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Mongolia: Vast, Wild, Unforgettable waiting to be Explored · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:00
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goaay and welcome to the Goaay Pro Travel Tale Podcast.
• 0:05
  Travel far and gravel often.
• 0:51
  I
• 1:19
  Are you at peace?
• 1:20
  Did you find your zen through the Mongolian throat singing?
• 1:25
  One of the many highlights of the trip to Mongolia.
• 1:28
  What I played for you there was some traditional throat singing and then afterwards how the throat singing has been used in modern forms of music, either techno or into rock and
• 1:38
  even heavy rock.
• 1:40
  So that leads us into today's conversation about Mongolia.
• 1:45
  Hello everyone.
• 1:46
  Welcome to the Go Way Pro Travel Tales podcast.
• 1:49
  um Most of our podcasts are special, of course, but I think today's one is really special.
• 1:55
  It's really special to me uh because as I mentioned in the other intro, we're talking about Mongolia uh and like most of our podcasts, we're speaking to a local expert, Tarel
• 2:07
  Batgold.
• 2:10
  Sorry.
• 2:11
  That's okay.
• 2:12
  uh
• 2:14
  again.
• 2:15
  Terrell Batbold and she is coming to us.
• 2:17
  I'm going to make this assumption.
• 2:18
  I haven't asked this question, but I'm assuming Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, which is the capital of Mongolia.
• 2:23
  That's the first bit of information about Mongolia.
• 2:25
  The capital is Ulaanbaatar.
• 2:28
  Now I'm sitting in our little Toronto Go Away studio here at 8pm on a Wednesday night.
• 2:34
  So what time is it where you are, Terrell?
• 2:37
  Right now it's 9-10 in the morning on a Thursday.
• 2:42
  On Thursday.
• 2:43
  oh So another thing you need to know.
• 2:46
  basically Mongolia is like Australia and anywhere to the Pacific.
• 2:49
  They're a day ahead of us.
• 2:50
  So that's first thing.
• 2:52
  um And Terrell runs Selena travel, which is based in Mongolia.
• 2:58
  And she looks after GoAE's Mongolian operation.
• 3:01
  Now we don't get a lot of bookings there and we're hoping this podcast will be the first step to improve that and get more people out there.
• 3:09
  A couple of our destination specialists visited Mongolia.
• 3:13
  I'm not sure when, Trill, do remember?
• 3:14
  I think was somewhat recently.
• 3:15
  We had two of them out there.
• 3:16
  Do remember when it was?
• 3:17
  it was in two years ago, 2024.
• 3:22
  So that was Steve and Amelia.
• 3:26
  So we do have a couple of people who have visited there themselves.
• 3:29
  And actually the son of the owner, Adam Hodge, he went to Mongolia many years ago on a trip.
• 3:35
  So we do have some in-house expertise as well, of course, Terrell, in the country.
• 3:40
  So for those who may not know, let me just read off a few facts here about the country of Mongolia.
• 3:44
  And please, Terrell, I get anything wrong, jump in, correct me.
• 3:47
  From a location point of view, we mentioned it's across the dateline.
• 3:51
  but it borders Russia and China.
• 3:54
  A lot of people know it for the history of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire.
• 3:59
  The rugged steps, S-T-E-P-P-E-S, we'll clarify what they are in a minute.
• 4:04
  Gobi Desert, amazing culture.
• 4:07
  As we started the podcast with, uh you have throat singing, you have a famous culture which is horseback uh driven, pardon the pun, that goes back to the Mongol times.
• 4:19
  Hawking, so the eagles, that type of thing.
• 4:22
  um Another interesting stat, where is it here?
• 4:26
  It's the world's least densely populated country, which is quite cool in this day and age of people wanting to get away from the crowds.
• 4:34
  Mongolia is it.
• 4:36
  um That's some stats and facts to get going.
• 4:41
  m So let's start with what I would say, to meet potato logistics, Terrell.
• 4:47
  So our North American travel agents, they have a client approach them and they want to go to Mongolia.
• 4:52
  We'll speak of all the reasons why they will want to go.
• 4:55
  But one of the first things that will come to a travel agent's mind and even a traveler's mind is how do I get there?
• 5:00
  Because it is a long way away and it does seem China.
• 5:04
  So people are to go, my God, how do I get there?
• 5:06
  So let's tackle that first.
• 5:08
  How does someone from the US or Canada get to Mongolia?
• 5:12
  So it's actually straightforward in my opinion, at least because I do that travel at least two or three times a year.
• 5:20
  we nowadays you can eat depending on if you're flying from the East Coast or West Coast, you can either go through Turkey, Istanbul, or you can go through Seoul or Tokyo.
• 5:32
  So you have to take two flights because we do not have a direct flight from Canada or the US at the moment.
• 5:39
  So you can go through either way.
• 5:41
  And you can, that flight is usually eight to 10 hours.
• 5:45
  Then from the next destination, depending on where you're flying from, it's about three to four hours.
• 5:50
  Or if you're flying from Istanbul, it's eight hours.
• 5:56
  Obviously for those who know, Go-A has a product in South Korea.
• 6:02
  So that flight routing is very, very easy.
• 6:05
  Turkish Airlines are one of our biggest supporters here at Go.
• 6:07
  They've been fantastic with us last year.
• 6:10
  They road shows and they have a fantastic airline, great options for any stopover in Istanbul, which Terrell just mentioned you would need to do.
• 6:18
  So there you go, Turkish Airlines and of course Asian carriers in Korea.
• 6:22
  We'll get you there.
• 6:22
  So as you mentioned, no direct flights.
• 6:25
  in.
• 6:25
  I would assume that you could connect from China because we do have a lot of clients who will visit so you can fly in China as well.
• 6:33
  Definitely, it's only a two-hour flight from Beijing to Ozamattar.
• 6:39
  So Beijing would be the main Chinese gateway.
• 6:42
  oh What is the airport code for Lumbata?
• 6:47
  It's UBN.
• 6:49
  It's like a yes.
• 6:53
  Okay.
• 6:54
  And at the end of this podcast, I'm going to, is for someone who can, through our comments or chats or whatever it may be, wherever you're watching this, I want you to type out how
• 7:03
  you spell Oolumbata without looking it up on Google.
• 7:08
  So, Terela, again, I can ask you some, again, I hope you don't find them.
• 7:14
  I hope not insulting, but ignorant.
• 7:16
  Your English is exceptional.
• 7:18
  I would assume that what is the first language of Mongolia?
• 7:23
  Is it English?
• 7:24
  Is it Mongolian?
• 7:25
  Is it another form of dialect?
• 7:28
  No, we speak Mongolian and it is our first language.
• 7:33
  ah Everybody speaks it and we do learn like second language or different languages in school, but no, everybody speaks Mongolian.
• 7:42
  And if you go out on the street in the city, in the capital, you will find people speak different languages.
• 7:49
  But in the countryside, yeah, unless you speak Mongolian, nobody speak other languages.
• 7:58
  Okay, so that's what I'm getting at.
• 7:59
  So a traveler in Ulaanbaatar, which is the capital in main city, I would assume other large cities English will be used, but if you get off into the rural areas, which is one
• 8:10
  of the attraction of Mongolia, having a guide would be necessary to to communicate because most of the people outside of the cities will not speak English.
• 8:21
  Certainly, certainly.
• 8:22
  That's why we always recommend to travel with you, you know, travel to a tour operator or agents.
• 8:27
  So you have a professional guide who can actually really tap into the history and culture of the Mongolia through communicating with the people.
• 8:36
  Mongolian history in bordering China and Russia and I believe it was a G Rondo Russian influence other than Mongolian you said ink will English is spoken obviously you speak it
• 8:46
  Do you hear and you said on the streets you'll hear different languages?
• 8:49
  Is it like is it Russian is a Chinese or Mandarin that you hear or is it predominantly?
• 8:54
  Mongolian is the predominant
• 8:57
  Mongolian.
• 8:58
  Yeah, nowadays, I before maybe in my parents time, people used to speak more Russian, like people learned it.
• 9:05
  But every day in life, it's always been in Mongolian.
• 9:11
  So where does Mongolian the language come from?
• 9:14
  it?
• 9:16
  I came out of China.
• 9:19
  No, it's it's on its own.
• 9:21
  It's an independent language and it is one of the other languages.
• 9:27
  So I think what people like the scholars believe is we might share somewhat a little bit of, you know, with Turkish language a little bit.
• 9:37
  But when you hear Mongolian and Turkish like
• 9:41
  When I hear sometimes Turkish people talk, I'm like, that sounds a bit like Mongolian, but we do not have any shared words.
• 9:47
  It just sounds a bit similar.
• 9:48
  yeah, we are on our own.
• 9:50
  Like our language is independent.
• 9:52
  It didn't come from more from any other language.
• 9:57
  Is it a difficult language to learn if someone wanted to learn some basic words or actually learn to speak the language?
• 10:03
  Yeah, from what I heard the menu corners is one of the most difficult languages.
• 10:07
  Hello everyone!
• 10:09
  Today is my birthday.
• 10:11
  I am to the beach.
• 10:13
  My name is Aika.
• 10:15
  Today we are going to the beach to see Let's go!
• 10:22
  Does it have weird grammar rules like German?
• 10:24
  Apparently, I don't speak any German, but German apparently has many different rules and it's quite complicated.
• 10:30
  Is Mongolian like that?
• 10:32
  Is it like Chinese?
• 10:34
  Let me take a step back.
• 10:35
  um Is written Mongolian uh a Latin alphabet?
• 10:41
  Is it characters?
• 10:42
  What's written Mongolian?
