Mongolian herders

Spend time in Mongolia and you will notice that a majority of families own a dog. Very rarely are they fashionable, small, pedigree dogs as traditionally the dogs role was to alert it’s owners to the arrival of strangers arriving from the wide-open steppe, herding the livestock when families moved to new pasture and guarding against the threat of wolves. Did you know that in Mongolia, dogs traditionally are the only animal given their own name? It is a sign of honour and part of a belief that dogs are the last stage before humans in the reincarnation process. When a dog dies, the owner whispers in the dog’s ear his wishes that the dog will return as a man in his next life. They are buried high in the hills so that people do not walk on their remains. Their tail is cut off and put beneath the head, and a piece of meat or fat is cut off and placed in the dog’s mouth to sustain its soul for its journey; before the dog is reincarnated, the dog’s soul is freed to travel the land, to run across the high open steppe for as long as it would like.
Small Group tours & Adventure Holidays in Mongolia
Mongolia's Orkhon River Valley
Mongolia's Middle Gobi
Milking yaks. Part of the typical Mongolian herding calendar
An image showcasing the partnership beteen Water-to-Go and Eternal Landscapes Mongolia
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Mongolian ger for our Earth Day Mongolia blog post
A Mongolian yak herder battling the winter weather conditions during winter in Mongolia
A close up of the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue at Tsonjin Boldog in Mongolia
A typical Mongolian ger out on the Mongolian steppe. In this image you can see the families working horses waiting to be ridden as well as the hand-made dairy products drying in the sun
Khentii Aimag Mongolia
Mongolian horse in winter
White Lake Ger - Kriti (better)
Herding family (Naraa & Bujee) - Gorkhi Terelj National Park
A Mongolian ger - Gorkhi Terelj National Park in summer in your guide to Mongolia's seaons
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