
Hunting With Eagles: In the Realm of the Mongolian Kazakhs by Palani Mohan
Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa, Leri Price (translator)
Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
Perhaps you’d like to listen to some Mongolian music while you dig into these links.
And some photos to set the scene…
From Roads and Kingdoms: 14 Things to Know Before You Go to Ulaanbaatar.
The Guardian on life in Ulaanbaatar’s ger district.
Mongolian dairy!
Surprise! Mongolia has a lifestyle vlogger.
Everything you need to know about Naadam: From UNESCO and from CNN.
Atlas Obscura’s trips to Mongolia: Mongolia’s Summer Danshig Festival and Mongolia’s Winter Camel Festival.
Statement 1: Mongolia is so nomadic that Amazon uses longitude and latitude numbers instead of street addresses Play around with the what3words app. Wikipedia on the Mongol Post.
Statement 2: In the 1200s, there was a Mongolian warrior princess. She refused to marry anyone who couldn’t out-wrestle her. She eventually married a man who was sent to assassinate her father. For more: The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford.
Statement 3: An American blues singer became an award-winning throat singer. Paul Pena on Wikipedia.
Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh
An interview with the author on the (excellent) The Perks of Being a Book Lover podcast.
Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer
Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow
The 15-Year-Old Girl Who Tames and Hunts with Eagles (Outside Magazine)
Teenage Eagle Hunter Is Mongolia’s New Movie Star (National Geographic)
Paloni Mohan is a photographer who spent five years living with Kazakh eagle hunters. His photos are collected in the book Hunting With Eagles: In the Realm of the Mongolian Kazakhs. You can enjoy many of them on his website, and these are more photos of Mongolia. He also gave a Tedx Talk:
Another great video:
Border Crossings: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway by Emma Fick
When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry
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