Mongolia holds a special place in my heart
By Kevin Pepper |
From my magical first visit over a decade ago, I remember driving through the rolling countryside, headed towards the ancient city of Karakorum along country roads dotted with nomadic families that had come down from their winter locations. It felt surreal as if I was stepping back in time the more I traveled from Ulaanbaatar. No roads, vehicles became scarce, and families living as they have for thousands of years… yet there I was, transporting myself back in time.
As a history buff, I had read about Mongolia, often wondering what life would have been like when Ghengis Khan ruled most of the world from the city that would be my destination, Karakorum. Now, here I was, seeing and photographing life as it has been since Genghis Khan founded this city in the year 1220. On that first visit, the heavy weight of history filled the air at the earliest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, the Erdene Zuu Monastery. The photo opportunities were special, and the memories still exist.
From Karakorum, it was time to head west. My destination was Ulgii, a small town in Western Mongolia that hosts the annual Golden Eagle Festival every October. The Golden Eagle Festival celebrates the ancient art of falconry on horseback. The earliest recordings of hunting with golden eagles on horseback I could find come from the 12th Century. Today, approximately 250 Kazakh men live in the western Mongolian province of Bayan-Olgi and carry on a tradition known as “horse riding eagle falconry”—the skill of using a golden eagle to capture prey while riding through the mountains.
I have enjoyed witnessing and photographing the synchronicity between man and eagle. Both hunter and eagle show off the skills that used to be needed to tip the scales between starvation and survival, now showing off the skills to feed a family, but more to embrace the long-standing heritage and show off the prowess of the art of hunting fox. As I sat there and watched the two work in tandem, I couldn’t help but wonder how close the bond had to be between a wild golden eagle that was taken after birth from a nest and the Mongolian Eagle Hunter. Was it a skill the two mastered or some Pavlovian genetic instinct of the eagle to hunt, combined with man’s superior mind? Was the hunter using training methods of reward so the eagle would hunt?
My answer came to me after watching both men and birds closely while living with a Kazakh family in Western Mongolia. There, immersed in the ways of the past, watching the eagle live with the family, I spotted the first of many tender moments of man and bird. The bond did not spawn from the bird’s need to hunt or training. It came from creating a unique and unfathomable respect between a wild bird and a simple man. The man would command, the eagle would listen, instinctively hunt as it has done for centuries, and then wait for the hunter to arrive with prey in its talons.
This was the moment that made the trip for me—that tender moment between an eagle and a man made this trip more than a visit to a festival. It made this trip an eye-opening experience that two beings, usually hunting to survive as competitors, can learn that working together produces a better life.
Mongolia holds a special place in my heart. It’s not just the vast steppe or the sight of a golden eagle taking flight from a hunter’s arm—it’s the spirit of the people, the deep-rooted traditions, and the silence that speaks volumes. Every time I return, I feel like I’m stepping into a world that still values heritage, family, and a connection to the land that modern life often forgets. I’ve been fortunate to share this with photographers from around the world, helping them not only capture the beauty of Mongolia but also understand its soul.
I’m honored to have received two plaques of appreciation from the Mongolian government, as well as the Silk Road Pin—a recognition given to those who help preserve and promote the cultural legacy of this remarkable country. These acknowledgments mean the world to me, but the real reward has always been standing beside a local nomad under an endless sky, camera in hand, knowing we’re telling a story that deserves to be seen.
I run trips regularly in Mongolia and would love to have you join me on a Mongolia photo workshop.
I hope to see you in Mongolia.
