Call me al tangere a. Movie opened where my ancestors were nomads who had led him for 20 years i have lived with my own family in the steps cutting out cattle to attend. Such. Claim to yet to be doing specially our music is about mongolian history and on customs these are our never ending sauces in the sun with just a good boy go school in different clothes to. Get. Such as a. Name is not. What i had addisons. As a child i had visionary abilities and could sense the spirits of nature. Our journey through mongolia and its capital and pass our will start in the mountainous north of the country will follow the tracks of the Trans Mongolian Railway self cross the vastness of the step and after about 800 kilometers reach the gobi desert and the buddhist home our money straight. It. I direct one station our 1st stop art from a communist past merges with contemporary advertisement. Planned economy once held sway here today its the free market. Dark one is the 3rd largest city in mongolia it was built in 1961 with massive support from the former soviet union and its name is no coincidence darker than means blacksmith and reflects the importance of the city for metal and heavy industry. Was. Tourists are rarely seen in this big cities train station. The no frills building was designed for commuters and travelling merchants in the metropolis with its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. Darshan is a transport hub that connects regional routes with the trance Mongolian Railway towards iran barter and further on to the chinese border. Anyone taking this train to the capital however should allow plenty of time. The train takes over 7 hours to cover the almost 250 kilometers because of the many stops along the way. Moreover the Railway Infrastructure is not up to european standards. The train attendants where christie uniforms they are responsible for checking the tickets directly at the carriage door and they take their jobs extremely seriously. In mongolia respect and all thorazine are important principles that must be observed. Meanwhile its announced over a loudspeaker that it is strictly forbidden to take any moments including dead ones on the journey because the fear of the mongolian delicacy usually harbors finance which are regarded as carriers of the play. Was actually only about 3000000 people live in mongolia a country more than 4 times the size of germany. Its huge distances and vastness can be sensed through the train window. It. Will be also physically noticed mongolias altitude a quarter of the country is between 2003000 meters above sea level. Travelers should therefore allow themselves a little time for climate has ation. It halfway between the han and lumbar the 1st hills of the 20 mountains by. The Mountain Range is considered the birthplace of the greatest mongolian of all times. Abroad the name genghis khan is mostly associated with conquests brutality and virility but here in mongolia it mainly stands for political savvy. The founder of the mongolian empire is considered to have been a patron of trade education art and culture. Freedom of religion as one of his most important legacies even today christians buddhists muslims and adherents to mongolian shamanism practice their religions peacefully side by side. Sharman islam is the oldest religion in mongolia. Ancient symbols such as the swastika or sun we all want to end all supposed to pave the way for the shaman to reach the spirits. This religious decoration which was hijacked by germany as a symbol of the nazis can be found in its original sense as a spiritual symbol of luck everywhere in mongolia. But. Not. Really in going through my trance or so i made contact with the spirits of the mountains on the water. There found my ways to be good and just. Therefore they did me the honor of showing me the right path. Mongolian shamanism combines medicine and the worship of nature and ancestors. As sherman is responsible for the welfare of their tribe. Through contacting the spirits and speaking with the voice of the deceased while in trance they try to show their community the right path for the future. Of. The battle. With ancestors really speak through the shell and remains a question of faith with god like with every religion. But the bus home but on a bus or not everyone can be a sham and when did you do not appoint yourself as a shaman and just do something or this would send people on a wrong path and detach the soul from the body all false romanism is there for even harmful. For all but unfortunately it happens quite often that they will be seen as deserting when that day when. Sacrificial rituals such as the milk sacrifice are meant to appease the gods for sherman is a balance between man and nature must be preserved and the growing economic interests in mongolia are a dangerous aberration. Or higher up than at present people are digging in the air of all over they dont even care about sacrificial mounds theyre not respected and theyre not even being rebuilt warranting this maple or drilling digging and destroying thanks its very difficult everywhere. A while ago i traveled through western mongolia and saw that many creeks and rivers there have disappeared that dried up. This is because people do not respect the earth which is probably why we shamans are also there to save nature and at least thats my belief that power cuts took us to soon but the only good t. J. But the. We followed the line further towards. The train is usually the faster and more comfortable choice in mongolia. Roads here are not comparable with asphalt streets in europe vast areas of the country have not yet been developed at all. On the other hand there is a very good chance of meeting heads of free range cattle. Over distances of several kilometers the animals often alone without their matic owners search for the best grazing grounds in the barren landscape. They have to build up their body weight as much as possible during the few summer months the hard mongolian winter often begins in august already when the 1st snow frequently falls. Us. Travel times among early are very long even on the train the Railway Infrastructure and many of the vehicles are decades old. Despite the beautiful landscape after a good 7 hours ride from dark on to the capital a long bus our passengers tend to be pleased to find. The big city lackluster concrete buildings welcome the guests even locals say you cant help but love mongolia but you can only and do. We learn but our Central Station is the largest Railway Station in the country and was opened in 1000. 