Word: mongolia
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...Dang. The only thing that came to mind when I rode was the pressing need for more padding under my duff. But I was happy to be among the few Westerners who have had a taste of Mongolia, the rocky, remote north-central Asian country with few fences and fewer roads-the realm of Genghis Khan and a political tug toy of China and Russia until well into the 20th century. Since the Alaska-size former Soviet satellite gained independence in 1990, it has opened to travelers seeking adventure in breathtakingly pristine country. A dearth of such conveniences as electricity...
...people's lists," says Simon Moyle, founder of 4th World Adventure, a tour operator based in London. He started the company after falling in love with Mongolia on an independent bike tour. "It's not like Kenya, where people have been there and done that. It's still so distant-not even on this planet. Once you've been to Mongolia, you feel like you've achieved something...
...Even after receiving more than $2 billion in overseas aid in just over a decade, Mongolia is struggling mightily. Four years of horrendous weather has devastated the former Soviet satellite and has driven thousands of herders like Bayarsakhan off the steppe and into the capital. By some estimates, Ulaanbaatar's population has doubled to 1 million in the past decade, overwhelming the city's limited capacities and further hampering the country's tortuous transition from a collectivized economy to a free market...
...meantime, foreign aid remains the country's lifeblood. Mongolia receives about $100 per capita annually, more than all but a handful of nations, partly because countries such as the U.S. and Japan like the idea of a fledgling democracy nestled between Russia and China. International aid organizations and nongovernmental organizations have delivered relief to areas hit by the dzud. They're also teaching new ways for herders to make a living?including gardening, garment making and carpentry?and are trying to make the herders think about livestock as a business. In August, the Gobi Regional Economic Growth Initiative, with funding...
...must overcome its habit of merely commissioning papers and gathering endless statistics on every issue: "On a macro level, the government seems to understand the principles of the free market. But it's difficult to see it being implemented on the ground." Still, he adds: "I am convinced that Mongolia can succeed...