Steppe My Way

“Why travel to Mongolia?” is a good question and one that has often been posed to me. My answer is that I chose this destination for primarily the same reason that I decided on going to India four times. I have always lived my life following the rule that if the world seems to be lined up and heading one way, I would generally find myself happier and wiser by heading off in exactly the opposite direction. When most of my friends and colleagues turned their noses up in disgust and horror at the prospect of travelling to India, I made up my mind that it was just the kind of place that I had to visit, and I was certainly not disappointed.



Other than for Marco Polo, who travelled to Mongolia in about 1300, I don’t know of anyone who ever made their way to that remote location. Only half a million people a year visit the country, with over 60% of them coming from Russia and China. Many of them are Chinese construction workers and the total number of bona fide tourists has been estimated at only 40,000 per year. The world is definitely not making a beeline for Mongolia so true to form, that’s where I wanted to go. "Steppe My Way" is my journal of discovery of Mongolia's eternal blue sky.