The Life of a Nomad in Mongolia's Gobi Desert

A lifetime spent under the eternal blue sky encapsulated in the face of a nomad elder in Mongolia's Gobi Desert.? 




This photo essay by Australian Travel Photographer of the Year, Cam Cope, explores the Mongolian way of life, their connection with animals and the exceptional beauty of the landscape.

A nomad near Tarialan arrives with cargo and leg powered transport for our journey into the remote Kharkhiraa Mountains.? 




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A camel train climbs Kharkhiraa Valley where 3000 year-old Turkic stone arrangements, 50 meters in diameter, mark the graves of ancient heroes.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A local gallops through fenceless Terelj National Park.? 




The horse is a symbol of freedom in Mongolia. On foot in the steppe you are like a swimmer trying to navigate an ocean. On horseback you can unfurl your sails and conquer the world.





Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A mild summer in the sometimes extreme climate of the Tsaast Uul Valley in remote western Mongolia.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A Kazakh eagle hunter in the far west of Mongolia proudly displays a trained eagle.? 




"We keep them for a maximum seven years and train them by starvation before a hunt and rewarding them with food after."? 





? "They catch hares, foxes and the best ones even kill wolves," he explains.





Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

We step inside the ger (a round felt tent commonly called a 'yurt') without announcement (knocking for permission is unheard of).? 




"Sain baina uu?" (How are you?) we asked.? 





"Sain, sain baina uu," a pair of kind-eyed grandparents reply and a gaggle of excited kids come running from the neighboring ger.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A young girl in traditional Kazakh dress from a family of Kazakh eagle hunters near the Tsaast Uul Valley.? 




Around 5 percent of the population of Mongolia are Kazakh and most live in the remote western province of Bayan-Ölgii.





Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

Two gers cling to the foot of the Tsaast Uul Mountains, surrounded by a family's herd resting in the late afternoon sun after a day feeding on higher slopes. A snow shower approaches in the distance.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

Curious gazes in Bayan-Ölgii province.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

The new rider on the steppe.? 




Many Mongolians now buy low cost Chinese motorcycles at a fraction of the price of the more dependable Russian makes that were the first to lure riders away from the horse.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

Impromptu truck repairs after a breakdown. A common sight all over Mongolia.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

Throat singing, flute, horsehair fiddle and dancing convey the rhythms of horses and Mongolian steppe life in the moonlight.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

The original cowboys.? 




These four nomad guides (Hogshin, Kishgee, Idesh and Tsaganaa) might evoke American cowboys as they lean casually in their wooden saddles.



But this isn't the Old West, it's the Far East and these men are descendants of those who first tamed wild horses roughly 5,000 years ago in the Eurasian steppe.





Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

Twin humped Bactrian camels in the Gobi Desert at sunset.? 




Many great herds of camels or horses run unaccompanied in the desert here. But they are never wild and always belong to someone, somewhere.





Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A camel train used for transport is put out to refuel on the high mountain grasses at the top of Kharkhiraa valley.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

A typical Mongolian "road."




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

Driving in the Gobi Desert can make you feel very small.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.

As tough as nails, never break down (well, not for too long when every driver is also a mechanic), no-way-near-international-car-safety-standards Russian 4x4 stands guard on the steppe in Zorgol Hayrhan Uul just after dusk.




Follow Australian Travel Photographer of? the Year 2014 Cam Cope on? Instagram? or visit his? website.