Life With Mongolian Nomads (Kate Humble Documentary) | Real Stories

[Music] I've always been fascinated by nomads constantly on the move [Music] surviving in some of the world's most remote wildernesses was a removal family and living cheek-by-jowl with nature it's always seemed a wildly romantic existence it's the most magical place but it's no easy life makes you feel physically sick and in today's modern world they're under increasing pressure I'm going to live with three groups of nomads in Siberia Nepal namaste and now in Mongolia Sam Bella with a family of herders who are adapting to the 21st century deep in the Gobi Desert clearly this is a way of life that is very very precious but life here is still dominated by the power of nature as storms and predators they're nomadic way of life I can't stand here and say don't kill that wolf it's not my place to [Music] Mongolia's wild and untamed goby is the largest desert in Asia it just looks like the sort of bleakest emptiest landscape and the idea of of living here and making a living here is hard to imagine yet it's been home to families of nomads for centuries I'm on my way to stay with one of them it's just gonna be really eye-opening I think to to discover this partnership between them and their livestock and this landscape that has allowed them to thrive for this long but Mongolia's nomads have had a checkered history in 1924 the country fell under communist rule for nearly 70 years nomadism was banned and the herds were collectivized [Music] but with the arrival of democracy in the 1990s an incredible one-third of Mongolia's population chose to return to their nomadic roots [Music] today it's believed that 30% of Mongolians are nomads but once again their way of life is under threat the country is going through an economic boom fueled by mining which is tempting nomads towards a more prosperous and settled way of life there is something very romantic about the idea of nomadism often it isn't romantic when we see the reality of it often it is an incredibly hard life it's a six hundred kilometer journey from Ullom butter Mongolia's capital to the southern half of the vast gobi desert and deep into the three beauties mountain range [Music] I want to know what's keeping nomads here the family I'm staying with move four times a year with the seasons at two and a half thousand meters above sea level this is their spring camp Sam Ben oh I'm Kate Kate hello no and it's timid timid timid thank you for inviting me to stay with your family I've been thinking about you had an awesome gym it is 78 and the head of a large family she has ten children her youngest daughter or Dena lives with her and can I have a look around will you show me around okay okay is married to Sarah Cove and timid youngest son bat sock is staying with them to help with the busy cashmere wool harvest the family owned an impressive 200 goats a hundred and fifty sheep and over a hundred yaks and horses so these Kashmere go to bat still are delicious he's hungry you can just see it's lovely black and brown and white dots on the hillside ah titties John and that's all the adults coming in to say all these little ones are going to get a feed in a metaphor so we'll get very noisy [Laughter] the animals are like the family's bank account their meat and milk providing food and their wool and income in Mongolia they're key to nomadic success or failure English national hunting would you order these ingots at that uncle was a bus Shanghai better are there many wolves in this area better yeah I don't allowed anymore goats at home haven't might have to make an exception they all live in this communal tent known as a Gare it's their kitchen living room and bedroom has this always been your home you know the unclear they deliver the daily videos we had to Regina we had our own order order in Yucatan rajasam the dog touches of course I do are much timber dog chew meat grew up during the Communist era working on a state farm with her husband who died two years ago there returned to nomadism in the 1990s revived a long heritage and shimmied proudly displays her family's heirlooms in the roof of the Gare no it wasn't in her mind before changes indeed you would control them in my honor are you about to it's beautiful God knows that the Ginga ju8 Omo there's no don't touch anything well this is my wedding ring this ring belonged to my husband's grandmother and inside there is engrave the the word 12th and she was married on the 12th of September my parents also got married on the 12th of September and me and my husband got married on the 12th of September so three generations got married on the same day so it's very special Bettina I thought you take English [Laughter] [Music] life is fragile out here in the Gobi it's vital to keep their animals safe especially at this time with the newborns like this gorgeous two-day old foal the first of the year if those family heirlooms remind them of their past this new foal is a potent symbol of their future the most magical place the film crew and I are camping a few hundred metres up the valley from the family clearly this is a way of life that is is very precious and they're here with dignity they're not living in abject poverty that just seems to be a huge amount of sort of well I think pride is the only word I can think of really in the in in the way that they live this life [Music] instant sex first morning waking up in the Gobi it's not a sound it's haven't even washed my face for you I'm so sorry meeting the family yesterday which is always quite nerve-wracking because it's a big leap you'll kind of just stepping into their lives and hoping that they might take you in and and that's