Mongolia

Globe Trekker on the Discovery channel is one of my favourites.
Today Ian Wright travelled to long lost land of Mongolia.
It was interesting to know that Mongolia was under the Soviet rule till as recently as 1990.
Then the CCCP collapsed - and disintegrated.
As a result, the Russians relinquished Mongolia and withdrew.
And the economy there just collapsed.

Mongolia is a huge country - but population is sparce - only 2.3 million people live there.
I am sure that there must be cities in China, India - or the other big cities where the population is more than that of Mongolia.
Ian travelled to the lands of Chengiz Khan ( an emperor more powerful than any Roman emperor talked about) His empire stretched from the far east to as far in the west as Baghdad - the most talked about city in this past year of 2004.

The show brought to light the life of the Mongols - who are primarily nomadic in nature.
Although there are a few cities in Mongolia - it is hard to imagine that any industry of any kind thrives there. The land is dry and Mongolia has one of the biggest deserts in the world - the Gobi desert.

Another interesting fact is that Mongols choicest mode of conveyance is not the bus, the local train ( do they have any ??) , or even the car - but it is the horse. To every male , there is , on an average - 10 horses. That's what one of the Mongols said in the show - though I am not sure how much that is true. Mongols were even shown drinking Horse's milk....I am sure it must have lots of power , uuunnhhh???

Guess that's all for now - gotta make a move - my workplace beckons me.


For more on Mongolia
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mg.html
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_east_asia/mongolia/
http://www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn/