Falling In Love With A (Mongolian) Landscape
For some, Mongolia is just a business decision. For me, it’s been a long-term love affair, filled with peaks, valleys, and countless challenges. May 2024 marks the 19th anniversary of my first arrival in this extraordinary country, and as I look back on that moment, I’m filled with a sense of nostalgia. It’s a bittersweet […]
Coronavirus and its impact on travel and tourism
The coronavirus is a crisis for many industries including the travel and tourism industry. The tourism industry has always been resilient – recovering from the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud, the Boxing Day tsunami and multiple terror attacks – but the coronavirus and its impact on travel and tourism is something bigger, something more wide-sweeping and something […]
Dog Sledding Mongolia (why we have said no for now)
Up until 2019, we offered dog sledding itineraries as part of our series of Mongolia winter experiences. However, even though often the dog sledding was often the highlight of their trip for our guests, in early 2019 we decided to stop offering dog sledding options. The main reason is cultural – we describe our winter experiences […]
The Ethics Of Hunting With Eagles – Mongolia
The Kazakhs are Mongolia’s largest ethnic minority group representing 3-4% of Mongolia’s population (Mongolia’s entire population is just over 3.2 million people – 2020 Census). A majority of Mongolia’s Kazakhs make their home in western Mongolia in Bayan Ölgii Aimag (Province) with another group in Khovd Aimag and then smaller groups spread throughout the country including […]
Beyond Black Friday
This Friday is Black Friday – synonymous with consumerism and excess but there is an alternative option – to help make a statement against what Black Friday has come to represent. Personally, I’ll be sticking my finger up at the event and here are a few ideas on how to mark the day by doing something […]
Our Focus During Low Season In Mongolia
As a company, we call ourselves ‘manaikhan’ which translates from Mongolian loosely into ‘ours’ or ‘our people.’ Essentially, we’re a family – with all the same stresses, strains and disagreements that all families experience. But, then, also, the support, the unity and the strength that a family can bring as well. For those that know […]
We need to have a rubbish revolution in tourism
Let’s talk about rubbish. As in discarded rubbish – especially discarded rubbish left in our areas of nature. Specifically wet wipes, hygiene products and sanitary items. This is specifically about Mongolia but also applies to wilderness areas in other countries. We have just completed our annual two-day rubbish clean-up of a national park here in […]
Getting started: The Philosophy of Travel
“To begin, begin.” A deceptively simple sentence, yet its truth resonates deeply in the journey of life—and travel. William Wordsworth, the poet behind this quote, wasn’t calling for a complicated analysis. He was offering a reminder: to start anything, we must take that first step. It’s as straightforward as it sounds. But why do so […]
Real Life Is Everywhere
Look at the image above. Not the most prepossessing image is it? But, what do you think it represents? Any ideas? For me, it reminds us as travellers that real life is everywhere when we travel. It is actually the business plan of a young fashion designer who lives in the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar […]
To tag or not to tag, that is the question
I recently read an article on the BBC News website that ‘Icelanders tire of disrespectful Instagram influencers.’ Part of the article included a comment by Pall Jokull Petursson, who makes a living out of showing photographers Iceland’s nature: ‘The good instagrammers try to show different ways of enjoying nature. We don’t tag places that are […]