The New Nomads (Trans-Siberian Railway 2011)

It is well known that historically Mongols were nomads riding their horses miles away looking for the best place to live. When we entered the country for the first time, we thought that this tradition was already lost and that most of the three millions inhabitants had a sedentary lifestyle. It took few hours to change our minds, just the time needed to get to know our first Mongol fellow passenger…

Mongolian Horse Rider in the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park of Mongolia

We were in a rush when we took the last train of the day from Ulan Ude (Russia) towards Ulan Bator (Mongolia). We felt relaxed once we got in, at least until we found out who our fellow passenger was. A big Mongol trader was working hard to put all goods properly inside our train cabin. When we showed him our tickets, he was so "kind" of letting us a half-square-meter area where our luggage, Jimmy and me should fit in.

After a couple of hours listening to the packing noise of the trader, I managed to take a small nap, until he woke me up to order me to leave my bed… he needed that space to fit all his belongings… In a desperate attempt to forget this episode,  I decided to have a walk along the corridor of the train and I found out that all passengers in the train were traders doing the same thing. They were hiding thousands of parts in order to avoid customs check in the border.

The dish that the "New Nomad" recommended me.
"Buzz", a Mongolian steamed dumpling filled with
minced mutton, or beef meat.

Suddenly, we stopped in the border for passport and customs check. This stop took around four hours so I took advantage of it to get off and have a proper meal in a restaurant. Once I got into a bar, I was so shocked when I found our noisy and rude cabin mate having lunch with many other people. He came to me and helped me to chose the best meal, and then invited me to sit down with all his friends. He started to talk to me, explaining many things, and in few minutes I felt the "Stockholm Syndrome", where you become sympathetic to your captor.

He told me that he was doing the route Ulan Bator-Moscow-Ulan Bator twice a month, what means twenty days travelling on a train in a month. He was buying parts in Russia and selling them in Mongolia and vice versa. At that moment I realized, that while I was doing this train trip for pleasure, some people were working hard in order to get money to feed their family. Then I understood how tough their situation was and I stopped getting upset for the inconveniences.

It is a fact that traditional horse-riding nomads are fewer nowadays, but there are new ones that have changed the horses for steel carriages.

Iñaki