• 10:44
  Yeah, that's it.
• 10:46
  Because we have two um alphabets.
• 10:49
  So first one is our traditional so it's written down uh in more like calligraphic.
• 10:56
  But that's used for state purposes.
• 10:59
  But during the daily life, we use Cyrillic alphabets like Russian.
• 11:05
  Yeah, now I have a lot of Greek friends and growing up with them, I sort of was exposed to Greek history in the Greek language.
• 11:13
  Now there is ancient Greek, which is quite different than modern Greek.
• 11:16
  Is there like an old Mongolian versus modern Mongolian or is it a language that's sort of maintained its sounds and phrases, et cetera, over the years?
• 11:26
  Yeah, so it's quite similar, even like nowadays the ones it's just the effort that is different and Mongolians used to, you know, talk a little bit different before, but it's
• 11:38
  not like completely different to different languages that you couldn't understand because this one is ancient, this one is current.
• 11:44
  So you could still like the little bit like how you pronounce some words is different in the when you write it in the calligraphy, but it's the same.
• 11:56
  We have two different alphabets that you could we have, but the main one we use nowadays in everyday life is surreal.
• 12:05
  We mentioned already that if you were going to go particularly often to the uh outer areas of Mongolia, having in our case being North American and English speaking guy with you,
• 12:16
  it's almost a masterless.
• 12:18
  Of course you speak Mongolian.
• 12:19
  um I would also assume by extension that if someone is really wants to do some independent travel, let's say a self drive, around the city, street signs, road signs, et cetera, they
• 12:31
  would be only in Mongolian or they in English is like how does that?
• 12:34
  Bye out for a traveler.
• 12:36
  So in the major like provincial centers are in and out of Alambakir, some of the signs are in English, but mostly it's in Mongolian and it's written in Cyrillic language, Cyrillic
• 12:49
  alphabet.
• 12:50
  Yeah.
• 12:51
  So even before we get into all the things to see and do in Mongolia, it looks like the advice that you're giving me and us in turn give our travel professionals out there is
• 13:01
  having a guide or being with a group with a guide is the way to really get the most out of to Mongolia.
• 13:08
  I truly believe in that because when you visit a country like Mongolia and it is not has, Mongolia has not been exposed to mass tourism or lot of travelers, international
• 13:19
  travelers, like you see in many big countries.
• 13:22
  So you do want to get into the essence of the country, right?
• 13:25
  And you want to meet the people and see why they live so differently, what's their experience has been, and you do want to communicate with them.
• 13:33
  And for me, that is one of the most important part of traveling.
• 13:37
  wherever I go is meeting the local people.
• 13:39
  And if you cannot communicate with them, it is quite hard to understand their life stories.
• 13:46
  Yeah.
• 13:46
  And as I said, many of our podcasts go away is seeing through the requests of our travelers, more and more people want an authentic experience, be it in Italy, be it in
• 13:55
  Mongolia, be it in Peru, be it in Sydney, Australia.
• 13:58
  And that leads on to meeting locals, meeting the indigenous population of countries.
• 14:04
  um And you're right.
• 14:06
  You know, like I'm asking all these questions because this is what I'd be asking my guide if I was in Mongolia with you right now.
• 14:13
  um
• 14:16
  Yeah, it's much easier, obviously, to have someone who can truly pass on the information that's there to be had.
• 14:23
  It's interesting.
• 14:24
  I did have a passenger many years ago driving through South America, who's an Australian gentleman from Western Australia.
• 14:30
  was as Aussie as you can be, very tall, had a very broad accent, spoke not a word of Spanish, but everywhere we went, he was one of these personalities who'd go out and speak,
• 14:41
  speak to the locals.
• 14:42
  And they would communicate via sign language.
• 14:44
  had a great time and he made a lot of friendship, but I was disappointed that he never sort of either learned some basics language skills or had one of the guides go with him to
• 14:56
  really absorb what they were probably trying to.
• 15:00
  Yeah.
• 15:00
  mentioned the Mongolia has not been exposed to mass tourism, which is, guess, a good thing for someone looking for a quite a destination, so to speak.
• 15:10
  Obviously you want to bring more tourists.
• 15:12
  travellers to your country.
• 15:15
  Is Mongolia in the cities?
• 15:19
  Or let me clarify this, Ulaanbaatar is the capital.
• 15:21
  Are there any other large cities or towns or otherwise outside of Ulaanbaatar?
• 15:27
  Or is it basically that's your arrival departure and then you head to the famous Mongolian steps and
• 15:34
  Yeah, we do have some larger cities, but not like as big as Ulaanbaatar, but your main arrival point is typically usually Ulaanbaatar because all the international flights are
• 15:48
  flying into Ulaanbaatar only.
• 15:52
  So I'll get to what you can see and do in Ulaanbaatar in a moment.
• 15:57
  But you mentioned, again, you haven't had to this date mass tourism.
• 16:03
  As such, is Mongolia set up for tourists?
• 16:07
  So let's say you had a mass influx over the next year or two.
• 16:10
  Do you have the hotel capacity?
• 16:12
  Do you have five-star options?
• 16:14
  Is the infrastructure there?
• 16:16
  We've already mentioned English-speaking guides, which I you can supply.
• 16:21
  Are the guides licensed?
• 16:23
  they uh backed by the government or?
• 16:28
  Again, this is all basic questions I know you're hearing, but to myself and to many of our travel partners out there, this is what they may be asked.
• 16:35
  We don't know themselves as I don't.
• 16:37
  So can you give us that sort of a quick rundown of the tourism infrastructure and how well established it is and ready for travelers?
• 16:45
  Yeah, so within the last 10, 15 years, I think the tourism accessibility in Mongolia is improving a lot, which is a great thing.
• 16:56
  And we do have a lot of international flights nowadays because before it was quite difficult to get to Mongolia because we had a bit of limited uh accessibility.
• 17:06
  But nowadays we do have a lot of flights and that's really good.
• 17:10
  And capacity wise, it's also increasing.
• 17:13
  We do have a
• 17:14
  In city we have a five star hotel Shangri-La and we have international chain hotels, West Western, Novatel, Holiday Inn, Romada.
• 17:23
  So we do have all those oh three to five star hotel, local and international chain hotels.
• 17:31
  And uh I personally do not think we're ready for a really huge surge of masterism.
• 17:38
  Currently Mongolia as a whole country is receiving
• 17:42
  a bit less than one million tourists per year.
• 17:45
  about eight to nine hundred thousand.
• 17:51
  And I do not think we will be able to deal with uh five million tourists this year if that happens.
• 17:59
  It's just not going to happen.
• 18:01
  But I think we're slowly improving and trying to meet the demand.
• 18:06
  um So I think we are at the moment we are
• 18:11
  Able to receive about one million tourists comfortably without having any issues and without losing authenticity of the country, the nomadic culture, the people, the history.
• 18:25
  It's.
• 18:27
  Sorry, sorry, sorry, you.
• 18:31
  that was it.
• 18:31
  was what I was giving.
• 18:34
  How would you position Mongolia if me as a travel professional or traveler comes to you and says, I want a five-star experience in Mongolia.
• 18:43
  Is it a five-star in all aspects?
• 18:46
  Can you get five-star yurt or is it you have five-star options in Ulaanbaatar and then you have to concede that elsewhere will be four and three-star.
• 18:56
  Is it a wellness destination?
• 18:58
  Can it be a wellness destination?
• 19:00
  I know it's an adventure destination because some of the things that you know.
• 19:05
  So yeah, how would you position Mongolia from a four, five star, three star level?
• 19:11
  Yeah, that's the question that I've been talking with lot of colleagues from different countries.
• 19:16
  And I think it really depends on how do you define wellness?
• 19:22
  Is wellness for you as a traveler, is it a very luxurious hotel and resort, et cetera?
• 19:29
  And if that is the case, Mongolia might not be your best choice.
• 19:34
  But are you defining wellness as staying away from your...
• 19:39
  busy lifestyle and immersing yourself in a very, very pristine and original and authentic experience.
• 19:47
  If that's your definition of wellness while still having the, you know, the comfortable accommodation and, you know, good food, then Mongolia is a perfect destination for you.
• 19:57
  So that is the one thing that, you know, I feel like the wellness
• 20:03
  definition of wellness is changing for lot of people because you you couldn't fly anywhere to one of the you know many many many cities around the world.
• 20:11
  You can find a five star nice beautiful hotel and resort but if you cannot get that emotional or you know your mental well-being taken care of then is that really a wellness
• 20:25
  true experience for you.
• 20:27
  So I think it depends on what your client is actually looking for what kind of
• 20:33
  wellness or five-star experience your client is looking for.
• 20:38
  Regarding your hotel question, yeah, we do have a high-end luxury gears or yards in the countryside.
• 20:46
  And if your client is willing to pay a little bit more for an upgraded experience, we do have those options in the countryside.
• 20:55
  Oh, okay.
• 20:56
  I wasn't expecting that.
• 20:57
  thought you'd say, no, no, it's basically three or four stops.
• 21:01
  Okay, excellent.
• 21:02
  And I agree on your statement there about the definition of wellness, because when GoA just recently introduced a dedicated line of wellness and we've had wellness opportunities
• 21:12
  for years, we had that exact conversation.
• 21:16
  To me, a wellness experience is not a five-star hotel with a spa and stuff like that.
• 21:22
  I'm not saying it's not for other people, as you said yourself.
• 21:25
  To me, wellness is getting away, trekking, being out in the bush, walking out in the steps at night, looking at probably an amazing sky.
• 21:34
  To me, that's what I want to say.
• 21:36
  Your point is very valid.
