Ninja miners

Heading out under bright blue skies.

Jargal, our fixer, read my last entry and told me she said Mongolians were now into mining, not money. It seems like the first is the way to the later, so maybe the sense is the same. But she told me there are many people who go out to areas left by the big mining companies and try to dig up the rests of any gold the big machines of the mining companies might have left behind. Because they go out with sacks hung over their back and thus look like Ninja turtles, they are called Ninja miners.

Offered vodka, but I perfered buttermilk tea.

Today we visited a family of hearders. They seemed pretty well off with solar panels and satellite dishes on their yourts. Galbadrakh Dambiinyam's  yourt was decorated with many medals for horse racing. He said he couldn't imagine a different life. "If things get bad here, I can go to the west of the country," Galbadrakh said confidently.

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."

Shady motels, a drowned soldier and ice-cream.

Cords dangle to somewhat hide the guest's car.

When I usually go to Seoul, we stay in nice, even very nice hotels. This time it seems those places were booked. So we stayed in a motel. In the US, a motel just means you can park your car in front of the room. In Korea, it is a room for couples to rent for some privacy. With jetlag and a busy schedule in front of me, I thought how was I going to get any rest in a place like this. But, other than some voices now and again, I didn't hear any odd noises and the room was very comfortable and clean. The minibar was free and there was free popcorn and coffee downstairs. Koreans seem to be very neat and tidy in everything they do, even in the shadier side of life.

My bright golden bathrroom at the motel.

We came to do a story about improving economic activity near the DMZ on the North Korean border and even creating tourism WITHIN the DMZ to see an ecosystem untouched for over 60 years. Within the DMZ, we filmed tanks, barbed wire and lookout posts. It is hard to imagine many tourists wanting to come to see rare birds while a million soldiers point big guns at each other. The DMZ is an odd place anyway. Looking north you can see fake villages in the haze and imagine the horrible hardships of the north Koreans. Looking south, people are organising peace walks and DMZ marathons. The very subject of the two Koreas and unification is not much talked about, almost taboo. South Korea has come a long way and is a very modern and friendly place. The Koreans have worked hard to get there and many don't like to think about having to support all of North Korea in the event of a unification. But, on the other hand, they don't like to be thought of only as a divided state constantly on the verge of war. One interesting fact; a soldier told me that they find a dead north Korean soldier washed up on the south side of the river about once a month. He gueses they try to escape but drown in the process. He said the last body they found was just two weeks ago.

To end on a positive note, at my nice motel, they also had free ice-cream! But the flavours were a bit odd. This is corn ice-cream! Now, can that be considered a vegetable?

My vote for most friendly city: San Francisco

City Hall

Maybe it was the particularly great weather during my visit or some end of the summer good feeling in the city, but I tend to think that basically people here are just a friendly bunch.


I asked the girl next to me in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) if this was the 12th Street station. She said no, it was the next one. Since she seemed to know the system well. I asked if she knew how long it would take me from here to the airport. Saying she wasn't sure, she pulled out her smart phone. I thought she was just going to make a call and that was the end of the conversation. A minute afterwards she turned and said she was sorry, but the internet was very slow and she couldn't get the information I needed so quickly! Also on the metro, two people bumped into each other upon entering. Each turned to say sorry. I know some cities where that would have at least been pretext for some hateful stares.

Classic picture: Alamo Square

Taxi drivers are from all over the world. From the Ukraine to Ethiopia, each has their story. Sethi comes from India and his wife used to be a journalist and still does the odd article for the Indian press. He was listening to a radio in Hindi and said there was even a television in Hindi in SF. Everyone must feel at home here.


My reason for being her is to film the opera of the book "The heart of a Soldier", a true story about a soldier who later in life became a security agent at the World Trade Center in New York and saved many people on September 11th 2001 and gave his own life. 

A good husband is one who has a bike.

