-We're moving?
-Where are we going? There?
-Behind the mountains?
-This ger is built the same way as 3000 years ago
perfectly isolated and adapted to the environment it protects the dwellers from the extreme temperatures of the steppes
which change from -40C in the winter to +40C in the summer
built without a single nail, it can be put on the ice, resist the storms,
and its extreme mobility has allowed the Mongols to conquer the largest empire in the history of humanity, that of Chinggis khan
-How did your ancestors do it without trucks, they carried all by horses?
-They used their animals, horses, cows,
some even used camels, especially in the Gobi desert
and they carried it in the wooden carts
-look, it's a horse
-They are efficient, good-humoured, nobody is arguing
imagine moving out in our country
in France, moving out is... it's a potential divorce
and they do it four times a year, and everybody has their own duty
-... they put two gers in one truck
-Ah look, everything is packed, let's go
-Bruno, Fred, it's our life
-We're gonna find a new pasture 10 km from here
you, take a horse and guide our animals with my brother
-It's cool
we're gonna bring the cows and all
-Which is yours? -The brown.
-Eh, senor Lopez, we have to take the animials to the ranch
To make their animals prospere is now a destiny of Batbayar and his family
here the soil is poor and animals exhaust it rapidly, so every season they have to look for a new pasture
at this very moment I feel that I start to undersand the hisotry of this people
here for thousands of years to stay alive the Mongolian nomads are doomed to wander in this spectacular immensity of nature
-I still can't believe I'm doing it
it's my childhood dream
the idea to guide the cattle like this with Mongolian cowboys in Mongolian steppe, it's...
In less than 2 hours theger of Dagimaa is reconstructed exactly as it was
inside everything is put in its place around the fireplace
in the western side the part of men and guests
in the center the part for the old and the spirits, in the eastern part- the heart of the married life and a place for women
-Magnifique
It's cool you can go anywhere you want and settle anywhere you want in the huge land
it's the foundation of nomadism
but in 2003 the government decided to start privatizing the land, what do you think about it?
-I don't like it. The privatization of land is not for the Mongols and not for Mongolia
During our ancestors time Mongols were always for the freedom of land
Mongols are very attached to our land
We have a saying that says: "Never give away this land, even if the God asks you"
I think with this privatization the state wants to make money out of the nomads
the animals should always be free to walk this land, and the people as well
we shouldn't privatize it. It's the main principle.
As soon as we settle in the new camp the work has begun
for Hongorzuul it's always with a smile
this young girl is a cousin of Batbayar. She has moved here with her mother a year ago
18 year old, Hongorzuul has already lived several lives
The steppes for her is like a refuge after several years of misery in the shanty towns of the capital Ulaanbaatar
It took her one week to get confidence to be around us
Nowadays with the solar pannels and satellite antennas half of the nomads own a TV
After 10 days in the steppes we leave for the capital
once a year Batbayar goes there to buy products he needs in the nomadic life
-It seems you're not going with us, we would like you to go but Batbayar wants you to stay guard the camp
-It's true. If we go together the work won't be done and it's dangerous for the animals
Erley, the brother of Batbayar is 21 years old. And like all young peole he is fascinated by the city
He doesn't hide his frustration at having to stay here
Hongorzuul uses the trip to meet the friends she has left in the city
As the custom requires, Dagimaa throws some milk our way. It's a blessing for the road.
After 10 hours of journey we are in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, which accounts for 1 million people- 1/3 of the population of Mongolia
Since the breakdown of the communist system in the end of the 1980s Mongolia is alone face to face with its destiny
-The force. Chinggis khan le Magnifique.
This young democracy today encourages the cult of Chinggis khan- the forbidden hame during the communist regime
This emperer of the 13th century is a symbol of fight against invaders. His image is everywhere from airport till the labels of vodka
15 years ago the market economy has arrived in a brutal way
the consumer society is taking over the country, one third of the urban population of which live below poverty line
As all the nomads of the country Batbayar comes here to buy provisions for the winter,
especially the cloth to make deel, the traditional dress, which was so denigrated under the communist regime
-It's a paradise of the nomads here
it's a supermarket of the steppes
-Solar pannels, it's unbelievable
-So how do you like Batbayar, the city
-I don't like this agitation here, the hussle, the dust, all this pollution
My ears can't have any rest, this stress will continue the whole day
in the countyrside there is no noise, no pollution