• 21:38
  But I would say hearing what you've just said to me there that our travel partners out there, if they are approached about Mongolia, five-star options are available, but it's
• 21:48
  more of a four-star overview type of destination, probably more
• 21:55
  Definitely cultural, definitely more organic and probably adventurous by its nature, by the fact that it is, it is Mongolia.
• 22:05
  That the infrastructure while is there is still developing.
• 22:09
  Okay.
• 22:09
  I'm to bounce around here.
• 22:10
  No particular order.
• 22:11
  Um, you mentioned food as we were discussing it there.
• 22:15
  Um, I naturally, and I don't know any Mongolian food, but I'm sure local food is available and fantastic.
• 22:23
  Uh, people who asking,
• 22:25
  um If they're not that adventurous when it comes to culinary, I would assume, particularly in the big cities, Western food is available.
• 22:32
  um So can you comment on that?
• 22:36
  And can you talk about Mongolia?
• 22:38
  What can people expect from a culinary side when they go to Mongolia?
• 22:45
  So in order to talk about Mongolian cuisine, we have to go back a little bit to how Mongolians have lived for thousands and thousands of years, right?
• 22:55
  So Mongolia literally didn't have every culture because we were nomadic tribes and nomadic country moving around.
• 23:05
  So what we depended on was our lifestyle.
• 23:08
  So that's why mainly Mongolian cuisine is based around what you can make with animal products, basically meat and um milk products.
• 23:20
  So a lot of Mongolian traditional food involves meat.
• 23:24
  We eat a lot of meat.
• 23:26
  And because our weather is so cold throughout the year, usually, we do consume a lot of meat.
• 23:34
  we have many different ways of
• 23:35
  preparing the meat and eating them.
• 23:38
  So it's quite heavy for a lot of Western people who are not used to eating that meat.
• 23:43
  For that reason, whenever you are on a travel in Mongolia, you would have options of having Western food.
• 23:50
  If that's what you would like, especially in the city, like you mentioned, we have a lot of different restaurants where you can eat whatever except seafood, because we're a
• 24:00
  landlocked country.
• 24:01
  Seafood is a little bit difficult to come by.
• 24:03
  We do have more.
• 24:05
  nowadays more seafood, but it is not as fresh as you would like.
• 24:10
  But everything else you can find in the city and in the countryside when you are out and about, we have the resorts like camps, it's called, and at the yurt camps you would have
• 24:22
  Western style food mixed with Mongolian food.
• 24:25
  And we also, if you're vegetarian, vegan, we can also cater to all those requirements.
• 24:31
  Excellent.
• 24:32
  Good to hear.
• 24:34
  You mentioned the history of the cuisine, Mongolian people being nomadic in the day and to a large extent probably still today.
• 24:45
  When you mentioned meat and the fact that there was no agriculture, what type of animals were being eaten and are on offer now?
• 24:52
  I goat, believe, is one.
• 24:54
  Yeah.
• 24:55
  Mongolians eat horse?
• 24:56
  Did you have cattle or do you have cattle?
• 24:59
  Yeah, so the main five livestock that we raise and we use and we did before and still nowadays is camel, horse, cow, sheep and goat.
• 25:13
  So five different.
• 25:15
  And we use them for our basically our whole livelihood of Mongolians has been based on these five animals.
• 25:24
  and we use them for transportation.
• 25:27
  We use their skins for our building, our yurts and different stuff.
• 25:31
  And then we use their meat and use their milk.
• 25:35
  So that was our, basically our whole system is right there.
• 25:38
  And in addition to that, also, some of the regions have yaks.
• 25:43
  So we also use yaks for riding them and also using their meats.
• 25:48
  It's quite delicious.
• 25:52
  So there are three involved to a westerner or American three exotic the yak the camel and the horse which I know would turn a lot of people not off but they'd be a horse because as
• 26:02
  you know here in North America.
• 26:07
  I believe too that at least if not now and obviously correct me if I'm showing here the breed of horse that's in Mongolia is a smaller.
• 26:17
  uh species of horse.
• 26:19
  I'm remembering that in history in the Genghis Khan documentaries that the horses that were ridden back in the day, uh they are a smaller breed.
• 26:29
  Is that still the case?
• 26:31
  It is still the case like first time the very first time I saw a Western horse.
• 26:38
  was shocked because in my mind I always thought horses were the size of Magone horse and when I went to abroad and then I saw in the US a uh gigantic horse and I was so shocked
• 26:50
  like so yeah Magone horses is still small.
• 26:54
  They are very well known for their stamina because they're very they can go on and on and on that.
• 27:00
  Body size-wise, they're quite small.
• 27:04
  Yeah, and so we are going to jump around here.
• 27:06
  One of the famous things of Mongolia is one, their horses, as you mentioned, but two, the horsemanship of the Mongols who ride them, their archery skills, or like their skill on
• 27:16
  the horseback.
• 27:20
  Do Mongolian horse riders use stirrups or they bear back riders?
• 27:28
  Uh, makes so in the countryside you see a lot of people are kids go like, uh, back horse riding.
• 27:36
  But we also have the, what?
• 27:39
  Sorry, what did you use the word?
• 27:41
  Sterops where you put your feet in.
• 27:45
  Yes, we use them and you can also see a lot of people just jumping on the horse and go.
• 27:53
  going.
• 27:54
  I would assume as an option when you're in the steps of Mongolia that seeing a horse demonstration outside of maybe like a uh festival, something like that, but horse, I hate
• 28:06
  using the word shows, but horse demonstrations, archery demonstrations by.
• 28:10
  what again, step back when we when I would ask you, how do you refer to your people who live in the country?
• 28:19
  Is there a specific name for them?
• 28:21
  Like in the wet in
• 28:23
  someone who's agriculture on a farm, they call them farmers.
• 28:27
  A Mongolian who lives a traditional life, is there a specific name for them or they're just another Mongolian who lives in the country?
• 28:36
  So we call them the people from the campus.
• 28:39
  Basically, that's it.
• 28:41
  So they don't have any specific title or anything.
• 28:44
  And uh I think the latest statistic is around 30 % of Mongolians still live the traditional nomadic lifestyle.
• 28:54
  30 %?
• 28:55
  That's quite large.
• 28:58
  Another question on terminology.
• 29:01
  Here we would say that someone lives in the country, which refers to agricultural farming land.
• 29:06
  In Australia, you might use the term the outback.
• 29:08
  Is saying that someone lives in the steppes, is that an equivalent way of expressing it?
• 29:14
  Is the steppes your country or is the steppes a particular part of Mongolia?
• 29:19
  Oh, that's that's an interesting question.
• 29:21
  Can you can you rephrase your question for me?
• 29:26
  Okay, so I'll just have to rephrase it.
• 29:29
  um Okay, let me ask you this way.
• 29:31
  When someone refers to the steps of Mongolia, is that a geographical area or is it a blanket statement for anything outside of the
• 29:41
  yeah, a blanket statement because as soon as you go out of the city, you would see like the nomadic people here and there everywhere throughout the country.
• 29:53
  Okay.
• 29:54
  Now you mentioned when we're going back to the horses aspect that when you went to North America that you were amazed by the size of the horses and the Mongolian horse.
• 30:05
  That brings to my question of education in Mongolia and the day to day exposure to the outside world, so to speak, the West or Asia, whatever it may be.
• 30:18
  We'll talk modern times, obviously under Russian occupation or
• 30:22
  control was probably a different thing.
• 30:23
  since then, like, do you get Western TV?
• 30:26
  Do you watch CNN?
• 30:29
  How connected are you internet wise?
• 30:33
  That's one you as a population and two for a traveler being there.
• 30:37
  Can they be online if they choose to be?
• 30:39
  I would assume once you get out to the steps and, you know, the let's just use the term outback, the Australian version, the outback, Wi-Fi, etc.
• 30:47
  would probably not be an option there.
• 30:49
  So I
• 30:50
  Again, it's a very ignorant question.
• 30:51
  I appreciate that.
• 30:55
  How connected are you to the rest of the world, to to North American culture, all that type
• 31:00
  Yeah, so when I was growing up, it was in 90s.
• 31:05
  So then that was after the, you know, Soviet Union fell and then Mongolia was away from the Russian influence.
• 31:12
  So everything opened up.
• 31:13
  So when I grew up, I watched, you know, some American channels, international like we had a lot of MTV when we when I was growing up.
• 31:24
  watched that.
• 31:25
  So we were in this quite.
• 31:28
  I feel like my generation that grew up in the city was influenced a lot by Western culture, including American culture.
• 31:37
  Nowadays, a lot of younger generations, if they're living in a city or in the provincial centers, they do have access to international channels and they have internet.
• 31:53
  So we are quite exposed to Western culture.
• 31:57
  I in my opinion.
• 31:58
  um But as far as connectivity wise, when you're in the city, you have your Internet and you can, know, wherever you go to coffee shop, restaurant, hotel, everywhere you have Wi
• 32:11
  Fi, you can join.
• 32:13
  So that is improving a lot.
• 32:15
  And in the countryside, as long as you are near a provincial center and if you have a cell phone service, you can connect to your uh cell phone data.
• 32:25
  But if you are away from the provincial centers, then it depends on where you are, how far you are, if you are blocked by a mountain range, you know, it depends on that.
• 32:36
  And some days you don't have internet or self-service and some days you have it throughout the day.
• 32:41
  So it really depends and it's improving a lot in the last 10 years or so.
• 32:47
  Do you guys have access or use Starlink?
• 32:52
  Yes, it's just starting about two or three years ago, people buy them independently or a lot of the gear cans, the yurt resorts, they have Starlink.
• 33:01
  thinking.
