Nick Onken: Mongolia Journals

Mongolia Day 1
First off, There hasn't been much time since I've been shooting, so keep in mind that these journals are very raw.

After such a long flight I finally arrived in Ulaan Bataar on Monday night. Traveling overseas always seems like the twilight zone because you hop in a plane for a blip of time, then end up in another timezone, let alone another country.

Prior to arriving, the thought crosses my mind that I have don’t any phone number to contact the people that are picking me up from the airport. I was just going based on the information that they would be there when I arrived. Didn’t even think about it until that point what I would do if they weren’t there. Let alone the thoughts that crossed my mind when all the gate agents at the airports along the way kept questioning me as to whether I had a visa for Mongolia or not. After the second gate agent said something to me it made me start second guessing and wonder what would happen if I arrived in UB and they told me I needed a visa prior to entry. Then I began creating deportation plan B in my head. Luckily as I was previously informed, I could obtain one upon entry.

After waiting a while for my baggage, I walk out of the airport. As I walk through arrivals hoping my new unknown friends would be waiting for me. Low and behold I see a sign that says “Nick Onsen” That’s a good sign, even though it wasn’t correct. There I met up with my new friends Bayara and Anuu. They somehow got conned into being my guides for the week. Both completely sweet mongolians. Bayara is a late thirties executive pastor with a wife and two beautiful kids. Anuu is a fashionable little 19 year old girl who speaks great english, and is to be my interpreter for the week. They picked me up and took me to my hotel.

I’m surprised to see how much Russian influence Mongolia has to it. Everything seems like a fusion of Russian and Asian. From the writing on the signs, to the buildings and infrastructure of the city to the language. I wake up Tuesday morning and look out my window. The amazing Mongolian sky with light broken clouds and the orange glow of sunrise projected across the buildings of UB. I open the window and breathe the crisp fall air, something that I’ve missed, especially living in LA now. Bright sunny crispy cold days. I then decide to attempt the shower. I swear someone could write a book on foreign showers from Paris to Mongolia and it would be a hit. One of those shower head nozzles on a cord. The shower nightmares of Paris haunts me. Turning on the shower the water sprays out of control all over bouncing off the walls out of the tub and onto the floor, contrary to the sign that says “Please do not pour any water on the floor” Yeah.

Bayara and Anuu pick me up at 9am. We then proceed to pick up some random snacks, and venture off to the countryside to a town called Terelj to meet up with a man with one of the coolest names ever. Chinzorig. It means “Braveheart” Along the way, we stop to visit some nomads. They invite us in their “Guru” which is the name for the huts, for some horse milk. Gracious as these people are, this horse milk is not the best tasting beverage I’ve ever had. It’s fermented, so you can get a little drunk if you drink a lot of it. Luckily I didn’t have to worry about that.

I’m surprised how many Mongolians speak english. The speak Mongolian, English, and Russian. Most of the young people all speak english. I’m also a little disappointed how many tourists come here. They have a lot of tourist Guru camps, that everyone comes to camp at. It feels like it’s taken a little bit away from the culture.

The Mongolian countryside is amazing. Its vast with wild horses running around. Nomad Gurus parked and scattered across the barren land. The crisp fall air falls upon the rolling hills. As the sun sets, we roll back into the city and make a few stops along the way.

Mongolia Day 2
It seems as though nothing stirs in UB until exactly 7:15am. I woke up at 7, looked out the window, and there wasn’t a soul on the street. 7:15 comes and it’s a chaotic mess.

9am we’re off and running. This time we are headed to the countryside in the opposite direction to Khustain Nuruu. It’s a nice 3 hour trek, to the vast and desolate landscape. The sun is brightly shining, but I soon realize that we’re so far north, the sun never comes directly overhead, and we can see the moon the whole day as well. In photographer’s terms, it takes the direct ambient light down a stop or two. After the long stint of concrete “road”, we turn off onto a dirt road and continue for another half an hour. We then arrive at Camp Hastai, a tourist camp that houses the guests in the native “Gurus”, of which I am sitting in writing right now. This camp is on a national forrest of which is famous for having wild horses.

After lunch, we snag a guide and venture off into the vast wilderness to visit the nomads, and see the wild animals. This trek turns out to be a complete 4x4 adventure into God’s country. This countryside landscape has to be one of the most beautiful scene’s I’ve laid eyes on. Bouncing around while enjoying this wide open stretch of rolling hills and dry wispy grass, we continue on. I can’t even begin to describe the beauty and vastness of this terrain. As we drive we stumble across two packs of wild horses off in the distance running up the hills. Our guide, Gangaa tells us that we came at a good time because many people come and only see one or two horses the entire time. As we four by through the wilderness, we are grooving to the tunes of my new found humor. It’s called “Snap- The Madman Returns” it’s a russian/mongolian fusion of 90’s techno-rap. It has got to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. It was in cassette tape version and at least 15 years old, so the sound was warping in and out. A memorable experience. Needless to say, I couldn’t make a copy, so I hope that someone will run across it and let me know so I can get my ears on it.