South Kivu is the site of horrible massacres, mass rapes and marauding armed groups. Every few kilometres a memorial marks the site of a mass grave of victims. Here in the territory of Fizi, in the month of June and only in one village, 120 women were raped. Rape is a weapon of war here. In all of the Congo, I am told there are 45 rapes every hour. But people are returning despite all the violence. Returning to destroyed homes and fields, they are trying to put their lives back together. The area is spectacularly beautiful, but also holds many mineral resources, the reason so many different groups are fighting.

Two very eligible bachelors?

There aren't many roads, no railway to speak of and many goods are transported on the backs of women. So if you are a man with a bicycle, you are very popular. They use bicycles to transport everything. Most bicycles are imported from China or India. Anyone want to open up a factory here to build local bikes? Could be a profitable market and you could create many a happy home!


An interesting story to follow-up on: In this traditionally christian country, I notice a few mosques. Talking to a group of children, one tells me his name is Aboubakar, a name I would expect in Mali, but not here in the Congo. I asked an aid worker here about the presence of islam. He tells me it is ever since the UN soldiers arrived. Most soldiers are from Pakistan. "They have their official mission and a secret mission," he tells me. "They give 100 dollars to someone who agrees to convert to islam." 

African leaders meet in an exclusive area on an island in the Atlantic

Not many people have been to Equatorial Guinea, but most of the African leaders now have. Shuffled from their private planes along a private 6-lane highway, lined with their portraits, the leaders entered the area known as Sipopo. Each has his own villa overlooking the sea. I don't doubt the sincerity of many of the leaders, but this area seems to be at the heart of the problems that these leaders are gathered here to talk about: poverty and the income gap, education and opportunities for youth.

Just behind my hotel is, sadly, what one normally sees of Africa, dirt roads, shacks and people struggling to get by. And Equatorial Guinea is a rich country with gas and oil. The place is fairly clean and there is, I'm told, very little crime. There is a lot of construction going on. Like many countries in Africa, it has a lot going for it. They say this is the continent of the future.


That is, of course, if they, the leaders, can get things moving. Organising a good summit might be a place to start. I don't like to complain, but I can't say I've seen a summit meeting so badly organised. Only one person was in charge of people arriving at the airport. I had to wait 4 hours out on the sidewalk while others waited for their visas. Finding a hotel took hours. The first day, I was questioned and reprimanded, although politely, not to film because I didn't have the right papers yet (this is probably because the regime here is authoritarian and they are not used to cameras). Accreditation takes hours as well and, so far I have had 3 different accreditation cards. At one accreditation booth, the guy even asked me for money.

Pool at the 5-star hotel, said to be the President's.

But, in the end, things seem to work out and most people here are of a good nature and any conversation ends in a good smile. I'm not sure if that is good enough to discourage leaders from building their own private highways to the beach and to invest in their people's future. 

The National Centre for Performing Arts or The Egg.

China may soon be the next superpower with its economic weight and as a tourist in China, you might feel that people are free, being able to own things and work as they want. But I tend to judge a country's level of freedom by the way they treat the press. China is still afraid of journalists. We came to do a simple cultural programme, featuring a famous piano player Youndi Yi. But we weren't able to bring in our own equipment because the Chinese put a high temporary import tax on cameras. So we had to rent gear in China. You also have to work with a local production company or have someone from the government accompany you everywhere you go. So, not exactly a press-friendly place.

Despite the lack of freedom, China is a wonderful place. Beijing is a big modern city with clean streets and dazzling lights. The people are friendly and the whole thing makes you want to go out and learn Chinese!


Maybe one fact leading to China's economic success was its one-child rule to reduce its population. Established in 1979 by Deng Xiaoping, the law was meant to be temporary, but is still in place a quarter of a century later. The law has maybe had its economic effect but does have secondary social effects. The Chinese prefer to have a boy and there have been many cases of ending a pregnancy if it is a girl. Now there are many young men left without hope of finding a bride and many young women enjoying a good education, social mobility and a large choice of future mates.