Travel Blog Mongolia

Kublai was the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki, and a grandson of Genghis Khan. Kublai's real power was limited to China and Mongolia. In 1271, Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty, which ruled over present-day Mongolia, China, Korea, and some adjacent areas, and assumed the role of Emperor of China. By 1279, the Yuan forces had overcome the last resistance of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai became the first non-Chinese Emperor to conquer all of China. He was also the only Mongol khan after 1260 to win new conquests. The summer garden of Kublai Khan at Xanadu is the subject of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1797 poem Kubla Khan. This poem and Marco Polo's earlier book brought Kublai and his achievements to the attention of a wider audience, and today Kublai is a well-known historical figure.

Today, 14th November 2013, the newly appointed Ambassador of Mongolia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain , Mr Tulga Narkhuu presented his 'Letters of Credence' to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as is the custom when a newly appointed Ambassador arrives in London.

We are big fans of the 'Kamaz Master' Rally Team and are looking forward to enjoying the  2014 Dakar Rally in January.  The Team have some amazing achievements in endurance rallying so we are expecting a great performance.  Rules and regulations have forced the Kamaz team to change from their 17.2 litre Russian 'YMZ' engines to 16.5 litre German 'Leibherr' engines. There was speculation that the American company 'Cummins' could provide the new engines, however recent agreements for Kamaz’s commercial machines state that 'Leibherr' has the the opportunity to supply for the Kamaz construction vehicles as well as the Kamaz Master Team.  Commercial machines manufactured by Leibherr include heavy duty cranes and lorries.   Also new Dakar Rally regulations for the truck section relate to 'SMOKE CONTROL' and if emissions are too heavy the team will be penalised as follows:  1 st infringement:   €500 2 nd inf...

The deal with Iran ?     Spying on friends ? Can we trust the police ?

Duration: 28 minutes. Source: BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents.   Listen Here: "Mongolian Nomadic Herders Suddenly Become Very Rich" The "Oyu Tolgoi" mine in Mongolia's freezing "Gobi Desert" is one of the the world's biggest - extracting a vast seam of copper, gold and silver the size of "Manhattan". It's turned this country of camel and yak herders into the world's fastest growing economy. Fancy boutiques, top-end car dealerships and coffee shops are springing up across the capital. But, as Justin Rowlatt discovers, riding the boom is not easy. He meets a rapper who says the government is simply selling the country's assets to its old rival, China. And there are fears from foreign investors about attempts by the government to increase its income from the "Oyu Tolgoi" mine. Can Mongolia become prosperous while sharing its new-found wealth - or will it kill the goose before it has laid any gold (or c...

Original article published in " The Week" M agazine   Eric Prokopi (U S resident) , a self described “Commercial Palaeontologist”, was arrested by agents from the US Department of Homeland Security at his home in Gainseville, Florida last October. Prokopi fell under suspicion after he was identified as the dealer behind the $1.1 million sale of a Tarbosaurus (a cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex), at an auction in New York last summer. The sale caused an international furore – the president of Mongolia, where the dinosaur was discovered – tried to have it stopped, and the skeleton was eventually seized. On 27 December, Porkopi pleaded guilty to fraudulently importing the dinosaur and agreed to hand over several others. He faces 17 years in prison. What exactly did he do wrong? While it is legal to sell fossils and dinosaur remains once they have been dug up, most countries, Particularly China, Mongolia, Morocco and Brazil – which between them boast some o...

  Mistake No 1:  Trying to get the cheapest tour to Mongolia If you are a backpacker, getting the cheapest trip to Mongolia may be your main priority. Otherwise, getting the best value for money is what most people want. A quick search on the internet will reveal a very wide range of prices being charged for tours in Mongolia, both by Mongolian travel companies and by tour operators and agents based in other countries who are offering to organize vacations in Mongolia and Central Asia. How to choose based on price ? Search on the internet to find at least 3 companies offering the kind of tour in Mongolia that you want. Contact each of them to get a price. Make sure you know the size of the group that the price is valid for. If you are travelling alone and they only run a trip if it has at least 4 people in the group, you need to know if they have got other bookings or if you are expected to find 4 people yourself. Compa...

Nowadays there are quite a few foreigners in Mongolia, working for the mining companies, NGOs or as consultants. It is such a pity if someone comes to Mongolia but never has the opportunity to get out of Ulaanbaatar city and enjoy the countryside, so we're setting up some shorter tours which can run every weekend during the summer from June through to the end of September. The first two trips are off-road motorcycle tours in Gobi and Khentii provinces: Middle Gobi 4-Day Tour This  4-day 1000 km circular ride in Tuv "Central" province and Dundgov "Middle Gobi" to the dramatic granite rocks at Baga Gazriin Chuluu and the ruins of Ongi Hiid monastery beside the Ongii river. For more information see: http://www.ktmtour.com/gobi_desert_short_motorcycle_tour.html Khentii 3-Day Tour This 700 km circular route from Terelj to Mungunmort and Delgerkhan in the Eastern province of Khentii is 3 days / 2 nights and we will be camping in the wild  (tents and me...

There's a new book, "Eques Mongolica" written by Bat-Ochir Bold, which is full of fascinating information relating to all aspects of horses and horsemanship in Mongolia. In fact, because the life of the Mongolian people has always been so closely involved with their horses, much of this wonderful book  is a study of the history and culture of the Mongols. Travelling across Mongolia, foreigners are often intrigued by the apparently random movements of nomadic families with their homes and large numbers of livestock. Of course, their is nothing random about the choice of location and frequency of movement. Prior to the Socialist era, nomads moved according to the seasons, the type of animals they own  (horses, cows or yaks, sheep, goats and camels), type of pasture, salinity of the soil and water availability. People gathered near sources of drinking water, i.e. large rivers, permanent fresh water lakes or abundant springs.   During the period 1959 - 1991...

In the Dakar Rally stage 4,  Nazca to Arequipa, our two Mongolian riders are still hanging on there.  Each day several riders have withdrawn for one reason or another. But in today's stage, number #175 KTM 450 motorbike rider Damdinhorloo Boldbaatar arrived in 98th place, with a total time 5:23:53. He is now in overall 77th place after the four stages, having completed in 13:04:13, he is behind the lead rider 02:53:35 hours Our  number #174 Yamaha 450 motorbike rider Namchingiin Lhamaa arrived today  in 117th place, total time 05:38:41, overall 101st place after 4 stages. His total time is 14:08:18 and he is behind the lead riders by 03:57:40 hours.  It looked like Lhamaa had been given a 20 minute penalty at one point, but seems that this has now been written off, but we don't have any more news about this at the moment. During the last edition of the Dakar penalites were introduced and the scale remains the same for the 2013 edition: 15...