Why a blog post on experiencing small town life in Mongolia? Mongolia is frequently depicted as a pristine untouched wilderness little changed since the time of Chinggis Khan. But this is not 21st Century Mongolia – this is stereotype or clichéd Mongolia.  The traditional culture still remains but there is a drive for modernity and progress.

Our trips focus on 21st Century Mongolia – we try to provide a ‘realistic’ overview rather than that portrayed by guidebooks and other tour companies. To just want to experience the life of the traditional nomadic way of life is to ignore a majority of the population. We’re proud of the long-term local community partnerships we have formed with all spectrums of Mongolian society – from a philanthropist in Ulaanbaatar, to female Kazakh eagle huntresses and also the Tsaatan reindeer community. However, Mongolians live in the cities of Darkhan and Erdenet. They also live in the other provincial centres as well as the smaller town and rural communities. There are teachers and Christians and those with disabilities and policemen and musicians and military personnel and accountants and miners and geologists and drivers and shop owners and construction workers and street cleaners – they are all Mongolians.

We ask, don’t come in search of what you term the authentic Mongolia. Discard the perceptions that perpetuate the stereotypes of Mongolia and aim for a more true encounter of real life. We ask you to ditch your preconceptions based on what you’ve read and watched. Instead, come with an open mind and be challenged, surprised and often delighted.

Each of Mongolia’s provinces has a capital with the term aimag given to both a province and the provincial capital. Each of Mongolia’s aimags has its own character and is worthwhile exploring, even if only for a few hours.

It is possible to reach all the provincial capitals and some of the larger towns from Ulaanbaatar via the public bus network although not all of the main road network is paved and sleeper bus services remain limited. If the thought of the 1700km Ulaanbaatar to Ölgii public bus ride fills you with dread, then consider one of the shorter bus options such as Kharkhorin, Tsetserleg or Murun.

Apart from Ulaanbaatar – Mongolia’s capital city, which has a particular administrative status – Mongolia is divided into 330 soums (districts). Each of these soums possesses a single village, called soum-center. Mongolia is the size of Western Europe and including Ulaanbaatar, the country thus counts in total only 331 towns and villages scattered homogeneously throughout its huge territory.

The small community of Tsengel is Mongolia’s westernmost town. It features in the travelogue Hearing Birds Fly by Louisa Waugh (the book describes the year the author spent living in Tsengel located alongside the Khovd River framed by ‘muted mountains’ and under an ‘immense bruised sky’). Tsengel has a tough and stark beauty about it and feels like the end of the world where, as writer Waugh writes, life has ‘been whittled down to its essence, like the core of a fruit.’ A majority of visitors pass through on their way to Altai Tavan Bogd National Park but by spending time here, you’ll get to experience not only the daily reality for a lot of rural Mongolians but also how the landscapes have forged the strength of character of the local people. In the words of Waugh, ‘the mere fact of their survival here is a triumph of the human spirit.’