A photographic journey from Beijing to Mongolia and Russia
It took us six hours of trekking from Jinshanling to the regular tourist entry point because we couldn’t stop taking pictures along the way. The temperature was minus twenty degrees Celsius while I prepared a sleeping bag for minus fifteen inside a thin tent. All for the sake of getting the sight of a sunrise at the Great Wall which didn’t disappoint.
I made the most of my night exploring the Forbidden City and around Beijing before starting the Trans Siberia Railway trip.
Inside the train heading to Ulanbataar.
A Ger is the traditional house of the Mongols, a nomadic people. Only 8 meters in diameter and 3.5 meter tall, it’s supported by a single iron beam and houses a fireplace.
The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway in the world, connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East, with connecting branch lines into Mongolia, China and North Korea.
Every Mongolian house I visited offered aaruul, a curdled milk, dehydrated and thoroughly dried in the air and sun. It’s tough and difficult to chew and best eaten while drinking tea. Aaruul is believed to be one of the factors behind the Mongols’ strong and healthy teeth.
A family shears sheep in Altan Bulag, Mongolia. Livestock such as sheep, goats, horses and cows are their main source of income.
In Mongolia, I took a tour package that allowed me to stay with the nomads. A member of the family, usually the men, will depart in the morning to herd their livestock. Being outside in the minus thirty degrees Celsius temperature didn’t seem to bother them.
The exterior of Khakhorin Temple in Mongolia.
Ivolgisky Datsan Monastery is located in Ulan Ude, Russia. Its natives, the Buryats, look like Mongols.
A view of Yenisei River leading to Krasnoyarsk Dam, the dam is depicted on a 10 ruble banknote.
A man selling salmon from the Yenisei River, Krasnoyarsk.
The Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land is a Russian Orthodox church built on the site of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where Tsar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, and several members of his family and household were shot by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.
A salesman promoting his café in front of a church in Yekaterinburg.
Statues depicting the children of Tsar Nicholas II at Ganina Yama Monastery.
Photos Timur Angin
