Before I went to Mongolia, I made the mistake of reading the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
travel advice:
"
Mongolia is a country of extreme weather, from +35C in summer to –35C (and lower) in winter... There are doubts about the reliability and safety of some Mongolian registered aircraft... The standard of driving in Mongolia is poor; fatal accidents frequently occur... Due to the generally poor quality of medical facilities in Mongolia, British Embassy staff are not currently allowed to bring children... During the summer hunting season, there may be isolated cases of bubonic plague..."
So that gave me confidence my trip would be hassle free.
Mongolia gives new meaning to the word "desolate". Stretching across central Asia and the size of Western Europe, the country is home to 2.5m people and 35m cattle. The majority of the people are nomads, living in tents on the steppe, moving every time their cattle have consumed all the available grass in the vicinity of their home. I stayed overnight in a traditional ger tent, literally in the middle of nowhere - the only thing for miles in ever direction was steppe, nomads and cattle.
