[Horseback riding and a cluster of yaks]
[Tourists riding horses]
[Photos of horseriding trip]
[Photos of trips in Mongolia]
[Tour operator Egjimma Battsooj and her team member tidying up equestrian accessories]
[Egjimma Battsooj, tour operator]
Egjimma Battsooj (interview): “When they ride in their country, most of the time you’ll encounter someone’s private property or need permission to ride through the property. But here in Mongolia, we don’t need that. But if you’re traveling to the north, close to the border, you’ll need a permission. That’s all. You don’t need to open a gate. You don’t need to have any permission from anyone, basically, so they focus more on that and also for cultural experiences, because we are kind of like the last true nomads in the whole planet.”
[Reindeer and tents]
Egjimma Battsooj (interview): “But the Koreas, I understand it’s closer and it’s easier to have any exposure, but still we need different branches in different sectors, not only just one. And also there’s almost zero support from the Ministry of Tourism in Mongolia. I don’t really remember getting any help or the support from the Mongolian government during the pandemic. I don’t really remember that.”
[Tourists going up steps towards Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue]
[Tourists taking photos]
[South Korean tour group taking photos]
[Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue against a backdrop of sunset]
[Camel handler Munkhjargal Dayan with his camel]
Munkhjargal Dayan (interview): “Yes, it was difficult during the Covid pandemic. We lost 2-3 of our camels during that time due to no availability of hay feed and all traffic movements were very restricted. Now we have selected white camels for tourists to make camels more colorful and nice. Most importantly, we want to show tourists coming from other countries our way of life in Mongolia. In order to promote this, we have eagles, horses and other animals here for them. There are also other people who provide same services here. We are also self-employed working on our own here.”
[Camels]
[Mongolian tents]
Jasper Koning (interview): “The space is enough but it sometimes hard to get the right direction because we don’t understand what is there so that would be something to improve, more English language.”
[Mongolian residents in traditional dresses taking group photos on Sukhbaatar Square]
[Genghis Khan statue]
Michael John (interview): “I knew about Genghis Khan and a little about the history , and I saw some documentaries about the eagles out west that’s really got me interested in coming. But apart from that, not too much. So it’s a great opportunity to learn more.”
[Local residents in traditional dresses taking group photos]
[Tourist group]
[Tourists taking photos]
Ganbayar (interview): “I want the number of tourists to increase. We need to improve the comfort of the incoming tourists. Although there are many problems, the tourism sector is improving and getting better and better.”
[Horse rider helping a child sit onto the saddle]
[Tourists riding horses]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.