• 33:02
  cool.
• 33:02
  Okay.
• 33:05
  Let's talk about it's a large country.
• 33:09
  Can you give me a comparison in size?
• 33:11
  Usually people say it's as big as Texas or whatever.
• 33:14
  What's how would you compare Mongolia from a size point of view?
• 33:19
  I cannot really compare it with, I'm not really good with the geography besides, but Mongolia is, I'm right, we are the 19th biggest country in the world.
• 33:30
  Okay, so it's a big country to get around.
• 33:33
  It is huge and we have about 3.6 million people.
• 33:38
  So it is a very small population.
• 33:41
  3.6 for the whole country.
• 33:43
  Yeah.
• 33:44
  Yeah, as I found out, it's the least densely populated country
• 33:48
  And about one point, go for it, sorry.
• 33:52
  No, no, after you, after you, please.
• 33:53
  And about 1.6 million of those people live in one city, the capital city.
• 34:00
  Wow, okay, so it's coming.
• 34:02
  Yeah, so the city is quite crowded.
• 34:06
  Yeah, the city sounds crowded.
• 34:08
  So I was about to say we haven't got into what to see and do, which we will get there.
• 34:12
  But I would assume that some of the things to see and do are a long way from Ulumbata.
• 34:16
  So therefore, what's the road system like?
• 34:21
  am going to make the uneducated guess that probably getting around is best done by regional flights.
• 34:27
  Mm hmm.
• 34:29
  It is.
• 34:30
  So it is regional flights are good, but the regional flights are at the same time.
• 34:35
  They're mostly seasonal.
• 34:38
  Okay.
• 34:39
  Okay.
• 34:40
  So let's jump into when is the best time for a North American to visit mom.
• 34:45
  Yeah, so they might have been in the best time to travel is typically from May until uh mid October, so that's avoiding the really, really cold weather.
• 34:57
  So an easy way, it's a northern hemisphere summer destination.
• 35:03
  So I'm sitting here in say El Goway studio, which is the basement of our office in Toronto.
• 35:10
  We're going through a cold spell.
• 35:11
  It's about when I walked in about minus 10 with a wind chill of minus 20.
• 35:16
  We've had a lot of snow by our standards over the last week and a half, two weeks.
• 35:22
  You're already starting for those who are not watching the video version this.
• 35:26
  girls smiling at me.
• 35:29
  Give me either now or your average winter ah temperature in, well, you're in a long guitar, so let's go with that.
• 35:37
  So right now it's outside minus 30.
• 35:40
  uh It has been really cold for the last 10 days, I'd say.
• 35:49
  So it's been during the day, it's been minus 28.
• 35:53
  During the night, uh it was close to minus 40.
• 35:58
  So we had a very cold couple weeks.
• 36:03
  And usually January is the coldest month.
• 36:07
  So you could expect about minus 25 daily and minus 30 or so during the night.
• 36:14
  you get a of snow in the wintertime?
• 36:17
  We do, but not as much as you guys do because muggle is a quite dry country.
• 36:21
  So we do not have many, uh, our rainfall.
• 36:25
  It typically is much less than you guys because we are very, very dry.
• 36:29
  And, but to compensate that we have a very sunny.
• 36:35
  Basically, in Mongolia is called the land of the blue sky.
• 36:39
  Means we have, I think, over 250 or so sunny days per year.
• 36:45
  So it's basically always sunny.
• 36:48
  So even though it might be cold in wintertime, you have nice blue skies.
• 36:53
  Yeah, it's quite nice.
• 36:56
  Do you get any tourists in the wintertime?
• 37:00
  Is there anything to do in Mongolia in wintertime?
• 37:03
  If someone wanted to do that.
• 37:04
  Yeah, we do have a lot of people who do not have snow in their country or cold weather in their country come to Mongolia to experience the cold.
• 37:12
  And uh you can do most of the typical, you know, around the city, visiting nomadic families, visit some of the natural parks, see the endangered wild horses.
• 37:24
  Then some of the people who are very, very adventurous, they can go all the way to the deep into the north to Taifa to see the...
• 37:34
  I don't know if you heard about reindeer people, so it's like a little tribe who has about 400 people left and they live deep in the woods in the north on the border of Russia.
• 37:46
  Yeah.
• 37:48
  Oh, I didn't know that at all.
• 37:49
  Okay.
• 37:50
  So you can go visit them deep into the forest and you can go meet them during the winter.
• 37:59
  I just want to look something up here chatting away.
• 38:03
  Are the reindeer people as you referred to them, are they related to the Sami which are famous from Finland in Northern Finland or are the reindeer people, you know, police?
• 38:12
  So they're just, I don't want say offshoot, but another part of the Mongolian tribe family.
• 38:19
  Tribe, tribe.
• 38:21
  Okay.
• 38:22
  Interesting.
• 38:22
  No, but I didn't know that was an option or that they were even there.
• 38:26
  So.
• 38:26
  It is great.
• 38:27
  It is actually a really crazy experience as a Mongolian.
• 38:30
  um Not many people do it, but now these people are starting to do more and even though I've been in the travel industry for so long, I did my first time last year, last winter
• 38:40
  in January.
• 38:41
  I went up there and it was it was it was an amazing experience.
• 38:46
  It was so great for me and they are they speak.
• 38:50
  Personally, they speak different language.
• 38:52
  They most of them are.
• 38:54
  in a shaman people, they're shamanic.
• 38:56
  So they believe in they live in such harmony with the weather and then the surrounding and, you know, and what amazed me the most was how little belonging they had.
• 39:10
  It was just a small hut, and everything they belong, they own was in there for five people.
• 39:17
  And it was even as a Mongolian, it was for me, I was like,
• 39:23
  It was so, it was so amazing for me.
• 39:26
  Yeah.
• 39:27
  So is this something that you can do in the summertime as well as the winter?
• 39:31
  Yes, the only thing with the summer is we the majority of the people who go there usually go there for summer.
• 39:38
  But the thing is these people move deeper into the forest during the summer, which means you cannot access them by car.
• 39:45
  You'll have to ride horses to get there during the summer.
• 39:49
  So they're traditional indigenous people living their traditional ways, like really doing it.
• 39:58
  But again, if someone's interested, be it winter or summer, you can assist us in turn to get them up to visit.
• 40:05
  Excellent.
• 40:06
  Yeah, for summer you have to ride horses, for winter you can go by car.
• 40:10
  Go by car, okay.
• 40:12
  Again, some just general questions.
• 40:14
  uh If someone's traveling in Mongolia, be it in the city of Ulaanbaatar or out um in the outer regions and they fall ill, uh health uh situation, hospitals, getting someone in an
• 40:30
  emergency situation from a long way, way back to the nearest medical facilities, is that infrastructure in place?
• 40:37
  Yeah, so wherever you go, you're usually near a provincial center of each provincial center or small villages have hospitals so you can get your your first aid or first help
• 40:50
  there.
• 40:50
  And if you need to be moved to the city, we have the what is it called?
• 40:55
  Sorry, airlift.
• 40:58
  So you can be airlifted to De Capita City and we always advise our clients if.
• 41:05
  must have a really good coverage for their insurance, which includes airline service.
• 41:12
  Okay, so that's an important point because obviously we travel partners, know our travel partners, their clients highly emphasize, highly recommend travel insurance.
• 41:21
  We're all on the same page, but everyone should be aware just as Terrell said there that please ensure that if they're looking at Mongolia that they have airlift insurance that
• 41:32
  you might have to up your policy to get that, excuse me, for your clients because you don't want to be literally stranded out there and having to pay lots of money to get flown
• 41:40
  in the hospital.
• 41:41
  um Independent travelers or someone who might be on a group trip and they want to take a walk around Ulaanbaatar at night or another provincial city at night, or they're off maybe
• 41:52
  staying in a yurt and they want to walk off into the, you know, walk off and look at the stars.
• 41:59
  In general safety in Mongolia, do people need to be concerned as a foreigner particularly because there's a definite look to a Mongolian.
• 42:07
  I would stand out as a foreigner without a doubt.
• 42:09
  uh
• 42:10
  So safety for a traveler in Mongolia, be it city or elsewhere.
• 42:14
  Yeah, Mongolia is actually quite safe.
• 42:17
  um I forgot the numbers, but Mongolia was, I don't want to put any other country into that kind of position, but Mongolia is safer than many of the Western countries nowadays,
• 42:28
  including the US.
• 42:30
  And as usual, have the usual pickpocketing issues or those kinds of things, but any violent crime, Mongolia has very few of those.
• 42:43
  as we always say, basic precautions as a foreigner in any country.
• 42:48
  Take them and you should be fine, but that's good to hear that Mongolia ranks so high.
• 42:52
  That's excellent.
• 42:54
  So I think we've covered most sort of again, potatoes that agents would need to know and in turn, travelers.
• 42:59
  Let's talk about the good stuff.
• 43:02
  What has Mongolia got to offer?
• 43:04
  Now I threw off the top of the podcast, the Hawking, the Yurt experience, horseback riding.
• 43:11
  You mentioned camels to be eaten, but camels are also part of a cultural experience.
• 43:15
  You've already mentioned the reindeer people up north, which was an unknown to me.
• 43:20
  Cultural experiences, there's some festivals.
• 43:23
  But let's start with Ullumbata.
• 43:25
  So you fly into the city, you're met at the airport, you're transferred to your hotel of choice.
• 43:30
  What is there to do in and around Ullumbata and how long should someone spend there?
• 43:36
  So we usually recommend to stay one or two nights in the city upon arrival, you know, because if you're especially traveling from the North America, it takes a long time to get
• 43:45
  to Mongolia and you're tired and you want to get ready for experience.