a big ask but it was just a really lovely lovely start [Music] every morning begins with rounding up the animals the relationship between man and beast is the bedrock of nomadism and goes back millennia but timid in her family enjoy some of life's modern amenities to goodness absolute reserve [Music] the adult goats and sheep are separated from their young so they can graze on the surrounding mountains [Music] the 4x4 was perfect for fetching water but to follow the herd nothing beats a horse this is the most extraordinary saddle I feel very perched up very upright and rather elegant but only when I'm standing still so you want me to keep the rain charge okay yeah and feet forward right if I can walk by the end of today it'll be a miracle okay Mongolians are famed for their horsemanship and like order most lands ride from the age of four back in the 12th century it was horse power that helped mongol warlord Genghis Khan create one of the largest empires the world has ever known [Music] Yammer Yammer goat sheep today we're using horses to help keep an eye on the livestock and to protect them from predators foxes wolves and snow leopards that roam these bleak mountains so yeah ma it's goat English so what is Yammer Yammer so we've been teaching each other and so yes we've had a little language lesson practical ordinary spends much of the day watching the flock but also finds time to do her beautiful and intricate sewing did to me to teach you to sew Oh so do the men so as well with your husband so angered that bird fools you Michael actually in my husband he's better than me he's good he has a sewing machine so is it always your job to come out with the Sheep via how you did birthday today Donna who is terrible I haven't met your son yet does he not live with you and timid mana who do they go with the end of it Anton so what did mana who are touring Goku Network mhm so he looks after them in their exact path Manoj Kumar oddness children aged 15 and 13 only come home during holidays and for special occasions so did you do the same they're hooked at the 800 that is a puppet so do [Music] under the old communist system a strict education policy helped achieve one of the highest literacy rates in the world it continues today but to get an education children must still go to the local towns and cities and as those cities grow young people are being drawn to the modern world and away from their nomadic culture to return to America review and no children or now will they be nomads yeah it could stay on so what they are not registered did sir what and who seriously better to call the master did what you read in mother mentality in the second division you know entre Borobudur the resistance was ready but to order a festival I suppose what I'm gradually I'm picking about this way of life is you know or deny when to school but she's chosen to live this life you know no one's stopping anybody progressing but I think they are aware that their knowledge is meaningful that it does allow them to survive and it allows them to live a life that they choose they want to live this life they have an option to be somewhere else and yet they want to be here today is a big occasion in the nomads calendar all of timid sons daughters and grandchildren have come together every year the family unites to castrate the young male animals [Music] yeah okay yeah become a circus like you first it's the young stallions often do your family all get together when do you see everybody I after Sara seen it you ate them all all my down modern way Justin Saturday it nips incessantly what'd you do ladies using next the goats and lambs all the smoke around here as far as I can gather is is almost like a sort of healing smoke part again very much part of this ceremony it's a lot easier than a with a quick blessing the Lambs released it may look harsh but that's Hawks doing it with real respect for his animals [Music] it's a rites of passage think of it that way the iron-rich testicles are believed to have health-giving properties but the real treat is to boil them in salted water with yellow rice to make a rich soup there's a lot here I think I've got more than my share hundreds Oh God so these you just do that okay now you've done it I'm gonna have to do it mine's bigger than yours this one like that don't make me laugh it'll be a disaster okay ready actually that's quite good it's not cheery at all it's very soft and rather delicious oh my goodness my poor little lambs at home no no no you must be up everyone else [Music] [Music] [Music] today I'm going 15 kilometres down the valley to visit Auden assister Suren she and our husbands Engel are still in their winter quarters in a sheltered spot on the edge of the mountains tomorrow they're moving to their spring camp [Music] [Laughter] like most nomads in the Gobi serene and single moved to the same spring camp every year it's deep in the mountains and at this time should be full of fresh grass everywhere it must be quite hard having them around here it looks like they can go right up into the mountains [Laughter] [Laughter] Hey [Music] with a busy day ahead everyone's lending a hand sir ins brother-in-law sir ago has brought his truck [Music] laughter beautiful topper what was your best left do you want to answer it the gars an amazingly simple structure with a canvas outer to protect against the wind and the rain a warmed felted sheep's wool liner and a wooden frame to hold it all up isn't it funny men always have to pack the car [Music] last on the truck are the youngest animals that can't make the arduous journey on a foot there is something lovely about that ability to be able to up sticks and go whenever you feel like it