Dominik Staszowski

Arriving at my last point of travel in Ulan Bator after travelling on the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian, I had little knowledge nor expectations as to what laid ahead in this part of the world. Driven in a 4x4 about 2 hours from the capital to my destination in a deep valley surrounded by mountains, I remember thinking “what on earth am I doing here???”  -30 degree temperatures, no road access, just snow covered tracks and mountains as far as my eye could see. In a moment of hesitation, it became all too clear to me, what privilege it was to be in this surreal and majestic place. Glancing through the window of the 4x4, I could catch glimpse of wild camels through the trees, frozen rivers, herding farmers and snow as white as white could be. I could not be more withdrawn from civilization then I was at that present time, and my hesitation turned into appreciation.  For three days I stayed in a traditional Mongolian ‘Ger’ with no electricity, no running water, no reception, but what surrounded me outweighed the lack of these common comforts. All this beauty around me all to myself! I was all alone in this white desolated Joie de vivre... Days were very short, it was pitch dark around 3pm and so with just a few candle sticks to light my long and reminiscing evenings, a little wood stove to keep me warm whilst the temperature outside dropped to -40, I had a lot of time to reflect how far I’ve come when I stared this Trans-Siberian journey in St Petersburg over the 30 days between 2009 and 2010.