Nomad's Land

Name: Nalin Shah
Age: 36
Location: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Hometown: Vancouver
Job: Geologist, Exploration Manager

I moved here because this was a chance to experience the fast-paced methodology of a junior exploration company, and I had never been to Mongolia before.

The first thing I did was visit the vast Gobi Desert and Oyu Tolgoi. It was humbling to see one of the world’s biggest copper deposits as just a tiny outcrop in the landscape.

The biggest shock was the silence and lack of people. Coming from New Delhi, this place seemed uninhabited.

The best thing about being here is the simple life and the constant bright blue skies.

The biggest challenge has been the language. It is in a Cyrillic script with some very guttural pronunciations.

The biggest misconception I had was that all Buddhists are vegetarian. They cannot be here, as nothing much grows in the extreme temperatures and harsh landscape.

What I miss most is the ocean. Mongolia is the world’s largest landlocked country.

The people are warm, friendly and welcoming. The local nomads are helpful and resourceful. Their homes are open to all and vice versa. Once a local herder decided to stay overnight in our exploration camp. Unbeknownst to all, he slept in the camp, and not only did he snore and grind his teeth, but he disappeared early in the morning, leading to much speculation about the Gobi ghost.

Their biggest concerns are future development of the country with regard to the mining sector, which will become their major industry. The country needs capable management of the mineral wealth and sound governance to provide stable laws.

The standard of living is filled with huge contrasts, with ultra-modern apartments for the very rich, monotonous Socialist-era apartment blocks and wood-and-felt gers used by nomads for 2,000 years.

The food is a meat eater’s paradise: lamb and beef boiled or roasted without spices.

What B.C. could learn from Mongolia is that life can be as simple as one wants, and one can learn to make do with very little.