Tom Pastorius, the Vice President of our North American offices, sent in this post from Mongolia. I hope you enjoy!

Tom at a Temple in Mongolia

There is one question that you dont want to ask Projects Abroad Mongolia volunteers, and that is “why Mongolia?” They hear it from the moment they sign up and forever afterwards.

Why indeed. You could go somewhere easier to fly to, you could go somewhere with better food, you could go somewhere where you speak the language. But, you can’t get any further out there than Mongolia. Or, as one volunteer put it, “you could go further, but it would have to involve the moon.”

Well, here’s why:

1. Ulaanbaatar rocks. Take a cultural mountain city, with its swanky bars and restaurants (like, say, Denver). Now go back 150 years, so you see real cowboys walking the streets. Substitute skyscrapes for Buddhist temples. Add in a small but friendly ex-pat scene and a 90% discount off of everything. That’s UB.
2. The people. Modern Mongolians LOVE the west, from Russia all the way to the USA. They watch our movies, listen to our music and buy our clothes. We share similar views about a lot of cultural issues. It’s not hard to make friends with Mongolians. Just don’t insult their cell phones, because they are gadget OBSESSED.
3. The (summer) weather. Nothing like a dry 70 degrees every day to get away from the teeming sauna of New York City.

4. The horses. You won’t find a cheaper place to ride than Mongolia. And you won’t ever run out of wide open plains to gallop across.

5. The temples. From countryside monasteries to city-based temples, Tibetan Buddhism is coming back strong after the Communist attempt to stamp out religion. Some buildings escaped destruction and many were been rebuilt in the 1990s. The question is, how far off of the beaten path do you want to go?