Just finished reading this in bits and pieces at night before konking out after many a busy day. (Being Rinpoche's attendant is not unlike being part of a travelling road show. Sometimes I am carting about a huge amount of things and I call myself his temee or camel, lol.) Kohn writes of Mongolia, Mongolians and ex-pats in Mongolia with great warmth and humour. He also gives you a galloping whirlwind tour of Mongolian history, geography and politics which is a terrific introduction to the country. Bit outdated, mind you, as he's writing about the early 2000s and the fact is everything changes radically here in the space of a year, i.e. government, economy, landscape (UB is a boom town with buildings going up everywhere in the blink of an eye while the countryside may or may not be affected by extreme weather conditions). Well worth a read whether you are coming here or not. Sometimes laughed out loud he's so funny. Love the joke about Brezhnev, Mao and Tsedenbel. Will tell next time. His website is www.michaelkohn.us.
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