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The wild beauty of the desert

BY Cornelia Kumfert

25th Mar 2018 Travel

1 min read

The wild beauty of the desert

An environmentalist photographer goes to the Gobi in Mongolia to capture images of an age-old nomad culture

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Few pack animals can carry as much weight and travel as far as the camel. These nomads have bred them for millennia. At market, white camels claim the highest prices.

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Byambadorg, 58, was raised in the desert and owns roughly 1,000 goats, 20 horses and 400 camels. He says the desert has become increasingly unpredictable in the past few years.

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During a normal week, ten-year-old Khongurzul lives in Dalanzadgad, the capital of South Gobi, where she goes to school. She looks forward to her weekends at home in the desert.

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Breeding goats is considered essential to the nomads, but the animals graze plants down to their roots, giving the vegetation zero chance to recover.

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The Gobi is a vast desert and semi-desert region that’s 1,000 miles long and 300 to 600 miles wide. Each year, grazing fields are lost to huge dunes such as this one. 

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The Mongolian horse is at home 
in the grassy steppes. These 
robust animals can withstand temperatures as low as -40°C.

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Camel breeder Tschulun lives with his wife and their two children in a traditional round tent known as a Ger, which serves as living room, bedroom and kitchen combined.

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Shamanism has been practised for centuries in Mongolia. Below, Shaman Budsana prepares for a ritual in Ulaanbaatar.

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