What a very good piece. On historical tyrant reverence... you encounter the same thing in Uzbekistan. Tamerlane might have been a monster, but he's THEIR monster.
I have an impression that Noa might be startled by how similar Americans on the street are to the Mongolians she interacted with, in some aspects — particularly in how ignorant they are of their country and the world. A girl did not know where the largest Mongolian city was. Let Noa ask basic geography or history questions on a street corner outside anY college student gathering place in any US city.
Wonderful detailed and thoughtful writing and incredible photos. This is more than an article: it's almost a self-contained guide book. Truly the opposite of the beaten track.
Thank you for this beautifully written, thought provoking story that is more than a bucket list of places to see and things to do. As a Turk, I could not help but notice the similarity between the Mongolian airag and Turkish ayran, which is basically a yoghurt drink, and it turns out that the two indeed share the same origin. The word ayran is derived from the verb "ayır-", that is, to separate, and this points to the original meaning of ayran, which refers to the water that is "separated" from fat when churning milk to get butter.
A wonderful post and the photographs helped understand the region. The sky pictures always draw my attention. Afraid I would skip the Airag. I'm assuming children are homeschooled there.
“It’s challenging to get straightforward explanations about why people do the things they do or why some things are the way they are without encountering regional prejudices, half-truths, or indifference about distant places.”
I’d be curious to hear more about this and whether Noa has a sense of why it is. I don’t know much about Mongolia, but my impression from this piece is that it's a fairly closed society where most people don’t encounter outsiders too often (do many Mongolians encounter foreigners in organized tours, or is that just a small subset of the population)? I guess what I’m wondering is, maybe they don’t have a good point of comparison that would help them explain their own culture to outsiders?
Gorgeous photos, by the way. Thanks so much for sharing these insights, this was an excellent read!
Hi Samantha! That's a good question. That's still a piece of the puzzle I'm trying to solve. There is overall a sense that 30 years after gaining democracy, the country as a whole is finding the balance between globalization and hanging on to tradition. They admire Korean culture a lot and consumerism is certainly ramping up. On the other hand, there are lots of efforts to preserve traditional Mongolian culture. Traditional Mongolian script (created by Genghis Khan and written vertically) is taught in all schools and there's talk of switching to using it for official documents.
A lot of Mongolians have never met foreigners before. When I got here it took a while to get students to speak because they were too scared to talk to an American. I still get lots of pointing and staring on the street. I think a big part of all of it is reconciling what they see online with where they are in living up to democratic ideals. Of course, the media shows a certain image of developed democracies and Mongolians often self-criticize their country's inability to live up that. So, yes -- not a very good point of reference for comparison is a big part of it.
Certainly lots to think about! Thanks for the question.
I’m going to guess no - but question for Noa - is the “hy” you mention as the first two letters of the description of “home/hytar” actually pronounced as “hy?” In Welsh they have a term called “hiraeth” which means basically homesickness for something that no longer exists or barely exists (for the Welsh, specifically independent Wales). That would be a giant stretch for Indo-European languages, thousands of miles apart with different letters, but thought I would ask anyway. Great post and I look forward to hearing more from you as a guest author as those of us addicted to Chris’ work suffer withdrawal between posts or when (as evident) the airline has a delay and he never gets to Nevada.
Hi, Josh! It is not. Mongolia uses cyrillic so what looks like a latin 'H' is pronounced like 'n' and the 'y' is pronounced like a short latin 'u'. Interesting about "hiraeth" though! In Mongolian the verb for "to miss" and "to remember" is the same word which sort of conveys what you're talking about too.
Very interesting read! Brought back some memories when I was there in the early 2000s in my twenties. I traveled the Trans-Mongolian railway and made a longer stop in Mongolia on the way, and traveled the country independently. However, i.e. Ulaanbaatar didn't yet have the pollution nor many beggars, so it has changed much, I've heard. There was no Facebook, either. The Mongol ponies were awesome (to an ex cross-country rider it was a blast!). And I can still taste the quite horrible taste of airag in my mouth after reading this. ;) Thank you for this trip down the memory lane. :)
PS. Namibia has the lowest population density in the world (4 per square kilometer), but I remember Mongolia was very sparse, too.
Every person I've met who's seen Mongolia before the 2010s always comments on just how much it has changed! I bet if you went to Ulaanbaatar now you wouldn't believe it's the same city. I go there every couple months and every single time I'm surprised to see new buildings popping up everywhere!
What a very good piece. On historical tyrant reverence... you encounter the same thing in Uzbekistan. Tamerlane might have been a monster, but he's THEIR monster.
A lovely, super-informative post. The photos!!! Thank you so much.
I have an impression that Noa might be startled by how similar Americans on the street are to the Mongolians she interacted with, in some aspects — particularly in how ignorant they are of their country and the world. A girl did not know where the largest Mongolian city was. Let Noa ask basic geography or history questions on a street corner outside anY college student gathering place in any US city.
Wonderful detailed and thoughtful writing and incredible photos. This is more than an article: it's almost a self-contained guide book. Truly the opposite of the beaten track.
