CAMDA
F
Cambridge Mongolia Development Appeal
Charity No: 1086778
www.camda.org.uk
Newsletter
November
2016
Dear Supporter
With its economy still in the doldrums as it has been for the last three to four years, Mongolia
has struggled to find an alternative economic strategy to help offset the huge revenue loss
caused by the steep decline in both quantity and value of its mineral exports over this period.
Having little else to fall back on, there have been several high profile attempts to bolster its
tourism potential, including being a partner host of last year’s prestigious ITB Berlin - a top
showcase venue for the world’s travel trade.
Perhaps the latest development from an unexpected source - Lonely Planet - (see Other News)
will provide the more widespread publicity needed to get this sector of its economy in better
shape. For all the new-age vision of modernity the capital Ulaanbaatar is now able to present,
most tourists are still more interested and impressed by the rich culture and ancient history
awaiting to be discovered and enjoyed way beyond the city’s walls.
In Lonely Planet’s website introduction to the country they describe it as “…. an adventure
destination where travellers can see the traditions of the past still practised today by hardy
nomads dwelling on the country's vast steppes and deserts.” Delve into their rave reviews
and one finds comments like “…. you'll fall head over heels for Mongolia. What's not to love
about a country that's so vast, so remote, so naturally beautiful?” or how about “A culture of
tremendous hospitality makes locals more accessible. In a world beset by locks and gates,
it's refreshing to meet people willing to open their doors to strangers.”
The icing on this particular cake is that in their latest guidebook “Best in Travel 2017”,
Mongolia is in a ‘top ten’ position, no less than 7th place, one behind Bermuda and one ahead
of Oman. If that doesn’t spur travel folk to head in hordes to see what they have been
missing all this time, it’s hard to think of what else will.
As long as they splash some of their cash where most needed, out among the nomadic
communities, who will be only too willing to show them around, be host in their humble but
culture-rich gers, and sell to appreciative tourists their beautiful craft work, the future for
tourism does at last begin to look on the up.
Well Project
With this year’s well work now complete, it’s satisfying to be able to say that all went to plan
by achieving our target of 25. The biggest quota went once more to Khuvsgul province with
20 there - 18 newly dug and 2 refurbished - now serving more than 170 herder households
with an overall total of livestock exceeding 28,000 heads.
A further 5 wells were rehabilitated in Ovorkhangai province, serving some 28 households
and their 3,700 heads of livestock.
As these pictures illustrate, they are
not the most eye-catching of
structures to warrant a closer look by
tourists. The fact is, many are so far
off the beaten track it would take a
very determined tourist to even find
one. But along with thousands more
of a similar kind dotting Mongolia’s
vast landscapes, they are the indispensable sources of water to herders and livestock in
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areas where other natural sources such as rivers, streams or springs simply don’t exist.
Each well has its unique local name, often giving a hint of its location, such as that of a
nearby bagh (a small administrative area, also referred to as bag or brigade).
Unattractive or insignificant looking they may be, but to those whose lives revolve around and
depend upon their livestock they are absolutely invaluable.
(pictures of refurbished wells from 2016 project in Bogd and Tugrug soums, Ovorkhangai province).
Other News.
Mongolia - Best in Travel 2017
Well, that’s the news.mn headline, although it is actually placed at
number 7 - still pretty good when one considers the many other
countries that would dearly like to be in Lonely Planet’s top ten.
With the 2017 completion of a state-of-the-art new airport, as well as a
“…transformed [city] skyline bristling with glass and steel towers……a
US$ 500 million Shangri-La complex….featuring a 290 room hotel…IMAX
cinema and a Hard Rock Cafe…”, those with a taste for such modernities
(and with deep enough pockets) will find much to please them.
For those on a more modest budget, they can still view these modern wonders for free while
gaining the more simple pleasures to be found in Mongolia’s unique countryside attractions.
No noise, no bustle, no traffic fumes, just serene peace and quiet. As Lonely Planet is also at
pains to underline, that being there “is feeling like the only person on earth”.
Concern for water
At a water seminar held in UB (3rd November), between 50 delegates from Mongolia and
South Korea agreed that in global studies, Mongolia is among 20 countries with the least
water, but that it needed better management of its reserves.
Air and water pollution were said to be an increasing problem and the seminar aimed to
create initiatives in water sector cooperation between the two countries. (montsame.mn article)
Winter weather warning.
A recent article published by montsame.mn will not be good news if its forecast for the
approaching winter comes about.
A German meteorologist Dominik Jung has said the 2016-17 season “promises to be
unusually cold ever recorded in the last 100 years”. More unsettling is the agreement to this
statement by no less than Mongolian Research Institute for Hydrology & Meteorology.
The article goes on to say that wintering preparations in rural areas are reported as sufficient,
and at national level, herders have prepared 284 thousand tons of hay - 24% of that needed
for wintering. Emergency storage of provinces and soums hold 3,722 tons of hay and 504
tons of fodder. However, to overcome such harsh winter with minimum loss, reserves of 1.2
million tons of hay and 100 thousand tons of animal fodder would be needed.
That puts into perspective how such an extremely harsh winter might once again severely
test and strain the country’s ability to cope with such catastrophe, as was the case in 2010,
and yet again in the first few months of this year. Hopefully, the forecast will prove incorrect,
but many herders, especially those with small herds unable to move their animals to safe
areas will be apprehensive as the coming months unfold.
