Before I left Vietnam I had a goal – I wanted to learn how to make Pho. I had eaten it a few times a week for a year while living in Ho Chi Minh City, and I never tired of it. The thought of eating boiling hot soup in humid 90 degrees somehow appealed […]
One of the best things about doing a Ger to Ger trip in Mongolia is that you get full access to the families and the culture. You learn, you communicate, your spread knowledge and understanding. I have another ulterior motive though – staying with families in their gers give you great access for photography. The […]
The bus bounced along on the road north and for the first time in 5 weeks I just sat back, relaxed and didn’t have to worry about directions, breakdowns, or deal with the nagging internal question of “Will we make it?” The road was bumpy and slow-going, but in Mongolian standards this road was perfection. […]
I instinctively made it to the office building; it had been two years since I was there and even though the buildings around it had changed, the Ger to Ger office building stood out to me teasing my memory and providing me flashes of deja vu. I remembered the stairs, the odd sculpture outside the […]
One of the most unusual sites I witnessed in my travels was experiencing Christmas in Asia. I had been living in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam for 3 months when December 25th rolled around. In a country with no real religion, and no westernized consumerism (yet), Vietnam surprised me with their Christmas spirit. Christmas in […]
I had someone recently ask me how I do my laundry since I’m nomadic and constantly traveling. Quite frankly I do my laundry any way I can; in the sink, in a washing machine, at the laundromat, or have someone do it for me for the right price. My travel clothes have little numbers […]
As much as participating in the Mongol Rally was to satiate my need for adventure and something different – it had another purpose…a big purpose. It was for this…. For Them… These are some of the children who live at the Christina Nobel Foundation Blue Skies Ger Village in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It serves as a […]
The most frequent question I get asked is “How did you get along with your teammates?”…which I will answer in a later blog post…have patience! But the 2nd question is always, “What did you do with the car?” That is the beauty of the Mongol Rally – the car is used to raise more money […]
What is a Mongolian Ger? Gers have been a distinctive feature of life in Central Asia for at least three thousand years. A Ger is our traditional round shaped dwelling that has been used since the Mongols started nomadic life with animal husbandry. In essence – it’s their home. Ger is portable, easily assembled and […]
I woke up giddy, excited, anxious, and a bit sad. This was it – our last day of the Mongol Rally. It started exactly 5 weeks earlier on a Saturday in London. Now here we were 300 km from Ulaanbaatar Mongolia’s finish line. The day started like any other; local visitors bringing gifts of food […]