Living my Mongolian dream

So after so many years of wanting to be here, I am here, living in a yurt in the Mongolian countryside. The summer camp of Enhee and Tsemgee is about 20 km from the heart of Ghengis Khan’s ancient empire, Kharkhorin. The town of Kharkhorin is a small town with modern conveniences. The camp sits in a gorgeous broad valley which empties a small river onto an expansive plain. In the afternoon the sun can be intense, immobilizing everyone for a few hours in the heat. Other days, it is cloudy and cool. The picturesque green plains against a deep blue sky makes every direction I look appear as something from a travel poster for Mongolia. There is always something going on at the camp. Food to cook or dairy products to collect or process. Animals that need moved in or moved out. Cleaning, wood chopping, dung collecting…always work to do. I am enjoying getting to know the daily rhythms.

I have posted the first batch of pictures, and a short video clip to give you all a sense of what I’m up to (to get to my pictures go to rainvandenberg.com, click on “photos” then the link “to see all of Rain’s photos” and you can look in the Mongolia folder). Following are entries from my first 2 weeks. Also, just have to say “thanks” to Anu and Chimgee in the US, and Kelly and Bayara in UB for their help making things easier for me by helping with arrangements and translation on occasion.