This was great! Thank you very much.
Thank you for this beautifully written, thought provoking story that is more than a bucket list of places to see and things to do. As a Turk, I could not help but notice the similarity between the Mongolian airag and Turkish ayran, which is basically a yoghurt drink, and it turns out that the two indeed share the same origin. The word ayran is derived from the verb "ayır-", that is, to separate, and this points to the original meaning of ayran, which refers to the water that is "separated" from fat when churning milk to get butter.
Yeah but Ayran is my favorite drink in the world and Airag might be my least favorite. lol.
A wonderful post and the photographs helped understand the region. The sky pictures always draw my attention. Afraid I would skip the Airag. I'm assuming children are homeschooled there.
Well done
This was a great read. Beautiful photos, too.
LOVE this post and the photos. Thank you so much for sharing!
When we did our recent podcast episode about Mongolia (https://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2024-07-19-mongolia/), I got a *little* bit obsessed with visiting Mongolia some day. This post is both aspirational and practically helpful.
Also: that sky! –Mel
I'll give it a listen!
Please! I want to see MORE from Mongolia and the people there.
This is a wonderful, vivid, and precise piece of writing. Thank you, Noa! I’d read anything you might write in this genre.
“It’s challenging to get straightforward explanations about why people do the things they do or why some things are the way they are without encountering regional prejudices, half-truths, or indifference about distant places.”
I’d be curious to hear more about this and whether Noa has a sense of why it is. I don’t know much about Mongolia, but my impression from this piece is that it's a fairly closed society where most people don’t encounter outsiders too often (do many Mongolians encounter foreigners in organized tours, or is that just a small subset of the population)? I guess what I’m wondering is, maybe they don’t have a good point of comparison that would help them explain their own culture to outsiders?
Gorgeous photos, by the way. Thanks so much for sharing these insights, this was an excellent read!
Hi Samantha! That's a good question. That's still a piece of the puzzle I'm trying to solve. There is overall a sense that 30 years after gaining democracy, the country as a whole is finding the balance between globalization and hanging on to tradition. They admire Korean culture a lot and consumerism is certainly ramping up. On the other hand, there are lots of efforts to preserve traditional Mongolian culture. Traditional Mongolian script (created by Genghis Khan and written vertically) is taught in all schools and there's talk of switching to using it for official documents.
A lot of Mongolians have never met foreigners before. When I got here it took a while to get students to speak because they were too scared to talk to an American. I still get lots of pointing and staring on the street. I think a big part of all of it is reconciling what they see online with where they are in living up to democratic ideals. Of course, the media shows a certain image of developed democracies and Mongolians often self-criticize their country's inability to live up that. So, yes -- not a very good point of reference for comparison is a big part of it.
Certainly lots to think about! Thanks for the question.
Thanks for the thorough response, Noa! It prompted me to look up Mongolian script—it’s beautiful.
I’m going to guess no - but question for Noa - is the “hy” you mention as the first two letters of the description of “home/hytar” actually pronounced as “hy?” In Welsh they have a term called “hiraeth” which means basically homesickness for something that no longer exists or barely exists (for the Welsh, specifically independent Wales). That would be a giant stretch for Indo-European languages, thousands of miles apart with different letters, but thought I would ask anyway. Great post and I look forward to hearing more from you as a guest author as those of us addicted to Chris’ work suffer withdrawal between posts or when (as evident) the airline has a delay and he never gets to Nevada.
Reminds me of the Portuguese word 'saudade', which is a slightly different concept I think but similar. I've always had a fondness for the idea.
Hi, Josh! It is not. Mongolia uses cyrillic so what looks like a latin 'H' is pronounced like 'n' and the 'y' is pronounced like a short latin 'u'. Interesting about "hiraeth" though! In Mongolian the verb for "to miss" and "to remember" is the same word which sort of conveys what you're talking about too.
Exceptional writing, exceptional photos, thanks very much!
Very interesting read! Brought back some memories when I was there in the early 2000s in my twenties. I traveled the Trans-Mongolian railway and made a longer stop in Mongolia on the way, and traveled the country independently. However, i.e. Ulaanbaatar didn't yet have the pollution nor many beggars, so it has changed much, I've heard. There was no Facebook, either. The Mongol ponies were awesome (to an ex cross-country rider it was a blast!). And I can still taste the quite horrible taste of airag in my mouth after reading this. ;) Thank you for this trip down the memory lane. :)
PS. Namibia has the lowest population density in the world (4 per square kilometer), but I remember Mongolia was very sparse, too.
Every person I've met who's seen Mongolia before the 2010s always comments on just how much it has changed! I bet if you went to Ulaanbaatar now you wouldn't believe it's the same city. I go there every couple months and every single time I'm surprised to see new buildings popping up everywhere!
Fascinating. My knowledge of Mongolia is limited to hints picked up from listening to The Hu. My favorite of their songs is Yuva Yuva Yu.
I’m sure that I would definitely not recognize it at all anymore. Back then not one taller building than about 10-storey, either ;)