Rendez vous en terre inconnue. Bruno Solo chez les cavaliers Mongoles 1/8 (with English subtitles)

It's here in the infinite steppes where Mongolian horsemen live
for 3000 years this nomadic people have adapted to live in the harsh capricious nature
The birthplace of the empire of Chinggis khan has survived centuries of occupation and oppression but now it is confronted with a new challenge- the arival of the market economy
-Hello
What is Mongolia of the XXIst century Bruno Solo will discover in two weeks but he still doesn't know yet
To leave his den for the unknown is certainly unsettling and two hours before departure Bruno is in the grips of anxiety
-Bonjour!
-So, the passenger is Bruno Solo. At the moment he is in the taxi. He flies into the unkknown but has no idea where to.
-Hi to everybody. It's the voice message service of Bruno. I'm going somewhere, very far away, to a place where I won't have a mobile or internet
-Here is his luggage. It's me who packed it. We tried to prepare simultaneously to the heat and the cold.
-blablabla... I imagine myself like this on the oil platform in Norway. For sure it's like polar circle there.
...So you feel hot here and then all the way down from my thighs it's stone cold. Go find this country on the map.
-It arrives to the gate 7
-Comment ca va? -Tres bien.
-I'm really excited...
-You know, I like this idea a lot.
At this moment as we depart from the Roissy airport
at this very second there is someone somewhere in the world who is waiting for you.
-I'm leaving to live an unsusual experience, to live something new
from where I will probably return... or not.. but maybe I'll return transformed
-And your friends, your family?
-It was exciting fro me. "You're lucky". "I'd like to be in your place, but I don't know if I could do it..."
but you have no idea about...
so yeah, it's a feeling...
of course, not everybody has the same feeling about... about venturing into the unknown
now I can't say that I'm not nervious about the idea to discover it
-This is already being put into unknown
-you see one really needs to trust his guide. I like the idea to be able to trust someone
-Bruno
We are in the clouds
-Can I take if off?
-Take if off now
-Would you like to learn right now or would you still like to have some seconds of unknown?
because then it's irreversible, you will know it
-No, no, no, I want to know
-So, I'm taking you...
..it's actually really strange
..so I'm taking you to meet Khalkha
-What is this? Is this a tribe?
-I'm taking you to the heart of Mongolia
-ah putain
-Do you like the idea?
-oh yes
-really, it's like a dream
It's more than that. It's one of those countries that I was always telling myself I'd never plant my foot
I'm really happy
-You have a meeting with an exceptional man whose name is Batbayar.
-Batbayar, and he is looking forward to meet you
He would like to show you his daily life with his family and his herd in the steppes so that you could imagine the immensity of it
you should know that there is one million and a half of herders in a territory three times bigger than France
The way of life of Batbayar is in danger now, because many nomads choose today to leave the steppes and the desert
to go to the city which grows like a monster
-I'm really touched, really really happy to go there
it's really, of all the places I'd love to visit, it's in my top five.
After a connection in Moscow and 10 hours of flight we finally reach Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
-I always thought Mongolia was under a strong influence of the Soviet Union before
-From the 1920s Mongolia was under Soviet influence
the communist regime had one obsession- to crush Mongolian identity and stop nomadic way of life.
The mission succeeded. Sixty years later two thirds of the population have left the steppes
-So, where are you taking me?
-We're gonna meet Batbayar... -Have we finally arrived?
-oh, what a splendor
-it's so virgin there, you see, there is no trace of... no even electric grid
In this land everythign is scarce. The roads, the trees, the rivers but especially the people.
Mongolia has the lowest population density in the world- 1 person per km2
-Ah, the ger! We'd gonna see the nomads now.
-Look
-In the middle of nowhere, oh la la.
But appearances lie. The nature here is unforgiving. The steppes beaten by the wind experience regular tempetrature changes of 80C
In Mongolia the soil is not fertile, almost nothing grows and to survive the man has become a cattle breeder.
There, the most fascinating gallop that I've ever seen
Nomads treasure their animals. To not scare his herd Batbayar asked us to land away from his camp.
So now we only have to wait for him.
-they are leaving -yeah, yeah I see, but everything is taken care of, we have water
-We have one bottle of water. -Ok, one bottle.
-That's what I wanted to feel.
The scent of the steppes. Oh, it's amazing, I'm gonna cry.
-It's dazzling. And it's really softly said. It is just mindblowing.
Really, really pristine beuaty.
-It's our meeting point there? -No, Batbayar is gonna come to pick us up here
-Where is he gonna emerge from, with his horde
-Where is he staying? Why?
-Two days count for one here, maybe? We tell him today but for him it's tomorrow?
One day has 48 hours here. -Maybe I have made a mistake and it's the wrong the valley?
-Hey look, the raven is here. It's coming closer and closer. When there are a dozen above we'll go sit some other place.
-Putain, where is he gonna arrive from?
-Nothing but the valley. It's very reassuring, isn't it?
The man who is coming to meet us hasn't always been a nomad.
After the breakdown of the communism in 1980s Batbayar has left the city to live in the steppes and return to the way of life of his ancestors.
Like thousands of Mongolians he has taught himself to be a herder and had to learn himself to survive in this immensity
inexperienced and vulnerable, most of them had to renounce the nomadic lifestyle, but not him. He resisted and succeeded.
-Oh, there he is
-Oh, it's sweet
-something there... putain, he's coming from the far end of the world.. wow.
-putain, the descendant of Chinggis Khan
-Zaz -Bonjour
-Frederic -Bruno. -Enchante.
-I sniff?
-What is this? -A kind of tobacco to sniff, very perfumed and burning my nose like hell
-Take it
-You have come from far away?
-From the other side of the hill?
Bruno has a passion for horses since his childhood. He is familiar with this animal.
But for me it's another story
-Ha, I can't believe it. I'm riding a horse in Mongolia.