On t'aime Mongolia

15 wonderful days in Mongolia, even if at times our bottoms were frozen. Even today, it snowed, and a strong cold wind said goodbye to us as we entered the airport.

This morning, we managed to visit Monte Rosa junior school. The class was primary 6. As we entered, they were finishing a lesson on traditional Mongolian, which has writing from top to bottom of the page. (Since the 1920s, they mainly wrote with the Russian alphabet). The first impression was amazing. The teacher was energised, and the pupils were even more so. In Europe, our teachers are often stressed out. The pupils are disengaged. In Mongolia, what we saw bodes very well for the future. Even more so as they have an innovative learning plan that includes IT, financial basics, and health. Such aspects are often missing in Europe. Our kids leave shool unready to handle some of the challenges of managing their daily lives.

Do visit Mongolia, but don't wait too long. It still has charm and a few tourists. It can be rough ( hard beds, cold weather, sand storms, crazy roads), but it is uniquely genuine and interesting. Both the land and its people.

A big thank you to New Milestone Tours who helped me set up the trip for only $80. Amazing value, amazing service. You simply can't contact nomads on your own 😁. Google translate works only moderately well. For example, the driver told us, "There are no binoculars for the next 2 days." We were puzzled. Eventually, we understood what he wanted to say was " there are no petrol stations for the next two days." What's more you will save the $80, because the company negotiates the prices of cars, drivers and accommodation. For example, the starting price for a yurt is $200, and the negotiated price is $40-80 for 6 people. A hire car is more than $150 per day, negotiated price for an 8 seater 4WD $45 per day.Read more