I have this thing about Mongolia. I'm not even sure why. I just want to go there so badly, and am completely captivated. This is handy when you aren't sure what to write about in Geography courses or are asked to learn about a country for an intro to business course.
So, Mongolia. Did anyone see the Mongolia episode of Long Way Round? The scenery was breathtaking and so desolate, but I think the real start to my obsession with the country was through reading a blog in 2009, about a couple who decided to bicycle across Europe and Asia for two years. The pictures and stories about Mongolia were just amazing. This is the first page of their Mongolia blog. Now, every time I get to pick a country to study or write about, this is the place. Someday I will get there.
I took Physical Geography last fall and I wrote my final paper on Mongolia (and really enjoyed writing it, too). Mongolia is famous for Genghis Khan and Mongol Hordes that went conquering in the 12th century and also for its nomadic culture, and even today almost a third of the country is still nomadic. It has an interesting relationship (read: tension) with its mega-neighbors Russia and China, and in the 1990s peacefully transitioned from a socialist government to a democratic one. There's so much to discover about this vibrant land, and how better to do it than through Human Geography?
Links:
Long Way Round, a documentary that followed Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as they rode motorcycles from London to New York, including through Mongolia.
The Biking Barkleys, a couple who spent their 2-year honeymoon biking from Kazakhstan to the Czech Republic via Asia.
The Geography of Mongolia and its Cultural Effects, my final paper for Physical Geography, Fall 2013.
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