• 43:49
  So it's usually good to have one or two nights.
• 43:52
  We do have some really good museums, which gives um the history of Mongolia as well as the we have beautiful monasteries in the in the capital city.
• 44:04
  So you can visit that.
• 44:06
  Can I just, sorry, interrupt there for a second?
• 44:08
  You mentioned monasteries.
• 44:09
  What's the main religion?
• 44:11
  Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism.
• 44:14
  Okay.
• 44:15
  Yeah, so we have those.
• 44:18
  You know if you're a museum lovers, you can visit the museums in the capital city.
• 44:23
  Then we usually recommend just get out of city.
• 44:27
  You know enjoy the what Mongolia has to offer, which is the big open space.
• 44:33
  Nobody around meet and local people and you know it's just as soon as you leave the city because as I mentioned, the city is really crowded.
• 44:44
  It's busy, know like.
• 44:45
  any modern city, know, see the big buildings and a lot of cars.
• 44:50
  But as soon as you just drive one hour out of the city and you're just in a completely different space and it just gives you such calm and you're not rushed anymore.
• 45:00
  Sometimes you don't even have your cell phone connection anymore.
• 45:03
  So you're just thrown into different space and time and you can enjoy the peace.
• 45:10
  Then we have obviously we have the beautiful nature.
• 45:13
  can go depending on where you're going.
• 45:14
  We have the Gobi Desert, which is one of my favorite destinations where the uh stargazing can be done in the Gobi Desert.
• 45:24
  Even if you don't have the telescope or very high camera, high function camera, you can still see the Milky Way some nights just with naked eyes.
• 45:34
  It is amazing.
• 45:36
  so yeah, Magoya.
• 45:38
  I feel like Magoya.
• 45:40
  can offer what it offers to people is the peace and calm that you can, it's hard to find these days.
• 45:47
  And people are still quite genuine in the countryside because they don't see many travelers.
• 45:53
  You would sometimes even meet people who never met a foreigner before.
• 45:57
  So it is quite, yeah, it's quite authentic experience in the countryside.
• 46:04
  mentioned as you were just talking, and I know you're being general with your statement there, but you could just drive out of Ulaanbaatar to see this.
• 46:12
  when someone's building an itinerary, it a taste of Mongolia?
• 46:18
  Okay, let me put it this way.
• 46:19
  Is it just getting a taste of Mongolia to just drive out of Ulaanbaatar, or should someone be flying to the outer reaches?
• 46:30
  how far is the Gobi Desert from?
• 46:32
  from Ulaanbaatar, where are the yurt experiences?
• 46:35
  Are they a driving distance or they are flying distance to get, you know, to do a family stay, to do the reindeer people?
• 46:41
  assume that's a flight up and then drive in, or is it all by road?
• 46:46
  Gobi Desert is about 600 kilometers away from the capital.
• 46:53
  So if you drive there, it's about eight, nine hours drive, but we usually divide it and we break it somewhere in between, have one night at another scenic spot or historically
• 47:07
  important place, then we reach the Gobi Desert the next day.
• 47:11
  But if you fly, it's about one hour and a half flight and you can just
• 47:16
  get there in an hour and a half.
• 47:18
  But as I mentioned before, Mongolian tourism is highly seasonal.
• 47:23
  So our official tourism season starts in May or mid-May.
• 47:28
  So the domestic flights also only start operating after May.
• 47:33
  So if you want to visit before then, or if you are a road traveler, you love to be on the road, then you can just drive.
• 47:42
  For the authentic
• 47:45
  your experience.
• 47:46
  If you just drive one hour on DCV, you can still have it.
• 47:51
  Let's be honest with our travel partners here so they can be in their uh conversation with their clients.
• 47:57
  Is the drive from Ullamatta to the Gert touristy, that experience versus maybe flying or staying with a family in the Gobi or somewhere like that?
• 48:07
  Or is it still an authentic experience just outside of Ullamatta?
• 48:12
  Just outside of Oman, we have nomadic families, like real nomadic people.
• 48:17
  You just drive and then you can just find them.
• 48:20
  There are communities, so we do have lot of community-based tourism nowadays in Mongolia.
• 48:25
  And there's still people who are living about one hour drive from the capital city.
• 48:30
  And daily life depends on their livestock and however they used to live.
• 48:36
  But then at the same time, they uh built a community where you can go visit.
• 48:42
  So it is real nomadic people living there.
• 48:46
  Wonderful.
• 48:47
  So it sounds like you don't have to drive far out of Ulaanbaatar until you're out of Ulaanbaatar and you're in the wild Mongolia.
• 48:56
  So if someone stays with a family or visits a family or has the option to stay overnight with a family, be it just outside the city or in the deeper depths of Mongolia, what can
• 49:07
  they expect?
• 49:08
  uh It sounds like it's
• 49:12
  Again, it's all traditional.
• 49:14
  So what you will see and interact with is what they do.
• 49:17
  It's not put on for the tourists per se.
• 49:19
  um Do you get to interact with the family?
• 49:23
  Will they show you, again, I don't know the culture well enough to give exact examples.
• 49:29
  So I'm going to generalize.
• 49:30
  Will they give you examples of weaving or hunting or hawking or horseback riding skills?
• 49:37
  Is all that part of a visit to a community?
• 49:41
  Yeah, the eagle hunters, the one you mentioned falconry, so they live about 1600 km away from the capital city.
• 49:53
  they're very,
• 49:59
  Yeah, so they share this similar heritage with Kazakhstan people.
• 50:05
  they're Kazakh, but they're Mongolians and they live in Mugoy, but they have different language.
• 50:12
  They have different religion.
• 50:14
  They are very distinctive and they're about 45 % of Mugoy's population.
• 50:23
  So are they an option to go and visit and are they welcoming to tourists?
• 50:27
  Yes.
• 50:27
  Okay, so that's an option.
• 50:29
  But again, that's a long way away.
• 50:30
  So that would naturally be a very committed drive or flight, of course.
• 50:34
  So going back to my original question though.
• 50:37
  So let's take the Eagle Hunters out of the equation as you go to see that asperger lifestyle or a traditional Mongolian family on the steppes.
• 50:49
  What would the traveler experience on a visit or an overnight stay with them?
• 50:53
  So they would welcome you to their home and then they'll, you know, offer you their food.
• 50:58
  you can spend time, depending on your program, can spend time making dairy products with them using the milk that you just, you know, got from your cow or prepared.
• 51:09
  Then you can make Mongolian meals with them.
• 51:11
  They'll show you how they take care of their animals, how they, you know, prepare the food.
• 51:18
  And you also can help them to herd their
• 51:23
  Life stock so in mongolians usually how they start to stay start very early around 5 a.m.
• 51:31
  In the morning, then they milk the cows then they let it out to the pasture.
• 51:35
  They now they also let the smaller livestock like sheep and goat after the pasture so you can go with them and do that.
• 51:44
  Then they come back and then they prepare lunch and you can participate in all aspects of it and.
• 51:50
  If you decide to stay with them, either share their own year with them together or you can have a separate one next to there.
• 51:59
  So it is very authentic experience, authentic meaning you will be with local people at the same time.
• 52:04
  are no typically no electricity.
• 52:07
  Sometimes there is, but usually not.
• 52:10
  And there's no running water.
• 52:11
  So it is quite a shock for Western people because, you know, even for me, it's a shock because.
• 52:17
  You know, we're so used to it and there's no toilet like Western style toilet.
• 52:22
  And so it is a challenge, but it is quite rewarding experience in my opinion, because even for me, whenever I go do that, I was like first couple hours is quite uncomfortable.
• 52:33
  then, know, as soon as you get into it, you get used to it.
• 52:37
  Well, this is the thing, it's authentic.
• 52:38
  how they live.
• 52:39
  you answered a couple of questions.
• 52:41
  There's obviously no options for showers.
• 52:44
  Obviously, water will be supplied and or you can have the dairy products that are supplied by their animals and there is no bathroom in respect to a Western style bathroom.
• 52:53
  So again, as I said before, you have five star options in Mongolia, but other aspects of it will be very basic, very, very organic.
• 53:03
  So let me.
• 53:06
  So what would be, so you mentioned a couple of nights in Ulaanbaatar to get over jet lag or just rest up.
• 53:13
  So you'd spend a couple of days there in Ulaanbaatar, the museums, restaurants, of course, getting, obviously the museums would be, in my opinion, uh vital just to get an
• 53:23
  understanding of the very rich culture in Mongolia because of the time, because most people associate Mongolia historically with Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan, sorry.
• 53:32
  um
• 53:33
  and the expansion of the Mongol Empire all the way into Europe.
• 53:36
  can't remember the years.
• 53:37
  was rather a dominant civilization at its peak.
• 53:42
  So it has a lot of influence in the area.
• 53:46
  So a couple of days there, then what would be the balance of a best of itinerary for Mongolians?
• 53:53
  And this takes in someone who's willing to go out and spend a couple of nights with a local family and do their business off behind a tree or whatever it may be.
• 54:10
  Yeah.
• 54:11
  For if you don't want to go to adventures and things like that.
• 54:15
  then I would recommend about 10 days out of the city, maybe 10 days because it is a huge country.
• 54:23
  And there's, you know, for me, I feel like if you're always taking a domestic flight, the internal flights, it is it misses out a lot of things.
• 54:33
  So I think Mongolia is most of the time best explored by road.
• 54:38
  and you see different stuff on the way.
• 54:41
  So my favorite idea would be go out from the city, go to the National Park to see the I don't know if you read about this, that Mongolia has the last species of wild horses.
