Modern Herder Life in Mongolia

This is the second in a series of posts from Deepali Patel, a native of Washington D.C. and Fulbright Fellow working in Mongolia.  This week, her guide to eating in Mongolia. Read more on her blog

Herder Life

The mystique of nomadic life is one of Mongolia’s biggest tourism draws, though “nomadic” in its strictest definition, is not the most accurate term.  Mongolia has 3 million residents, 60% of whom live in urban areas – so you can imagine the population density in the countryside.  It is possible to travel for days without seeing a single human structure.

In this vast emptiness, Mongolian herders thrive, leading their animals from summer to winter camps, and stopping at wells and watering holes.  They set up their gers, round abodes made from felt and easily erected and dismantled, to stay in one area for several months.  These gers, and the families that live within, are often completely alone, providing abundant grazing land for the livestock, but also isolation for families.  This isolation leads to a thirst for news from the outside, so travelers stopping in at one of these lone gers are often warmly welcomed (once they get past the dogs, of course).  But, nowadays, every herder has a solar panel and a satellite TV, so although the news is easier to get, the herders are still warm and welcoming, particularly for the friendly traveler.

This type of isolation leads to an incredible self-sufficiency.  A decent-sized herd of animals will include goats, sheep, horses, and often camels or cows.  From these animals, a family can produce meat and milk, and clothing and construction materials.  Additional livestock can be used for trade or sale, allowing herders to also acquire other items – flour, electronic goods, packaged foods and even leisure items.  But despite the easy flow of goods, herders still maintain almost all of their traditional lifestyle patterns.

The men, for instance, are excellent horsemen, a skill that is learnt nearly before walking.  Mongolian prowess on horseback is demonstrated every year in the horse races at Naadam, and even at the Eagle Festival in the West.  Horses provide an easy means of transporting goods, and herding animals, and as well as recreation.  The women maintain the home, milking the animals, making dairy products, curing meat, felting, making rope, and monitoring the upkeep of the gers.  The women are as hardy as the men, and just as competent on horseback.

Stopping in at a ger will often lead to sharing of food, anywhere from bread and cream to noodle soup to airag (fermented mare’s milk).  This sharing is done without expectation of payment (though small gifts are always welcome); every herder knows that at some point in his life he will be dependent on the generosity of strangers.  And so a culture of friendliness and kindness spreads across a vast open space.

- Deepali Patel