In 2014 Wanderlust travel magazine named Mongolia its number one emerging destination.
I was quite happy as a few months earlier I’d booked a trip to go stay with a local family of Eagle Hunters (they hunt with Eagles, not for them) and to attend a remote local Eagle Festival. It turned out to be an experience I won’t forget for a long time.
This girl featured on the BBC as the first female Eagle hunter. In reality it wasn’t quite as the BBC article had suggested but she is now learning to hunt with the Eagle.
Clay animals adorn the rooftop for good luck
An Eagle prepares to land on the fox skin being dragged by his hunter
A face molded onto the top part of a large bell
A strange but popular local sport involving horseback tug-of-war with a goat carcass. The one who manages to get the caracass goes through to the next round! Dangerous for spectators too as the riders don’t focus on steering their horses and often plough into the watching crowds!
A strange but popular local sport involving horseback tug-of-war with a goat carcass. The one who manages to get the caracass goes through to the next round! Dangerous for spectators too as the riders don’t focus on steering their horses and often plough into the watching crowds!
A strange but popular local sport involving horseback tug-of-war with a goat carcass. The one who manages to get the caracass goes through to the next round! Dangerous for spectators too as the riders don’t focus on steering their horses and often plough into the watching crowds!
A strange but popular local sport involving horseback tug-of-war with a goat carcass. The one who manages to get the caracass goes through to the next round! Dangerous for spectators too as the riders don’t focus on steering their horses and often plough into the watching crowds!
A monk strikes a gong at Gandan Monastery
A buddhist mask made from thousands of pieces of coral
A man and woman is traditional featival dress
Bactrian camels with the two humps are ridden in to the festival
The first event was calling the Eagle to them
A view down over the festival grounds (in the middle of nowhere!)
Pigeons cover the ground outside Gandan Monastery