We have just completed the first half of trip to Mongolia, the key part was attending their Eagle Festival. Mongolia is very poor with sparse vegetation but the air is amazingly clear (as clear as Antarctica) and the people very friendly.
Moving from Soviet domination (they were part of the USSR from the 20’s to the 90’s)
to modernity
they have suffered some hiccups (nobody was hurt and it was mostly exterior damage).
At the Eagle Festival we stayed in a ger (Mongolian for yurt) camp which had very spacious rooms
Their major down size was the lack of indoor plumbing – and literally no showers so we showered at the local soviet era public bath.
The Eagle Festival did not disappoint as we saw lots of eagles and action
We also saw other traditional Mongolian games
Our main mode of transportation was a Russian designed van that is prized because its simple design makes it easy to repair (we maintain its because they repair it so often). It’s the one on the right
Now we are off to the Gobi Desert