Mongolia, 20 years later

A clear cold day in Ulaan Bataar.

Winter came suddenly this year by travelling from mild weather Europe to Ulaan Bataar, the capital of Mongolia. Today, the temperature was -20 C. This is my second visit to this amazing country, but I was here over 20 years ago and at least the capital has changed completely. One interesting change is that in 1992, everyone spoke Russian here. Everything was written in Russian. Today, signs are in Mongolian, albeit in Cyrillic letters and not the traditional Mongolian letters. English is the language of choice of the youth.

Ghengis Khan and his soldier look out over the Capital.

We have come to Mongolia to do a story on the heavy migration of people to the cities. Many are herders seeking a better life after bad times in the steppes. Some are simply people hoping to get a better education for their children.

This is our first day and after a two-day trip to get here through Seoul, Korea, we are just getting our bearings. We have learned that one of the biggest threats to this city is an earthquake. At these temperatures, not so many people would die in the earthquake as in trying to survive without heating if the big heating complexes are destroyed.

Mostly only people over 40 still speak Russian. I was able
to speak with these ladies, working 7 hours a day in the
freezing cold shoveling snow.

We met our fixer today. A fixer is a local journalist who can help us get oriented and has a thick address book of local interviewees on all different subjects. Jargal says Mongolians are extremists. "A long time ago, we were into fighting, so we took over the world," says Jargal, her arms spread wide to accentuate the exploits. "Then we got into religion, Buddhism. 90% of the men became monks and the population took a dive. Then came communism and we became Russian. Now, we are independant again and everything Russian is gone." Jargal is young, but unlike many, she speaks fluent Russian as well as the more popular English. Forward thinking, she is now learning Chineese. She ends her quick description of the Mongol mentality with a bit of regret... "Now we are into money."