Mongolia Man!

MONGOLIA MAN!

San bain uu!! This means hello in Mongolian.! As most of you are aware I will be doing a few month long work stints in Western Mongolia. This of course doesn’t mean I can’t abuse my satellite Internet privileges and update my blog! While I am here I will be conducting water exploration drilling to define sustainable extraction limits of a groundwater resource for a coalmine.

Mongolia feels like the center of attention in the middle of nowhere.  The capital Ulaan Bataar is expanding rapidly and there are plenty of developments going on. Its one of those cities where you always need to be looking where you are going or you may fall down a man hole or tumble over a random pile of rubble. I however am working in Khovd in the far west of Mongolia, a 2-hour flight and a 5-hour car trip into the mountains. The steppes are vast and palatial, as your eyes gaze up from the grand plains the view is replaced by an eternity of vivid green rolling hills only to be superseded in the distance by snow capped peaks being circled by screeching hawks endeavoring to define their next meal.

My trip has been fortunate enough to coincide with the Nadam festival, which is the biggest holiday in Mongolia. Not so good if you are trying to get supplies delivered to your mine site because truck drivers have to stop to see all their relatives along the way, however a great festival none the less. The festival is a celebration of liberation from a former oppressor and is defined by horse races, wrestling and the drinking of many litres of vodka.  I was lucky enough to visit the local village as they celebrated this event…once again being the only white person there and feeling like a complete outsider (I was very quick to strip out of my fluorescent yellow mining clothes, and slip into a trendy flanny).  The main event at the festival was a 20km horse race along the Mongolian plains. These however are not your everyday horse races. The contenders are children aged 3-5 riding stocky Mongolian horses which we clocked riding at 80km/h as we cheered them on riding in our 4wd drives beside them. Naturally I cannot describe properly what this is like or what this land is really like so I made a video to sum up my experience in Mongolia. Enjoy!!!