As a little girl I read a National Geographic article on the nomadic life of Mongolians and was captivated. I haven’t been able to shake the notion since, and so here I am chasing after a mythological land where the people’s identity is inextricably tied to the wild horse, whose existence is timed by seasons, and who know no fences or imaginable bounds. I’ve been riding on horseback through Mongolia’s steppe in the UNESCO Orkhon Valley. While I’ve ridden horses all my life, I have never felt as connected to the unadulterated spirit of riding a horse as I do now. The ground shakes underneath as my burly (pony-sized) horse and I charge through the verdant rolling hills, passing weathered mountains and endless herds of horses, goats, sheep, and yak. The views will take your breath away. As there are almost no roads for cars, horseback is the only way to truly see Mongolia (and be a nomad).
If anything, Mongolia has surpassed my wildest imagination of what modern-day nomadic life looks like. There is a stark, if not humorous, contrast between old and new. Mongolian nomadic life means constantly traveling to find pasture for your animals. Perhaps most fascinating is that nomadic practices (i.e. living in entirely collapsible homes: Gers, keeping horses half-wild, no use of fences, burning dung instead of wood, etc.) are unchanged from centuries ago. While the staples of this nomadic culture haven’t changed, they have adapted to fit a modernizing world- equipped with solar panels, Nokia flip phones, and shiny, chrome-stocked motorcycles.
I’ve been moved by the multitude of layers Mongolian culture has melting into one strong identity. You can feel the pulse of each influence. The echoes of a Chinggis Khaan empire (the correct spelling of what popular culture knows to be Genghis Khan) and the largest land conquest in history are ever-present in the vast expanses of untouched land, droves of wild horses, and in the regal wardrobes of ancient and present-day Mongolia- which clearly inspired the costumes of Star Wars! There are also devout tones of Tibetan Buddhism, remnants of a communist era, and the actual varying landscapes which have deeply influenced the many ethnic nomadic minorities.
Photo Journal by: Amanda Sosnowski (terrenevisions.com, @terrenevisions)