Turuu and Jessica first met in 2006 while working together in Mongolia as tour leader and driver. Over the next four years, they built a strong working partnership and friendship — often arguing their way around Mongolia in their hybrid mix of Mongolian and English while exploring its vast landscapes.
When the company they worked for was sold and restructured in 2009, Turuu suggested they start their own. So they did. Although not natural business owners, their love for Mongolia is genuine — as is their belief in Eternal Landscapes and what it can achieve.
Jess first arrived in Mongolia in 2006 as an international tour leader and quickly developed a lasting connection with the country. She believes that travel, when done right, can be a powerful force for good — a belief that underpins Eternal Landscapes, which remains deliberately small and guided by ethics rather than scale. In 2010, she co-founded Eternal Landscapes with Turuu to challenge conventional tourism and show how travel can empower women, support local economies, and foster genuine connections.
She also knows that travel isn’t always easy — roads wash out, plans change, breakdowns happen — and that’s part of the experience. That’s why Jess writes the website copy herself, encouraging travellers to embrace Mongolia as it truly is, not the glossy version often sold elsewhere. Today, she still designs every journey, drawing on quiet experience, deep local knowledge, and a genuine love for Mongolia and her team, as well as an understanding of the reality on the ground.
Her impactful work has earned her recognition as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and to Eternal Landscapes being honoured as the Gender Equality Champion by Equality In Tourism International.
If it all disappeared tomorrow, Jess would happily turn her focus to creating a community library. For now, she’s spending more time in the UK, supporting her mother on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in Devon. Moved by the pressures of modern life on nature and wildlife in this wild landscape, she founded Wild Oke — a small community organisation working to make a positive local impact.
Turuu, co-founder of Eternal Landscapes, anchors the EL team and our journeys.
With over 30 years of experience in Mongolia’s tourism sector, he combines an old soul with a deep respect for his country — and a natural talent for driving, mechanics, and improvisation. There are few cars he can’t fix and few engines he doesn’t know. Equally skilled at leading a team, Turuu is happiest on the open road but is also adept at handling operations from a windswept campsite somewhere in Mongolia.
Born into a herding family in one of the Gobi provinces, Turuu has spent the past 20 years living in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts. His life experience gives him a rare understanding of Mongolia’s urban–rural divide and quietly fuels his commitment to social progress — from the team he builds to the families he chooses for EL to partner with.
A highlight of Jess and Turuu’s partnership is their shared vision for Chandmana Erdene CIC — an initiative created to provide long-term, structured educational tourism training for Mongolian women beyond the usual tourism circuit, while also creating new pathways for older men who often face challenges tied to societal expectations and toxic masculinity. At its core, Chandmana Erdene reflects Jess and Turuu’s deep care for Mongolia and its people — the heart of everything they do.