as long obviously as it's the day of the dog the or the horse I think it's taken less than four hours to pack the entirety of Suren and singles home once a herd of yaks would have carried it over the mountains today it all fits onto Sara goes truck but their most valuable possession the Hubbard is still driven the traditional way by horse this is a wonderful experience but it wasn't this romantic view that brought so many nomads back to this way of life after communism collapsed in the 1990s high inflation and food shortages made life in towns and settlements unbearable so families like Syrians chose to return to nomadism in the desert after four hours heading steadily uphill finally fresh mountain pasture it's been a day long the 10 kilometer ride over the mountains to get to the spring camp home 8 gars like this one are found across Asia the future it faces south so it gets the warmth of the Sun and is away from the prevailing bad weather AG air is often given to a young couple when they get married and they'll use it for the rest of their life are you happy with your new with your new home with your new spot perfect vision mm-hmm but is it what you want boost I could I could live with this view I have to say it's pretty special it really is ah what once had venta it all set the horse at a floating world through by souls Anish [Music] the next day back at Jim Edd's their sad news under cover of darkness wolves have killed the beautiful young foal do you lose a lot of your livestock to wolves today the mother who did it who back in today there were hundreds understand what an artist I'm Joe winners were who you must suffer but they are there when I tell you that they hinder this amazing genius who roots desert if you find where the wolf is what would you do there are what unintelligible oh it's a relative at all my children or who just would inherit higher absolute energy retention but that talk also believes that predators bring some benefits Chandler had a new method in terms of sugar to alleviate this deterioration certain note staring at to which to get a touch on hardness Jerry Marotta still thought the times in the past I don't know what I do if I was in his situation I simply don't know he's the one that lives here he's the one who's livestock being killed I can't I can't stand here and say don't kill that wolf it's not my place to [Music] [Music] timid eldest daughter's camp is just 500 meters down the valley sits Agha has asked me to help comb her cashmere goats after China Mongolia is the world's largest producer of Kashmir it comes from grooming out the goats winter hair for nomads liked it cigar it's an important cash crop hostess so do you just do this once a year do you know of raw Kashmir sells for around 70,000 to chrix or 25 pounds with her flock of 250 goats sits Agha can earn up to four and a half thousand pounds a year another few days you're gonna have to do this to my hair as well [Laughter] as we can the goats the weather outside turns in such a frenzy brilliant during spring in the Gobi Mongolians talk of having four seasons in one day turning from a blue sky to a snowstorm in minutes but this blizzards nothing compared to the harsh winters when fierce storms known as suits often sweep in decimating herds in 2010 a severe storm was estimated to have killed a staggering eight and a half million animals thousands of herding families were forced to abandon their way of life sits occur may earn good money from her cashmere but one bad winter could wipe her out do you hope that this way of life will continue say for your grandchildren's generation what was heard within certain visual Damona sarah Martin same aspect of it Master I observe are totally little insecure about her daughter at the bush a tomorrow mana is Aisha mother [Music] love this it's the view that's greeted me from my attempt that this morning basically it's a whiteout so um and we wrapped up in every layer of clothing I obsess last night it was a it's a pretty wild night and at around 3:30 the dogs were going absolutely mad which made me think I wonder if that means that there's a lot of wolf activity I just wonder with all the commotion that was going on last night whether they did come back that sock decided to leave the foal carcass out for the wolves with Cubs to feed the chance of them returning was high so it was an opportunity for us to put out a night-vision camera to see if we could catch the Wolves in action I just wanted to show you what the camera found trying out a song he would deliver their DC so you can see this is the foal here you can hear the dog happens your Delta don't answer don't tell fiction nourished after this show has always been commissioned student [Music] we're heading off to the local town of Dallin zag got to sell some of the family's Kashmir it's a three-hour drive through the mountains and spirits are high character that a thousand that this good thought I have a feeling this is gonna be a dangerous day going to the big city with two nomads the last time they were in town was over three months ago so before you had a car would you go by horse to the town to sell the Kashmir lizard or tender chicken get visitors during the generate electricity tariffs or thought you know master the other machinery work so far sorry alright Karen Detmer dhansak gut is the provincial capital with a population of 18,000 like many urban areas in Mongolia it's growing rapidly as the younger generation is tempted by modern city life but it's also home to former nomads whose livelihoods were ruined by the storms in 2010 aDNA and Surigao are meeting a cashmere trader by the side of the road Mongolian cashmere is said to be the finest in