We then come to a couple nomad homes where we are invited in for the popular Mongolian Milk Tea. One of which, we met Tut, an 84 year old woman residing in one of the homes. Her face and hands were weathered as many mongolians, and hers had the years of wisdom to show. She was sweet and wished me a long and prosperous life. Most of the Mongol nomad families are pretty friendly. The disappointing thing about some is that this area is becoming touristy, and they are used to having their photos taken, so some are unfriendly to it. The family tells us there is a shortage of water, which when I look around and we’re in the middle of nowhere with no water to be seen, I believe it. It’s amazing to me to see how these people live off the land with no running water, and a bit of solar power.
The sun is an hour from setting as we roll over the hill and come upon a nomad camp that appears to be a ranch. A family of 10 or so are rounding up sheep with the dusk light sprinkled behind them. As we pull up, they are warm and welcoming. There are 3 kids, a little girl, Bayasaa, and two boys: Puujee and Byambaa. They all seem to enjoy the camera which is a nice change from the previous families. As the kids perform for me, climbing over the sheep and posing for the camera, the older men of the family are still herding the sheep by horseback. The dust is flying as they prepare for the slaughter. As dusk comes, they carefully pull aside 8 sheep and kill them one by one. It all of a sudden becomes a family event, and everyone now is gutting and skinning the animals before it gets completely dark. It makes me feel like i took a step back in time, wandering the earth about 400 years ago. It’s not something the average Westerner experiences too often.

You’ll notice on one of the last few shots, Bayasaa is doing her business. I didn’t even realize it till after I took the shot.

The sun sets and we’re off back for a dark journey through the mountains back to camp. When we arrive, I look up and see the stars. I haven’t seen that many stars since the countryside of Zimbabwe.

Mongolia Day 3 & Recap
Day three was rather low key compared to the previous two. The evening was pretty eventful, as we attempted to sleep. Mind you we are camping in the nomad huts made for tourists at Khustain Nuruu. It’s like a little hotel camp with huts. They are round as you can see from some of the photos. Inside, there are three small beds that fit on the rim of the round quarters with a fire furnace in the center, pipe extending through the top peak of the structure. Trying to do some work, I am completely whooped and fall asleep on my computer at 10:30, shortly after deciding to go to bed. At about 2:30 in the morning, we’re suddenly awaken by our friendly night guard who barges the door(it’s not a quiet door, mind you), flips on lights and slams a heap of wood in the fire, cranking the temperature up to about 100 degrees like we’re not even there. About 15 minutes later, we’re all writhing in the heat, Bayaraa suddenly jumps out of his bed, exclaims “It’s Hot!”, runs over and pushes the door wide open, then runs back. We then spent the rest of the night tossing and turning till about 6am, as I end up wide awake and continue working.

We decide about 10 minutes later to hope in the Land Cruiser and drive through the hills for the sunrise while jammin’ to “Snap-The Madman Returns” again. We drive for a while and stop in the vast beauty of creation and hike to the top of the mountain. The air is thin and dry, and I can barely breathe. Maybe I’m just getting old and out of shape. The sunrise upon the rolling hills and the pinkish orange clouds weaving through the sky is one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve seen.
We head back to camp, eat some breakfast, and hop back in the car for a trek back Ulaan Bataar and enjoy a little more of the Madman Returns cassette tape.

The rest of the afternoon is spent tooling around. I did however try some Russian dumplings. They were alright. Not too high on the taste o meter, but hey it’s all about trying new things and foods when traveling.

A couple hours before dinner, Anuu and I roll over to see a traditional Mongolian song and dance performance. It was pretty incredible. The native instruments singing following the broken english MC made a wonderful mix. The two things that made the biggest impression were the guys that did this throat humming singing and the human contortionists. The throat humming guys would create this sound that sounds like an African Didjeridoo but all without moving their mouth. Circular breathing appears to be a definite. I’m sure this skill could also be used in freaking people out in public places by sitting throat humming non-chalantly The human contortionists, well nuff said. These young girls moved their bodies in such ways that any Yoga instructor would kill to do.

We had dinner at the Mongolian BBQ, in which American terms we call Mongolian Grill. I’d probably say it was the best food I ate here. We had dinner with Bayara’s family and Chinzorig’s family. They are all wonderful people.

Of all the third world countries I’ve been to, I’d have to say Mongolia is one of my favorites. The landscape is amazing, and culture is amazing. My two new friends Bayara and Anuu were a joy to be around. They are wonderful kind hearted people.

Welp, it's off to Thailand...