I first traveled to Mongolia in September 2018. The rich culture and amazing landscape of Mongolia left me in awe. I wrote an account of my adventure and was invited to give a few presentations about Mongolia, including one on the radio.

Below was the transcript of the interview I had with a Malaysian Radio station, AiFM.

Golden Eagle Festival, Mongolia

When was the first time you traveled to Mongolia?
I first visited Mongolia in late September 2018, autumn was a great time to travel in the northern hemisphere; the weather was stable and the colors were vibrant. My entire trip to Mongolia lasted about 2 weeks.

Then, in March 2019, I set out again to photograph the Reindeer people. They are the ethnic group, reside in the northern part of Mongolia and although it was March, it was still winter and the weather was very cold. I stayed for almost 2 weeks that time too.
The most recent time was in late 2019, again photographing the Eagle Hunters.

What attracts you?
Since I was a kid, I have read the history of Mongolia. Several great figures, such as Genghis Khan and Kublai had expeditions expanded to Europe, so I was very interested in Mongolia as a child. I had also watched a movie called “The Eagle Huntress”, and then I also learned about the only remaining Reindeer people on earth are in Mongolia, so I felt that this country has a unique culture that urges me to go there.

Of course, another reason is that there are a lot of subjects for photography, human interest, landscapes, etc.

What were the places you visited?
The first trip was mainly to photograph Eagle Hunters and the Golden Eagle Festival. The festival was held in Bayan Olgii, which is about 1,277 km from Ulaanbaatar. I had also gone deep into the Altai Mountains, where we saw the 2,000 year old petroglyphs. We stayed in a yurt in one of the mountains, and took a ride on horseback around the mountains. Enjoying the snowy landscape and the majestic snow-capped mountains was truly an unforgettable experience. And of course a visit to a family of Eagle Hunters.

The search for the Eagle Hunters
Finding the Eagle Hunters is not too difficult; they live outside the city. A local guide made the arrangements for us. We were a photography group; catching the first light was one of the agenda. We left early, around 3am and managed to arrive at Eagle Hunter’s house before the sun rose. Even though it was very early and cold, the Eagle Hunters were already out to welcome us.

After we settled down, we started to photograph them. It was solid shooting for a whole day, virtually from dawn till dusk.

How do you get to Golden Eagle Arena?
The arena was just outside Bayan Olgii, about a 40 minute drive from the hotel we stayed at. There is a hill that is convenient for some of the competition events.

What is interesting about the Golden Eagle Festival?
The annual Golden Eagle Festival has a lot to offer. Many were related to the traditional way of life of the Eagle Hunters. For instance, in one of the events, the “fox skin”, where we witnessed the tie between the eagle and the eagle hunter.

Here is how the event was conducted. One of the Eagle Hunter’s companions climbs the hill, and when he hears the signal from the Eagle Hunter on the ground, he lets go of the eagle, which then takes wing, listens to the master’s call, looks for the fox skin, and when she finds it, she swoops down on the target and catches the prey. The judge will score the capture based on the timing, the distance of the target; the shorter the better, the eagle’s posture, etc. These are wonderful photography subjects.

Other events, such as Bushkashi, were also very exciting. It was two men on horseback fighting over a sheep. That’s when the Eagle Hunters show their superior riding skills, fighting over the horse without falling off.

In 2018 we were lucky enough to meet the sister of Aisholpan, the protagonist of “The Engle Huntress”.

In the arena, we met tourists and photographers from all over the world, such as Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia and other countries.

Please share your experiences, any unforgettable ones?
There are many unforgettable experiences, to begin with, horse riding in the snowy mountains while enjoying the snowy scenery. I am not a good rider, but this time I have learned how to control the horse, riding all the way without aid.

Then, there is watching how the eagle catches the fox. A senior Eagle Hunters had captured a fox and he showed us how eagles catch foxes. We went to a place surrounded by hills. There was an open land in the middle. When the fox was released, it started to run for its life. At this point the Eagle Hunter released the eagle, when it saw the fox on the run,, the eagle went straight down like a bomber and caught the fox in its claws. The Eagle Hunter rode up, jumped off his horse, and set the eagle’s clinging talons free. Nothing beast seeing all these in live!

And of course there is staying in a yurt, speaking of which I would like to share the experience.

Yurt Experience
We stayed in yurts for a few days in the Altai Mountains. There are different types of yurts: the simple and the luxurious ones. The latter have toilets and even heaters.

The interior of the yurts is as good as that of a five-star hotel. However, the one I stayed in has “no star”, which is almost back to basics. There was a stove in the middle and a simple carpet on the floor, and that is all it was to keep the yurt warm. Unfortunately, the host may have forgotten to cover the top part of the yurt properly; the cold wind at night rushed in my direction. To make things worse, the stove had been extinguished, the thick quilt was unable to keep me warm. Shivering in the sub-zero temperatures, my nose almost frozen. Eventually, I got up and found some firewood. I threw them into the stove, not long after the yurt felt warm again, and I went through the cold night peacefully. For a person who had spent his life almost entirely in a tropical climate, that was certainly an unforgettable experience.

How do you see the life of Eagle Hunters?
The life of the Eagle Hunters is very simple. In the past, they had to provide for themselves; they came up with the brilliant idea of training eagles to help hunt for food. As times progressed, many of the basic amenities were widely available, including food and the daily necessities of life. Training eagles to forage for food has become a declining skill. It is said that there are less than 50 hunters who can train eagles now. If the skill was not able to pass to the next generation, it would disappear soon. I hope they can find successors to pass on this skill.

Which Eagle Hunters have a thought-provoking philosophy of life?
Eagle Hunters have great respect for nature. This is evidenced by the fact that when they successfully train their eagles to assist in foraging, and after 4-5 years, they set them free. After living together for many years, the Eagle Hunters and the Eagles have built a very deep relationship. Even though when the time arrived to release the eagle, the hunters were reluctant, maybe, but they still did so. It was done based on the reasoning of “taking from nature and returning to nature”.

It is said that some eagles, after returning to nature, will still appear in the Eagle Hunter’s residence area, as if they were visiting their old friends. Some even appeared more than a year after they were released. This shows the extraordinary relationship between the Eagles and the Eagle Hunters.