the world the combed hair will be processed into the fine and highly prized yarn in the capital you Lambert are [Music] that's 250 pounds for 10 kilos of goat hair since the end of communism the production of Kashmir has grown to become Mongolia second-largest industry [Music] Mongolia's economy is booming and not because of Kashmir large mineral deposits have been found beneath the Gobi and mining has become the country's biggest industry it's estimated that it will grow by 30 percent over the next few years this newfound wealth is having a negative impact on Mongolia's nomads do you think that more and more people will be tempted away from nomadic life and go into mining and into industry and move to the cities due to that Euro or hybrid technology did not abolish you know the dosage or who salute to my voltages it's hardly surprising that young people are being tempted away when the mining sector pays up to $2,000 a month 13 times what most herders can make [Music] but this family has a large and valuable herd as well as goats and sheep they are the proud owners of a fine collection of horses and yaks yaks are supremely adapted to life in this harsh landscape they used to carry the family's possessions when they moved camp but with four-by-fours and trucks doing the hard work now yaks are kept as a symbol of pride and prestige as well as to their milk and wool fantastic just magnificent magnificent scenery there is nothing cooler than a yak in two days time there's a yak festival in a neighboring Valley and the whole herd will be on show you look at the heat you know seemingly barren hills and think how on earth do you keep livestock alive you know these animals are as canny as their owners when it comes to making a living out of this landscape it's lovely to watch [Music] the family have invited me to go with them to the yak festival but I need to be properly dressed or Dena has made me Adele a traditional Mongolian overcoat [Music] it's very very clever your daughter so do you think I look ok for the access to rule right I won't let your family down [Laughter] would do more terrible in quality touched [Music] it's the day of the much-anticipated yak festival just how mongolia manages its transition to a modern global economy yet maintains its rich nomadic heritage is a difficult balancing act but festivals like this set up by the regional government to support nomads and to encourage tourism are a step in the right direction and they're a wonderful opportunity for nomadic families to come together you you are I'm doing it very well over 300 acts have been herded into the valley the festivities begin with yak rodeo [Music] [Music] [Music] next is a competition for all the family what do you want me to do there is bad to good not possible the men must catchy at and share it while we make a rope from its room [Music] [Music] we were a little bit slow I'm sorry like any good Mongolian spring day it starting to snow and in the grand tradition of all country fairs there are prizes galore [Applause] [Music] to me that's sodalite and look how proud she looks this whole festival is about restoring yak herding to this province and and remembering how important these animals are to the nomadic families but most of all I've just had a real sense of how nomadic families may live these very remote and often isolated lives but it doesn't mean that there isn't a really strong sense of community and tradition and culture and today has been all about that [Laughter] [Music] with the festival over my time with timid and her family has come to an end to these look beautiful what are they called bought bought bought their hardly do it seems like you've met managed to to partner in a very successful way tradition and modern life without affecting the the sort of heart of nomadic life back dispatch my table good to do each day Otis that you didn't little such about them is it a good life no sir mr. Thomas are are are my Masaharu dad who do you judge sir first person or not jerk Appleton all still tower and a saga in ender stay stay sit good answer it's just been the most fantastic privilege to be here and I just wanted to say thank you iris Peterson on her second visa team onager did Nikki sincere today we need to is in the question [Music] [Music] there's no doubt that nomads across the globe are under threat and the odds are stacked against their extraordinary way of life but here in Mongolia at least I'm cautiously optimistic this is modern nomadism with all its traditions with all its cultures absolutely intact but these are people who are not shying away from the modern world at all timid and her family have shown me that there's a place for nomads today and I'm really hopeful that their descendants will be here in centuries to come this is clearly not an easy choice of life and I think that's what makes me admire them even more they are nomads and they're fantastically proud of that and they seem almost as much part of this landscape as the mountains and the birds of prey in the wolves [Music] you

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Keywords: kate humble documentary, kate humble living with nomads, kate humble mongolia, kate humble interview, kate humble nomads, kate humble full documentary, mongolia, nomads, tracks travel channel, living with nomads full documentary, nomads nepal, bbc documentary nomads, nomadic lifestyle documentary, Real Stories, Real Stories Full Documentary, Real Stories Documentary, Full length Documentaries, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, Amazing Stories, Extraordinary people

Id: 3Tg6EQ4Dio0

Length: 51min 11sec (3071 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 28 2019