Attila. Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan. There isn't a soul on earth who doesn’t know their names. From distant Asia, they managed to strike fear into Europe, even though it required a journey of over 8 000 km – on horseback, no less. Who were they? What drove them? And, most importantly, how did they manage to conquer one-fifth of the earth’s surface? As the airplane begins its descent over the endless steppes of Mongolia, …
The Fokker 50 of Aero Mongolia flies relatively low in a northwestern direction over the undulating green landscape, just above the solitary clouds. White specks marking the presence of gers, the typical round tents of Mongolian nomads, are rather rare. Fields of rapeseed are in bloom. Herringbone patterns on the slopes of the hills reveal ….
The landscape sliding beneath the Fokker 50 of Aero Mongolia becomes increasingly sandy and dry. Gradually, we can even distinguish dunes. Clearly, we are approaching the Gobi. Through a dense cloud cover, we descend toward Dalanzadgad. A spectacular halo of spectral colours appears around the shadow of the airplane on the white clouds below us. They call this ...
No more than a handful of the over 650 Mongolian monasteries managed to survive the terror of the Russian Bolsheviks in the late 1930s. By far the most important of these was – and still is – Gandan Khiid. While the monastery did not entirely escape the blows of that time, its resilience remained intact. Today, ...
The excellent asphalt road leads us almost perfectly straight westward through vast, gently rolling green steppes. Here and there, herds of horses or goats graze, and occasionally, in the distance, a ger – the typical white, round tent of Mongolian nomads – appears. Our journey will take us in two stages to Karakorum, the mythical old capital of the Mongols, over ...
You might think you’re in Mongolia when you arrive in Ulaanbaatar. But alas, you’re not. Mongolia and its capital are two completely different worlds. If you want to discover the real Mongolia, you have to leave the capital. It’s a short drive, as Ulaanbaatar is just about twenty minutes away from Mongolia. Yet this doesn’t mean…
Finally, the big day has arrived – Mongolia is celebrating its independence. You can't miss it on the streets, everything revolves around Naadam. It’s a local version of the Olympic Games, complete with an opening ceremony, but exclusively for Mongolian men. Only wrestling, archery, and horse racing are featured, disciplines in which every Mongolian …