38. To this day it remains an important hub for national and International Traffic in the heart of mongolia. The train is the most important means of transport in the country not only for tourists and commuters local retailers also use the affordable rail connections to neighboring countries such as russia and china. That have to be brought to god. It was. After a very long Shopping Trips hundreds of them are rife with new goods in the land bars are every day. From here they transport their purchases to the shops and kiosks in the capital where they will sell them. Almost half of mongolias population about 1500000 people lives in orlando. The Economic Center of the slant rich in Natural Resources is currently experiencing an enormous boom. In the metropolis is considered a symbol of a wealthy growth oriented mongolia. Even. If it was in recent years hundreds of thousands of people have come here to try their luck. Few have become successful. And yes mongolia is experiencing the greatest rural exodus it has ever seen. Young people in particular dont want to be inferior to the west but they also dont want to be inferior to their asian neighbors. If you consider traditional nomadic life as a viable future. You just. Heard about bin laden and the new john good that we have a song that deals with rapid Technological Progress and in particular reflects a moment when too much technological optimization has occurred if you did. You get at this point what humans look for a place to slow down and return to nature and the origins of life. This is an Important Message that we want to give to the people he said especially to the Mongolian Youth so you. Get to. Look at most of symmetry in the middle of. The band john and its a backdrop that symbolizes an entire generation spheres for the future. This deal with Environmental Protection unemployment and also the dangers of Runaway Technology i say. However they find their musical means and the old legends traditions and characteristics sounds of a mongolian culture. Junkie to give people the name jonathan is closely connected with the history of the horsehead fertile goalie a National Instrument told me things like that in the mongolians have always said that there was a very kind hearted man who owned a black horse named john not that keen on will say listen it might mean that when it died one day he wanted to honor it. And built the 1st horse head fiddle and its image was yes a sleeve used it about on the tail and mane and hes made. That his whenever the longing seized him but he played on it and he remembered his black horse john on the money to send him on the way to. The musicians represents a young and confident mongolia internationally as well as members of a young generation who went in search of their own cultural identity and found their place in the world. A mob of women that brought it all. To. Be clear there was a. Lot of mom. They have to be and we hope that in the future people will remember our band joan for successfully having passed traditional mongolian music on younger generations in a profound way for us it was based with a some bad negative into. A nice image to be clear that is our wish you could is what we hope our musical achievement will be. All that does it would it would take to get to. The 2nd leg about any takes us from the capital and on bastar along the Trans Mongolian Railway to the city of chere 250 kilometers away in the heart of the mongolian step. When i bought her Central Station 7 am. A real hero is waiting for the train to chair. Good actually dead demi is the only mongol so far who has traveled into space. Since his space flight in 1981 he has been treated like a superstar in his country. The retired air force Major General was also the countrys minister of defense until 2004. However most mongol see him 1st and foremost as a heroic cosmonaut. Because of in the rhythms and then for the 1st place followed by a mongolian was a significant moment for our people and it will stay a part of mongolian history as an important event these days young people learn about it from newspapers and magazines from radio and television from their parents relatives and siblings with as a result mongolians are etched it firmly into their memories. On the children. Even in retirement the Major General still has very little free time. He regularly speaks at events on military history about his experiences as a Research Cosmonaut on the soviet so use 39 Space Mission and about his 8 day stay on this are you 6 space station good actor jack dead demi dean was awarded the title cosmic hero of mongolia to honor his career hes the only living mongolian to hold it. But it will be. Done with the nickel to go with the other 3 more well i try not to give myself so much importance. What have i done so far what are my achievements in the about the job i dont really think about myself. Wherever i ask those types of questions thinking about the big its not the sex that matters to me is that i want to remain the same person i was before i went to space. Back then my spaceship commander and friend buddy me out xander average trying to back off said to me after space travel youll have many new friends but please dont forget your old once. They get i still think about his words to this day but its a lot of which is why i want the public to see me as i really am out the products and willing to sell it if you want to try. The cosmonaut is a