I flew into Ulaanbaatar, the capitol of Mongolia where I met my team, Madhav, Rosie, Tim, Tudevee our expert guide and Nyama our divine driver. From the first second we met, we laughed. We did not stop laughing as we ventured into the great vastness of the Mongolian steppe.
We traveled in a russian built vehicle that looked like an old VW van, but could ford rivers and grind through sand. Our journey took us through miles and miles of unfenced grasslands that eventually and abruptly bump into range after range of mountains and forests to the north and into the Gobi desert to the south and west. There were no roads, we bumped along on dirt paths, which we dubbed, the Mongolian highway.
One of the first things we encountered was a Naadam Festival in progress. It is a competition of horse racing, wrestling and archery. Naadam happens every summer throughout the provinces of Mongolia.
Kids and horses, and nothing but smiles.
