The Golden Eagle Festival The morning finally arrived. After all the effort it had taken to get to western Mongolia, and after several days staying with a Kazakh family near Sagsai, it was time for the Golden Eagle Festival. I left the yurt and returned to Ölgii, where I was staying at Cozy Camp. The…
Getting to the Golden Eagle Festival Was Half the Adventure Somewhere along the way while planning this trip, I learned about the Golden Eagle Festival in western Mongolia. I don’t remember exactly how I first stumbled onto it, except that ChatGPT told me about it when I was looking for festivals and other interesting things…
Khovd to Ölgii Another Beautiful Drive—and Another Screwed-Up Accommodation September 29, 2026 I left Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar on a flight to Khovd, in western Mongolia. The flight was on a very nice propeller plane, probably holding about 60 passengers. Comfortable, modern, and a pleasant flight. When I arrived in Khovd, I was…
World Nomad Games Opening Day I Was Adopted by a Lovely Family After Aibek helped me settle into my guesthouse in Cholpon-Ata on September 1, I faced my next problem: getting to the World Nomad Games. I knew there was supposed to be a shuttle to the arena, but I couldn’t find it. The arena…
Another Angel: Aibek and the Road to Cholpon-Ata September 1, 2026 While I was in Bishkek, I needed to figure out how to get to Cholpon-Ata, the lakeside town where the World Nomad Games were being held. It was about a four-hour drive, and I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get there.…
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan I first heard about the 2026 World Nomad Games when I asked ChatGPT whether there were any interesting festivals or events taking place in Central Asia during my travels. The World Nomad Games? I had never heard of them. But the more I investigated, the more interested I became. Eventually, I rearranged my…
One Crook, Two Angels, and many Itinerary Changes I left my Shanghai hotel around midnight for a 4:15 a.m. flight to Almaty. I had been using WeChat and Didi without problems, but suddenly my payment wouldn’t go through. After about 15 anxious minutes, I remembered that I had another credit card attached to WeChat. I…
Shanghai Arrived in Shanghai after a 25-hour flight. Everything went very smoothly. I have upgraded to Premium Economy where I can. That, along with noise-cancelling headphones, makes a huge difference on long flights. The first couple of days were to get over jet lag and get some things needed for the trip. Checked into the…
In 2014 I first visited China with the main intent to visit the Xinjiang province in far western China. At the time there was a growing separatist movment. I didn’t think that the Chinese government would tolerate it for long. I guess I was prescient as in April 2014 after an attack by Uyghur separatists…
Our flight from Port Vila to Tanna was short and comfortable. While at the airport in PV we met Anthony Deamer, our good friend, Bryn’s brother. Another is a long term pioneer and owner/operator of Unity Airline. Harrison, working for Vanuatu airlines came by and introduced us to other friends. So awesome to have the…