• 54:54
  It's endangered species.
• 54:56
  It was extinct in the wild and they reintroduced it.
• 55:00
  And there is a national park 100 kilometer away from the city that they are protecting these horses.
• 55:06
  These are the uh
• 55:08
  last remaining wild horses on earth.
• 55:11
  you can see them.
• 55:12
  Then from there you go to the ancient capital of Karqorum and you spend a couple days there.
• 55:17
  Then you make your way down to the Gobi Desert and you would need three or four nights in the Gobi Desert because it's a huge area.
• 55:24
  And then you go back to Ubi and together this basically is eight nights.
• 55:30
  It is huge.
• 55:31
  Okay, yeah, yeah, no doubt.
• 55:34
  So the city, south of city of the National Park, Gobi Desert, and within that you would have the opportunity to either stay in the earth for a day or visit and or overnight
• 55:46
  options if you so choose.
• 55:49
  Yeah, so you can stay with nomadic family once or twice or you can just make the whole trip based on gear camps because we don't have hotels in the countryside.
• 55:57
  It's all yurt camps.
• 55:59
  It's again because of the seasonality of the tourism.
• 56:03
  wherever you go, you will stay in a yurt, but you can decide if it's with the family or you want just a normal tourist camp.
• 56:12
  normal tourist camp which would be yurt still though correct
• 56:17
  It's like a resort.
• 56:18
  Yeah, you will still use yurts, but it's a it's for travelers, mostly for international travelers.
• 56:25
  Okay, so options are in the city hotels, five, three, four, five star, no problems.
• 56:31
  Provincial towns, five star options.
• 56:34
  When you're going again, into the steps of Mongolia, you can stay with a local family, which is everything we discussed before, be it a day, be it overnight, do a couple nights.
• 56:43
  If you don't want that, or want that plus you can stay in a resort, which is still a yurt accommodation, but this is a permanent resort situation, restaurant.
• 56:55
  swimming pools, are we talking that type of thing?
• 56:57
  Oh really?
• 56:58
  Okay.
• 56:59
  And they will be class of what?
• 57:04
  But, know, this results.
• 57:08
  Yeah, when you use the word resort, you just got to be, I just want to make it clear to our travel partners what that entails.
• 57:14
  So the permanent structure, let me ask you, would have a restaurant on site, I would assume, and then sort of basic hotel facilities, correct?
• 57:26
  Yeah, correct.
• 57:26
  So it would be like 40 to 50 years.
• 57:29
  So basically one year is one room system.
• 57:32
  So you shared with your travel partner or by yourself.
• 57:36
  Then you have two options in terms of facilities.
• 57:39
  You can have a central building where it has public gender separated bathrooms and showers, or you can pay extra to have a private bathroom attached to your yard.
• 57:52
  So it's basically a hotel room, but it is
• 57:55
  you know, in Mongolian style, because again, these resorts only operate seasonally.
• 58:01
  They operate during the warm months when they're travelers.
• 58:04
  So it's the easiest way to maintain these kind of, you know, in the countryside is the yurts is best suited.
• 58:12
  If we have a big building and it's empty for half of the year, it just uses too much resources.
• 58:18
  But the yurts are very easy to maintain.
• 58:20
  Yeah.
• 58:22
  Yeah, understood.
• 58:23
  So with these resorts, would you position them or we tell our travel partners that they are, it's a of a three or four star level or do you have five star option?
• 58:32
  Average is three star, I would say, and some of the resorts are close to five star.
• 58:42
  And pricey.
• 58:48
  So I had another question which is just escape me.
• 58:51
  So I'll come back to it again.
• 58:53
  I'm to bounce around here.
• 58:54
  So just as you were speaking, writing down other things um when if someone is building an itinerary and they wish to stay with a local nomadic family and you are being invited into
• 59:07
  their house, they are showing you their way of life.
• 59:10
  So that in itself is a privilege, even though you're paying for it.
• 59:12
  It's still a privilege in my view.
• 59:14
  Do you encourage you suggest ah
• 59:18
  that the traveler bring a gift or something to say thank you.
• 59:22
  Certainly.
• 59:23
  That's that's we always also recommend that Mongolian culture is very hospitable.
• 59:30
  So believe it or not, in the past, nomadic people didn't lock their doors.
• 59:36
  And if there's no you're traveling around and traveling around and you see a year and you go there and there is the host is not there.
• 59:45
  You can just go in and, you know, eat the food and rest and you can be just gone.
• 59:52
  Yeah, so that was the hospitality.
• 59:55
  The current hospitality status of Mongolia was based on that was the common thing in Mongolia is, you know, you go and you're tired and you see someone and Mongolia is also
• 1:00:05
  used to if a traveler comes and they become a guest at your home when they leave, you take their horse and you give a better horse for them for their travel.
• 1:00:16
  Yeah, so Mongolians are very hospitable people.
• 1:00:19
  And nowadays even
• 1:00:21
  me going to my relatives house, I would bring something small, whether it be a fruit basket or, you know, bakery stuff or whatever.
• 1:00:31
  So we typically do not go into someone's home empty handed.
• 1:00:36
  Okay, sorry.
• 1:00:37
  So traveler who has that on their itinerary, they don't necessarily need to bring something from Canada or the US.
• 1:00:43
  It's their guide would advise them beforehand.
• 1:00:45
  Let's go to a shop and we'll buy a cake or fruit or whatever it may be.
• 1:00:49
  Okay, perfect.
• 1:00:52
  I was doing some research before and it was actually, I started with an off because I've, I've act, you don't know this yet, but at beginning of the podcast, I put on some
• 1:01:01
  Mongolian throat singing examples.
• 1:01:04
  I was finding YouTube.
• 1:01:05
  What I noticed, I found some traditional and then some more modern singing with techno backbeats and rock backbeats, which is all really cool.
• 1:01:15
  But I noticed a lot of these, particularly the more modern interpretations, were younger people, but still dressed in what I would perceive as traditional clothing, which looked
• 1:01:23
  amazing.
• 1:01:24
  And they were also playing some traditional instruments.
• 1:01:27
  couple of them, I'm going to use, they're not a guitar, I know, but it's sort of all like a cello shaped instrument.
• 1:01:34
  but what would be the body was probably a yak skull or a cow skull or something like that.
• 1:01:39
  The clothing looked beautiful, stunning.
• 1:01:42
  um I love traditional clothing and textiles, musical instruments.
• 1:01:47
  um Will you see that type of thing with the families that you visit or the nomadic tribes you may encounter?
• 1:01:56
  And can you purchase that clothing as a souvenir?
• 1:02:01
  And as an extended question to that,
• 1:02:03
  is there stuff to buy in Mongolia as a traveler would want?
• 1:02:08
  Yeah, okay.
• 1:02:09
  the Mongolia is best known for its cashmere because we have a lot of goats.
• 1:02:16
  you know, cashmere is the luxury product in Western or abroad.
• 1:02:21
  And in Mongolia, too, it is considered but the price and the quality of cashmere is amazing in Mongolia.
• 1:02:27
  So a lot of people, if you live in a colder climate, you could purchase a lot of cashmere products.
• 1:02:33
  But in addition to that, are
• 1:02:36
  Things met with leather and you know, a lot of local artisans make different embroidery, etc.
• 1:02:44
  So there a lot of good souvenirs you can find and you can find them mostly in the city, but you can also find it whenever you are traveling around.
• 1:02:52
  That is, those are the things.
• 1:02:54
  So number one thing I would recommend people to buy would be cashmere products.
• 1:02:59
  The countryside people still nowadays use the traditional clothes.
• 1:03:04
  but not as fancy as you've seen them on the video.
• 1:03:07
  So, but you know, the Mongolian uh Dale, the traditional outfit.
• 1:03:13
  So it's a of people still use it.
• 1:03:15
  And what I've been happy to see lately is ah Mongolian younger generation is taking so much pride in their heritage and culture.
• 1:03:24
  So you would see sometimes on the street, Mongolian younger generation wearing the traditional outfit, which is amazing to see.
• 1:03:33
  And I do recommend to anyone listening out there that just Google Mongolian throat singing for one.
• 1:03:40
  It's again, I find it very soothing.
• 1:03:43
  It's an amazing skill.
• 1:03:44
  uh It's really good.
• 1:03:46
  Also that plus either techno or rock and you hear modern interpretations of it.
• 1:03:51
  And I find as I'm a musician, I find it really, really cool and really engaging.
• 1:03:58
  um As an extension to you saying Kashmir is there and affordable, because it's so common there, is Mongolia an expensive destination?
• 1:04:07
  Now, particularly if people are going to fly to the Gobi or fly to the Eagle Hunters, are the domestic flights going to be overly expensive?
• 1:04:15
  Is doing stuff in general, eating out, etc., buying souvenirs, is Mongolia inexpensive or an affordable country?
• 1:04:22
  I think because Mongolia is so exclusive in a way, it is, I have to say it's not a cheap destination, definitely not.
• 1:04:33
  I've heard lot of people comparing the price of visiting to Mongolia is similar to Bhutan.
• 1:04:40
  So you could expect anywhere from 200-300 USD per day per person.
• 1:04:48
  Okay.
• 1:04:49
  Yeah.
• 1:04:50
  We need to know um extension to cost.
• 1:04:53
  What is the currency?
• 1:04:55
  people use US dollars?
• 1:04:56
  Can they use credit cards?
• 1:04:57
  Can they use debit cards?
• 1:04:58
  Obviously cards in the cities.
• 1:05:00
  I wouldn't expect um credit cards available out necessarily out maybe on the resorts, otherwise ah how do people buy and make transactions?
