On our two-week trip to Mongolia, we visited two contrasting regions. On one hand, the Altai Mountains in the northwest of the country, near the Kazakh border, and on the other hand, the Gobi Desert in the south.
In the first part of the trip, we visited the eagle hunters in the foothills of the Altai Mountains. The ancient tradition of eagle hunting is still alive here. The Kazakhs of Mongolia train their eagles to hunt rabbits, foxes, and even wolves. We were greeted with great hospitality, and the eagle hunters demonstrated their craft to us. We even witnessed a small eagle festival that was organized specially for our group.
The second part of the trip took us to the Gobi Desert in the south of the country, near the Chinese border. The nomads of this region follow their animals to the best grazing areas. For this, the yurts (a type of tent) are dismantled every few weeks and transported with camels to the new camp sites. The camel caravan in the endless dunes of the Gobi Desert remains one of the highlights of this tour for me.
