FAQ Answers: How will you be getting around?
This is one of the aspects I hope to get some input on, but for right now, I plan on attempting to accomplish as much of the trip as possible via horseback. There are several reasons for this, but my two biggest concerns with transportation are reliability/continuity and approachability.
Horses are more reliable:
A breakdown of a car or motorcycle could leave me stranded for weeks while I await the proper replacement parts, but injury of a horse can be remedied fairly easily via purchase of a new horse. Also, with some injuries, a day or two of rest and recovery at a nomad’s ger would solve the problem. With a vehicle, no amount of “resting” will make it repair itself.
Nomads understand and respect travelers on horseback:
As for approachability, I want to make sure that the people I come across in the course of my expedition view me as an outsider as little as possible. By approaching them on horseback, I am, in effect, approaching them on a level that they can understand, and thus they will (hopefully) be more likely to open up to me than if I arrived in a jeep like some rich kid. Nomads have a deep understanding and respect for horseback travelers and will thus be more likely to have a respect for me and see me as similar to them. This should, in theory, help them open up to me and the camera.
[Photo by Karina Moreton]
Twitter Trackbacks…
…
I live in Richmond, VA. I have family, including a niece about your age, in Alexandria. I have been following Don Croner’s blog since March 2010 when I found it in a search for “Circassian hair.” Please look up his blogs and read, read, read. He has been trekking around Mongolia for years and writes about his trips. He loves his camels and is immersed in Mongolian culture in UB and FAR BEYOND. Do find me on Facebook, I’d like to keep up with your and your motoring boyfriend. Somehow this like pieces of my past, present and future coming together. Motorcycles, adventure, and Mongolia – none of my friends understand my fascination with Mongolia, they see it like Nebraska but colder and farther away.
Good luck to you in all your ambitions! Cheers, Nancy
Yep, I’ve been following along with his stuff for a few months now and will be contacting him shortly for advice. Since launching this site I’ve been rather inundated with emails from folks offering advice, which is, ironically, why I haven’t posted in awhile!
Thanks for the link, and if you’re ever up in Alexandria, let me know. I’d love to grab coffee with someone who won’t roll their eyes when I mention Mongolia.