• 1:05:11
  uh So we use Mongolian to Brooke.
• 1:05:14
  It's our own currency, but you can bring uh USD or different uh currency from your home country and you can get an exchange in the capital city.
• 1:05:24
  ah As soon as you are in the city, like you said, you can use a credit card or your Apple pay or whatever.
• 1:05:31
  But as soon as you go out of the city, because nowadays there are more and more people have connectivity, people are still using cards.
• 1:05:40
  But it's always recommended to bring some cash when you're traveling.
• 1:05:45
  So if you were visiting a nomadic family way out, go be desert or otherwise, the eagle hunters, and you wanted to, and they were willing to sell, let's say you wanted to buy a
• 1:05:57
  shirt or a jacket they were wearing and they were willing to sell it, or wanted to sell it, would they take cash?
• 1:06:03
  Is that what they would transact in?
• 1:06:04
  Or would you, again, this is old school travel often, people would take old clothes and trade and that type of The further away you get, is it still cash?
• 1:06:15
  Cash is king.
• 1:06:16
  Yeah, definitely cash is king.
• 1:06:19
  if you know, the in the countryside, the cell phone reception and internet connectivity is not always 100 % sure.
• 1:06:27
  So you always better to take a cash.
• 1:06:29
  And an interesting thing you just mentioned, if you want a clothes that someone else is wearing, your host is wearing and they most certainly, think 99 % of the time they
• 1:06:39
  wouldn't take your money.
• 1:06:44
  They would not?
• 1:06:45
  No.
• 1:06:46
  really?
• 1:06:47
  Yeah.
• 1:06:48
  I'd feel horrible.
• 1:06:50
  That's it.
• 1:06:51
  Yeah, I guess that's from first person, not taking clothes off people's back, but I have three or four very precious pieces to me.
• 1:07:00
  And when I was a guide, we used to the Inca trail often.
• 1:07:03
  And I literally spoke to our guide at the time and said, I'd be really interested because our porters on this particular trial were wearing traditional ponchos by Inca.
• 1:07:14
  Beautiful and they were made by their wives and actually quite a lot of the men in Peru do the weaving as well.
• 1:07:20
  They were stunning pieces and their chulus, the hats they wear.
• 1:07:23
  It was just beautiful.
• 1:07:24
  I said to our guide, would it be disrespectful to ask to buy their ponchos?
• 1:07:29
  He said, I'll and ask for it.
• 1:07:31
  no, they'll sell them.
• 1:07:33
  Like to them, it's just like a smelly t-shirt.
• 1:07:36
  they're more than happy.
• 1:07:38
  I bought them and like their pride, like I've got them display at home.
• 1:07:43
  And again, I love traditional costume, clothing, and that's something I'd think of.
• 1:07:52
  That jacket's beautiful.
• 1:07:53
  Can I buy a real one?
• 1:07:56
  And that's interesting.
• 1:07:57
  They just give it to you.
• 1:07:58
  That's beautiful.
• 1:07:59
  I think I have to give them something.
• 1:08:03
  I'm going to bounce around a few other questions popped up again in every order.
• 1:08:08
  Tourism is obviously an important part of Mongolia's
• 1:08:11
  economy, it's growing, will become more important.
• 1:08:14
  But where does Mongolia make its money?
• 1:08:17
  it mining?
• 1:08:18
  Is it exports?
• 1:08:21
  mining and animal husbandry.
• 1:08:24
  animal husbandry.
• 1:08:26
  Do you export any of your horses?
• 1:08:29
  Are they sought after as a horse breed elsewhere in the world?
• 1:08:34
  I know I don't think horse breed wise, but like the products from the livestock.
• 1:08:41
  They can be exported to different countries around us and I know Mongolians have been trying to export the meat.
• 1:08:49
  To the neighboring countries because our animals are raised like what you would say free range so they go out and graze for today and then they come back.
• 1:09:00
  don't.
• 1:09:00
  They are not raised on farms, so the meat quality is.
• 1:09:04
  very good like the taste is excellent.
• 1:09:08
  So I know lot of Mongolian companies have been trying to do that, but it takes a lot of time to go through the safety issues.
• 1:09:16
  But yeah, Mongolians, we do export a lot of our livestock, it's perfect.
• 1:09:25
  So as mining is an important part of your economy, do you have a lot of uh Western companies in Mongolia doing the mining or is it something that Mongolia is doing itself?
• 1:09:34
  No, think the larger ones are invested by the international corporations, but we do have ongoing companies as well too.
• 1:09:42
  So mining is the number one income for the country.
• 1:09:46
  Where does tourism sit on the economy?
• 1:09:49
  it top five or is it lowest?
• 1:09:54
  no, no, I think we're definitely within, hopefully within top 10.
• 1:09:57
  ah But we are really like the government is, especially after COVID, we're definitely really trying to bring the revive the tourism and better than before.
• 1:10:09
  Government is trying to do a lot of stuff.
• 1:10:13
  Does Mongolia have a government body like a tourism board that promotes?
• 1:10:18
  We do.
• 1:10:19
  have a ministry, but this ministry offers culture and tourism at the same time.
• 1:10:25
  So is Mongolia, like I used to lot of travel shows, but it was all Latin America based, so I would never see Mongolia.
• 1:10:32
  So things like ITV or World Travel Mart, is Mongolia often there presenting itself?
• 1:10:38
  Sorry.
• 1:10:38
  Yeah.
• 1:10:39
  WTM and ITB.
• 1:10:41
  Yes, yes, yes.
• 1:10:42
  Sorry.
• 1:10:43
  That's right.
• 1:10:45
  Yeah, we do.
• 1:10:46
  We actually sponsored one of the bigger chunks of ITB Berlin in 2015 or 16 sponsored by the government.
• 1:10:58
  And we do do a lot of those shows and individual companies also do them.
• 1:11:02
  Like our company, we do a lot of international shows as well.
• 1:11:06
  So.
• 1:11:07
  Just been to the US with colleagues.
• 1:11:12
  Yes, of course.
• 1:11:13
  Yeah.
• 1:11:14
  Well, that's good.
• 1:11:15
  Yeah.
• 1:11:15
  That's what Maura caught up with you.
• 1:11:16
  We arranged this podcast.
• 1:11:20
  So the reason I asked that, so you have an active tourism board that is out there trying to the country and therefore our travel partners out there.
• 1:11:28
  Yeah.
• 1:11:28
  If you do want any sort of generic general marketing information, support documentation, I assume you have, or they have a website that travel partners can go to.
• 1:11:40
  that had that support and backup if you want to educate yourself further on Mongolia so that tourists will support you there.
• 1:11:47
  As I say, these questions are sort of all over the shop.
• 1:11:50
  As you were chatting about the steps and visiting um the Gobi, et cetera, is, and the reason I ask this is we have a lot of destinations which are at altitude, the Andes, Peru,
• 1:12:01
  Ecuador, et cetera.
• 1:12:02
  Is altitude an issue when visiting Mongolia?
• 1:12:05
  Like, do you have great heights and great valleys or is it?
• 1:12:09
  flat for the most part.
• 1:12:11
  No, no, Mugolia average, the elevation is 1,500 meter above sea level.
• 1:12:20
  So it's not very, you know, affecting you to making you dizzy or nauseous.
• 1:12:26
  But yeah, if you're very sensitive, you would.
• 1:12:28
  But in general, no, it's not a big issue.
• 1:12:31
  But if you go to the West where the Eagle Hunters are, they are more elevated than the rest of us.
• 1:12:36
  Okay, so this is more a generic question about the Mongolian people.
• 1:12:42
  1.6 million, I think you said, were in Ulaanbaatar.
• 1:12:45
  About 3.
• 1:12:46
  something is the population.
• 1:12:48
  there's a of people in the rural areas.
• 1:12:52
  Curiosity question purely here.
• 1:12:54
  So a nomadic tribe, their children, do they go to school?
• 1:12:58
  Are they like homeschooled?
• 1:13:00
  Do they have to come to the cities for schooling if someone in the rural areas falls ill?
• 1:13:06
  pregnancy, giving birth, do they go into the nearest town for health services?
• 1:13:13
  What's the social structure of Mongolia?
• 1:13:16
  So the public schools and hospitals are free.
• 1:13:19
  So, yeah, so everybody like you can go to school for free to until 12th grade and then your basic hospital access is free.
• 1:13:32
  So you can do that.
• 1:13:33
  And we have about 330 little like administrative villages in the countryside.
• 1:13:39
  So it's all over the.
• 1:13:42
  all over the spread throughout the country so you would have access to them even if you live in a rural area.
• 1:13:50
  So the kids usually nowadays that's one of the big challenges in Mongolia to keep the nomadic traditional life is kids need to go to school, kids need to learn.
• 1:14:01
  So then uh being a nomadic family it takes a lot of main power to you know with the livestock and everything.
• 1:14:10
  So, but if the kids are in school for 10 months or nine months out of the year, it usually falls on the parents only to take care of their 1000 or 2000 livestock per family.
• 1:14:24
  that is it.
• 1:14:25
  Yeah.
• 1:14:28
  So Mongolia has the latest statistics with the time craft.
• 1:14:32
  It was 70 million livestock 70 million and we have people
• 1:14:39
  Yeah.
• 1:14:39
  That sounds like New Zealand in its shape.
• 1:14:42
  Yeah, so yeah, so you have kids, a lot of nomadic people try to send their kids to school and they do go to school to the nearest village.
• 1:14:52
  And but it is also bringing a lot of dilemma for the families to have to this life, the tradition, the lifestyle.
• 1:15:01
  So if you're brought up in the city, were you born in the city?
