Word for the Travel Wise (08/03/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Whoa! Now here’s a cool affair to attend if you have the time, money and desire to travel Mongolia. Apparently 2006 is the 800th anniversary of Great Mongolian State and Mongolians are planning several events to help visitors follow in the footsteps of the great Genghis Khan. The trip looks to be made on horseback and details about the historical expedition can be found at Discover Mongolia. You better act fast though if you’re really interested in something like this – trip dates are only slated for August 13-22, 2006 and September 3-12, 2006. As Neil mentioned sometime ago, there is no better way to explore Mongolia than on horseback. All-in-all it seems like a win-win situation for anyone who actually makes the journey over.

Today’s word is a Mongolian word used in Mongolia:

mori – horse

Mongolian is an Altaic language and spoken by over two million people throughout Mongolia (where it has official language status) and by up to three million people in northern China. Wikipedia doesn’t offer much for increasing your Mongolian vocabulary, but it has great background information. Learning Mongolian online will be tough without an understanding of their alphabet or script used. Omniglot is the perfect place to begin to start learning the alphabet. For quick reference use LP’s Mongolian Phrasebook on your trip.

Mongol Rally: Crappy Cars Only

by Neil Woodburn on

Today at noon in London’s Hyde Park, a handful of cars will embark on an 8,000 mile rally from England’s capital to the heart of Mongolia. What differentiates Mongol Rally from other long distance rallies, however, is that anyone can participate.

This is not a high-end race event where uber-expensive, supped-up automobiles with a host of support teams and the latest high-tech gear blow past poor African farmers wondering what the hell just came and went. No, this is a charity event where participants are actually fined if they modify their cars too much. Team Genghis Carnage, for example, will be driving a 1988 Nissan Micra which will undoubtedly have its share of problems in the harsh Mongolian steppes (or the streets of London, for that matter).

This is such a wonderful idea. Winning is not the aim of this event, but rather helping those less fortunate around the world. Instead of the above-mentioned poor African receiving a face-full of dust, he just might receive a cow instead. One of the major charities is Send a Cow. This organization “gives direct, practical help to poor farmers in Africa, by providing, cows and other livestock, training in livestock rearing and organic farming, and low-cost veterinary and advice services.”

So, give a cheer for Team Dude Where’s My Camel, Island Monkeys, The Fabled Hunters of the Mongolian Death Worm, Genghis the Menace, and many others as they head east towards Mongolia.

Red Corner: Hosting Mongolians

by Neil Woodburn on

Ever wanted to meet a real live Mongolian and even perhaps invite him or her home for a few days? Well, if you live near Telluride, Colorado, now’s your chance.

In celebration of this year’s Mountainfilm Festival, 70 Mongolians are traveling half way around the world to attend the event. Why, you ask? Denver’s sister city is none other than Ulaan Baatar, the capital of Mongolia.

Although Mongolians are some of this world’s last great nomads, their traditional yurts will not fit in the overhead bin so they are looking for housing while attending the film festival. Locals who volunteer their homes, will get a pass to the festival for every Mongolian they put up.

The event is next weekend, May 26-29, so if you are interested, click here ASAP for more details.

Mongolia Emerges as a Tourist Location

by Karen Walrond on

Some time ago, when I still
lived in the United States, I remember watching a PBS special with my husband, one featuring the actress Julia Roberts.  Roberts had traveled
to Mongolia to live with a nomadic family to learn more about their relationships with the wild horses native to the
land.  I remember thinking how brave it was for a celebrity, who was no doubt used to a life of a luxury, to leave
her comfort zone to live with a family who, while warm and welcoming, didn’t speak a word of English.  She spent
several weeks with them in their transportable home, or ger, with no heating or running water or any other
creature comforts we in the West take for granted.  She was wonderfully graceful, and it was fantastically
educational.  And I remember being completely mesmerized by the scenes of Mongolia.

I couldn’t help
thinking of this special as I read this
article in Conde Nast Traveler, which talks about the future of Mongolia, now that it is no longer a ward of the
Soviet Union.  Author Jim Robbins tells of his travels in the wild country, in which traveling "requires a
Zenlike patience."  And yet, his words are equally mesmerizing:

It is a strange and strangely
beautiful place, at once oddly familiar and utterly foreign. On the one hand, it looks strikingly like the
nineteenth-century American West, inhabited by a race of horse-riding nomads who look and live very much as Native
Americans once did. Yet the round tents, diminutive horses, exotic attire, and trees straight out of Dr. Seuss lend it
an otherworldly air.

Definitely worth a read.

Mongolian Song

by Erik Olsen on

For those who are fans of world music, cowboy songs and just plain well-told stories, this really cool little piece coming from the NPR
archives is a real listening pleasure. The story examines a group of Mongolian herdsmen who traveled all the way to
Elko, NV, to hang out with some bona-fide American cowboys (albeit singing cowboys) and the two form a kind of bonding
experience about music and life on the range. And then as you’ll hear in this story, the cowboys meander to Ulan Bator in Mongolia for some cultural exchange and an immersion into
Mongolian song.

The piece is Narrated by Hal Cannon, and transports you for a brief moment from behind your
desk into another space where the binding qualities of music and the carefree life of a cowboy are rendered wonderfully
in a Mongolian version of John Denver’s Country Road.