role model for his fellow countryman someone they respect even though they recognize that his feats were idealized in soviet propaganda. His ride on the train has been announced the entire train crew and even the cook know the famous space traveler will be on board. The cook is actually a star chef who was assigned just for this journey. It will be up to him to make a top quality me will in the few square music kitchen on the wobbling train. Police will be serving delicious dumplings and potato salad to the cosmic hero. Dumplings are filled with beef and tasty modern town who should make fantastic dumplings. The chef does not pass up the opportunity to serve his hero the food in the dining car personally. The potato salad served is actually made according to a german recipe. Its a calendar left over from the top. Times of International Friendship between mongolia and east germany. The trans mongolian express takes a good 3 hours to get a chair in the province of god hes a member deep in the mongolian step. Good at them indian is no stranger to the city until the early 1990 s. Both soviets and Mongolian Air force bases were located in the region around so the station was strategically important to the retired cosmonaut knows it well but. It was really a problem. This is why the station staff invited their celebrity guests to join them they proudly record this historic moment of true general. Nowadays the 72 year old increasingly looks back not only on his achievements but also on his roots as a simple known that. He had not the most brutal of the mongols and actually been watching the skies in space from very early on. Him if you are long history shows that weve used celestial bodies to navigate by for thousands of years. Moreover to survive as a pastoral man nomadic people. We have to be able to foresee the vagaries of the weather and thats why the mongolians always directed their gaze and thoughts toward the celestial bodies. So. Long. While the trance Mongolian Railway continues on its meandering course. Towards the chinese border. We stay a little longer in the wild blooming step around cherry. If. For centuries nomadic castle breeding has been the mainstay of the entire region. Camel herds roam their Natural Environment freely as do horses sheep or goats. The step landscape around mount simberg about 50 kilometers from church is known for its fertile ground. This is where all tangere l. Has settled for most of the year the nomads horses live wild they have to withstand winters with temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees celsius as well as wolves which the horses can severely injured or even kill with one kick. Well the cattle herd is family lives with their horses following the rhythm of nature wearing a watch would be a superb fewest luxury. We get up early and were out all day until dark. We had the capital and move them from here to there. Since were around all day long we dont need to ask what time it is for us there is morning. Afternoon and the movement of the sun. You always keep an eye on the song after all its the only thing you can keep in view here because its the sun that is always determined whether it is day night with. A particular. Sound. Where. The ancient songs of the nomads tell of their longing for their beloved homeland the endless expanses of the step and the deep blue mongolian sky. The way. That. While her husband takes care of the horses head in a suit turns the rich milk from their goats and sheep into quark yogas and cheese. These are staple food stealing the summer months. The youngest daughter has still lives with her father and mother her older siblings are already attending school and live with their grandparents in the city. A daily walk to school through the step would be much too arduous and too far. Well to them differently its not that it is just that we have never really thought about living in the city if we have work to do in the city we take the train as it usually runs at night well that way we are there early in the morning before work starts and then you can get a lot done in a day yes stamps. I didnt know and heard as well and interested in material wealth they see possessions as additional ballast but the number and conditions of their animals on the other hand are extremely important to them because they show their diligence and skill you know when theyre not. Well we get over 200 kilograms of kashmir wall sometimes even 300 kilograms from 700. And the money we earn from the wool trade is enough to cover all the expenses that come up over the year. That who cleans up the school fees in order to pay for the 2 or 3 workers who help us. Pay for anything important that crops up in the year. And we also prepare the meat from our condo to feed ourselves in winter. But we also sell some of it so we live from the immense productivity of animals. Of the. All the mining has dramatically increased and. All sorts of things are being done to the soil which is having a negative effect on the bodies of water and pasture land. With very little water from our wells. And it hardly rains anymore although someone is it when i look back on my childhood it often rained continuously for 3 or 4 days and i was. In. Mongolia sits on huge deposits of Natural Resources. And around one of the countrys largest and most important centers of mining iron ore and lignite is growing. However mongolian Mining Companies on profiting from the countrys wealth of Raw Materials nearly as much as Big International investors and energy giants. Still the development is good for mongolias railways the network is growing and jobs are being created. Out of the north pole so we should. See. Kaname has a major influence on the expansion and development of the real race and vice versa. The Mongolian Railway is currently expanding the locomotives and real cars are becoming more advanced just sits at. The rail network and the entire real logistics are currently being revamped us. For the freight traffic in particul