• 1:15:09
  So again, I'm sure it's like anywhere else in the world, it's a city life and schooling is a lot more expected and easy to get through because you're not dealing with thousand sheep
• 1:15:20
  or goats out there.
• 1:15:22
  So when you finish your high school, you have a good university system in Ulaanbaatar or the provincial areas.
• 1:15:29
  There were a of Mongolians
• 1:15:30
  go to elsewhere for higher education, US, Canada, England, Europe?
• 1:15:37
  Well, if you can either, you know, you have two ways to go, right?
• 1:15:40
  You either can pay for it, which is a lot, especially compared to the Mongolian standard, the average salary.
• 1:15:48
  So if you go abroad, you don't have to pay for it, which is quite difficult for a lot of us.
• 1:15:54
  Or you can get a scholarship if you very, you excelled academically or in other aspects.
• 1:16:00
  So.
• 1:16:01
  A lot of Mongolians hope to or dream to go and they do some of them go if you have a wealthy family or you get scholarship, but a lot of them just go to college in Mongolia.
• 1:16:14
  Did you study abroad or did you stay in Australia?
• 1:16:16
  I have have studied abroad.
• 1:16:18
  I when I studied in China for several years, then I got a scholarship to the US.
• 1:16:24
  So I studied in the US.
• 1:16:26
  We're about to the US because we have a lot of US.
• 1:16:29
  How's New Jersey?
• 1:16:31
  Oh, New Jersey.
• 1:16:32
  uh Do you speak Mandarin with your time in China?
• 1:16:37
  Yeah, I did.
• 1:16:38
  Nowadays, I mostly forgot about it it was a long time ago, but I lived in China for seven years.
• 1:16:43
  So um I learned Mandarin.
• 1:16:48
  So you speak English obviously, go in.
• 1:16:54
  That's pretty impressive.
• 1:16:55
  The three difficult languages.
• 1:16:58
  you
• 1:17:00
  Did you study tourism out of curiosity?
• 1:17:03
  No, I studied business and I also studied environmental management.
• 1:17:07
  So I love everything related to environment and because my parents are biologists.
• 1:17:14
  I love I grow I grew up loving the outdoors and in the animals and the plants and everything.
• 1:17:20
  So I really wanted to study environment.
• 1:17:23
  So I applied for a scholarship to study in the US environment management.
• 1:17:28
  And so yeah, I studied environmental management there.
• 1:17:31
  So what got you into actual tourism?
• 1:17:35
  This was the Family Business.
• 1:17:38
  it's a family business.
• 1:17:39
  I'll say your parents are biologists, but they're also in tourism as well.
• 1:17:42
  yes.
• 1:17:44
  Excellent.
• 1:17:46
  Okay, I have one last question before I wrap it up.
• 1:17:50
  I'll let you.
• 1:17:50
  Okay.
• 1:17:52
  So this is a question that I would have if I was booking a trip to Mongolia.
• 1:17:58
  So in my mind, the cultural aspect of I really enjoy seeing different lifestyles, learning their history, their way of life.
• 1:18:05
  So you've mentioned ah the reindeer people, the nomadic Mongolians and the eagle hunters.
• 1:18:13
  you said are sort of Kazakhstan, though Mongolian there's a different language, probably culture.
• 1:18:21
  If I was to say to you I want to go to see the reindeer people, I want to have a traditional Mongolian family experience and visit the eagle hunters, would those three
• 1:18:31
  experiences be vastly different to each other, very similar to each other, or because they are three distinct cultures within Mongolian culture they will be different?
• 1:18:43
  there will be completely, completely different experiences for you.
• 1:18:48
  uh Yeah, there are quite, like all these three different groups that you mentioned, they speak different language and they live in a different part of the city, of the country,
• 1:19:03
  especially the eagle hunters and the reindeer people.
• 1:19:06
  They're very, very distinctive to different groups of people.
• 1:19:11
  So you would see lot of difference in there.
• 1:19:14
  Excellent.
• 1:19:15
  That's I hoping you would say.
• 1:19:18
  I knew of the Eagle Hunters through, there was actually a 60 minutes story on, think an American woman went out there to study, study them for some reason and she fell in love
• 1:19:30
  and she actually was taught the skills of the Eagle Hunters.
• 1:19:33
  So I remember seeing that.
• 1:19:35
  I didn't know about the reindeer people, but I thought that the Eagle Hunters was like an extension of your nomadic tribes.
• 1:19:41
  But
• 1:19:41
  You've educated me and everyone else today.
• 1:19:43
  As you say, distinctly different and also geographic.
• 1:19:47
  So that's cool.
• 1:19:49
  I think that'd be my perfect trip doing that combination.
• 1:19:54
  So on that note, anything else that you would like to leave or educate me on directly or let our listening audience know about Mongolia, things that we may not have touched on or
• 1:20:05
  just a summary before we say goodbye.
• 1:20:07
  Well, I mean, I always find it so hard.
• 1:20:10
  People would ask me, right, like, give me, you know, a couple of good things about Mongolian.
• 1:20:16
  Because you're an insider, it's so hard to, you know, say, oh, this is the perfect thing.
• 1:20:21
  This is because, you know, you're so through with everything.
• 1:20:24
  You're so in deep with it.
• 1:20:26
  So, you know, it's just, you know, come to come to Mongolian and see what, how, what, how things are so different here than what you're used to.
• 1:20:36
  And there's all really hard to like explain in a sentence or two why you should come to Mongolia because it is just so different out here.
• 1:20:45
  And I always think it's now is better than later to come to Mongolia because Mongolia is changing really fast.
• 1:20:53
  Like many other countries are changing fast because of the globalization and the internet access and everything.
• 1:20:59
  So if you really are fascinated by Mongolian culture and history.
• 1:21:04
  Now is the time to come to Mongolia to see it before it changes further.
• 1:21:11
  Agreed.
• 1:21:12
  as I said earlier in the podcast, we're seeing more and more people looking for something different to start with.
• 1:21:19
  I had a podcast with Yana recently in South America.
• 1:21:23
  And it's a similar statement I made then, which I'm going to make now about Mongolia, is that Yana is an up and coming destination within South America.
• 1:21:31
  Everyone hits the big neighbors.
• 1:21:33
  Same for Mongolia, not Russia at the moment for obvious reasons, but China is a very popular destination.
• 1:21:39
  have South Korea, Japan, all your sort of near neighbors.
• 1:21:43
  But just sitting there is Mongolia, which is, as we've discussed today, densely populated country in the world.
• 1:21:54
  Wide expanse, infrastructure is in place for tourism, it's growing.
• 1:22:00
  It is that different destination.
• 1:22:03
  And if people are looking for something different, then you've got Mongolia literally, they're waiting to be discovered.
• 1:22:11
  um It's definitely a destination that appeals, that style of travel always appeals to me.
• 1:22:17
  Doing it by road is a big one.
• 1:22:19
  ah But that's sort of, I like seeing countries and you don't get much, you don't get this opportunity much anymore.
• 1:22:25
  And it's a good thing and you know, it's a double-edged sword.
• 1:22:27
  It's a good thing, but it's a bad thing because countries are so, the big countries are so popular now, they're so crowded.
• 1:22:33
  There are issues in Europe.
• 1:22:34
  can't see things anymore.
• 1:22:36
  Same in Latin America, same in certain parts of Africa.
• 1:22:40
  if I'm talking about travel partners out there, if you have clients ask you for something different, then think of Mongolia, like maybe in combination with one of its famous
• 1:22:49
  neighbors, China, Korea, Japan, et cetera.
• 1:22:52
  uh It's waiting to be discovered.
• 1:22:55
  It's been, you know, I've learned so much tonight, again, tonight where I'm talking, so I thank you very much, Trill.
• 1:23:02
  destination that's always fascinated me.
• 1:23:04
  I've now really got a desire to go based on our conversation.
• 1:23:07
  And this was not planned.
• 1:23:09
  um I think for those who don't know, and I'm not sure if Moira will this on to you, here at GOE we have the GOE Pro Travel Academy, which I look after, which is a training module
• 1:23:20
  based on destinations.
• 1:23:22
  We have most of our big countries already done, like the big ones, Peru, Ecuador, South Africa, etc.
• 1:23:29
  And we're now looking at what we call a secondary destination, which Mongolia is at this stage.
• 1:23:33
  It's not generally at the top of the list.
• 1:23:37
  I mean, I'm so fascinated by what you've discussed with us today that I am going to go and start.
• 1:23:43
  I'm going to build the Mongolia uh module for everyone out there because while this podcast is there to introduce it to everyone, I think we need it in the academy to help
• 1:23:52
  hammer home the beauty of it, the joys of it.
• 1:23:57
  urgent aspect of it as a destination.
• 1:24:00
  And if you want to get up there and take something exotic on your list, Mongolia is it if you want to be able to say, like I often do now, back in the day, this is what it was
• 1:24:10
  like.
• 1:24:12
  Go and see Mongolia now.
• 1:24:14
  And so you can say in five, 10 years, because it will get more and more pop up without a doubt.
• 1:24:19
  I have no doubt about that.
• 1:24:21
  So on that note, thank you very much for your time today.
• 1:24:24
  uh Today, tonight, wherever you are.
• 1:24:27
  We are.
• 1:24:28
  I really appreciate it.
• 1:24:29
  I learned so much.
• 1:24:30
  Totally fascinated by it.
• 1:24:31
  And everyone out there as well.
• 1:24:34
  My pleasure.
• 1:24:35
  And everyone else out there, thank you again for your time.
• 1:24:37
  We know how busy you are and until next time.
• 1:24:41
  Thank you.