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Disaster help for herders.
On the subject of disasters, a news.mn article states that The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
and the Government of Mongolia have signed a $3 million grant to pilot communitybased approaches to disaster risk management in parts of Dornod, Gobi-Altai,
Khuvsgul and Sukbaatar aimags to increase herders’ resilience to dzuds, fires, and other
disasters.
The grant is funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), which over the past
16 years has supported projects in Mongolia dealing with poverty alleviation, community
development, livelihoods, and the environment.
Recurring dzuds and droughts over the last decade have affected much of the rural
population. The 2009‒2010 dzud, for example, resulted in losses of 25% of Mongolia’s total
livestock, damaging the livelihoods of 97,000 herder households.
According to the UN, over 41% of Mongolia’s herder population was affected and 1.1 million
livestock perished in the 2015-2016 dzud.
(all data as quoted from news.mn article)
Champions
Throat singer N.Naranbadrakh won the Talent International Monolith
Festival (Festival internacional de musica and dance), held in Barcelona of
Spain on October 28 – November 2.
The festival challenged artists from many different countries in 5 age
categories and 11 nominations.
The grand prize went to Mongolia’s contestant N.Naranbadrakh, who also
received the “Sympathy of the Jury and Spectators for the Originality of
Performance” and the Barcelona Mayor’s awards.
Young Mongolian draughts player E.Khuslen has became world
champion for the category of girls under the age of 11 at the World
Junior Draughts Championships in Izmir, Turkey.
Competing against 28 other contestants, she became champion
with six wins and three draws (15 points) after nine rounds.
However, she is not alone; another Mongolian, N.Naljormaa, took
the silver medal with 14 points in the same category, while
B.Misheel won silver with 12 points in under 14 age category.
(both articles from news.mn)
Chinggis goes west
An exhibition depicting the Mongol Empire, Chinggis Khaan,
and..his. descendants will go on view at Discovery Place in.
Charlotte, North Carolina, from November 19 to April 30, 2017.
It will include a parade, people dressed as warriors of Chinggis
Khaan and mother Oulen, who with her children will walk along
the route. Traditional wrestling and archery tournaments will be
organized, and Mongolian dancers and singers will also perform.
The parade will travel from Discovery Place to Downtown.
Charlotte. The event’s organizers encourage Mongolians in attendance to wear traditional
clothes and participate in the parade and exhibition events. (story and picture credit: UB Post)
A big ‘deel’ - fit for a giant
Designers at the ‘Bat Zuu’ company have sewed a 14m long and 18 m wide ‘Hunnu’ deel the size of a six-story building. The 'deel' is the traditional outer garment worn for centuries by
Mongolians and their ancestors - the Hunnu. For three months, over 50 designers have been
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working on the world's biggest deel. The traditional garment has been made from half a
million metres of fabric.
It uses the original design of a
Hunnu deel found in Delgerkhaan
soum of Khentii province, which is
preserved at the Mongolian National
Historical Museum in Ulaanbaatar.
Gongor, the tallest person in Mongolia
was 2.28 metre high; the deel would
suit someone over ten times his
height. The chances of finding such a person are unlikely - but getting into the Guinness
World Records, which is the designers' aim, is much more of a possibility!
(article source and picture credit: news.mn)
Who was Gongor - Mongolia’s tallest man?
According to Wikipedia: Öndör Gongor ("Tall” Gongor) was a very tall man in early-20th
century Mongolia. He was measured 236 cm (7' 9") high by Roy Chapman Andrews
[American explorer and naturalist]. Other sources even give 244 cm (8' 0"). He was known all
over Mongolia, and was mentioned and pictured in some accounts of contemporary western
travellers.
He was the third child of a herder named Pürev, who lived in
what is today Jargalant sum of Khövsgöl aimag. Not
particularly big as child, but he had long fingers and was
always eating a lot. He was summoned to the Bogd Khan,
and later made to marry a woman who worked as one of the
Bogd Khan's seamstresses, on the grounds that according to a
horoscope by the Bogd Khan, their fates were connected.
Accounts of his role at Bogd Khan's court vary from being
accountant and keeper of the Bogd Khan's elephant, the Bogd
Khan's bodyguard, or wrestler. In 1913, he travelled to Russia
with a delegation headed by Sain Noyon Khan Namnansüren.
(This was to represent Mongolian interests during negotiations
between Russia and China surrounding the tripartite Kyakhta
treaty that would define the border between Russian Siberia
and the Qing territories of Mongolia and Manchuria).
Later, he is said to have worked at the toll office. He had four children, and died in his home
area in the late 1920s, before reaching the age of 50. One of his grandsons, D. Davaanyam,
is a well-known children's author in Mongolia.
(based on Wikipedia account of his life; picture credit also Wikipedia)
At which point, and by way of a very “tall” but interesting story, it brings this edition to a close,
until next time, with best wishes to one and all.
Bill Munns
Editor
[email protected]
(NB: Other News is based on reputable Internet, Wikipedia and other media sources but its accuracy cannot be
guaranteed. Opinions are those of the Editor and are not necessarily those of CAMDA.)
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