“Mongolia’s border looked like a defenseless ger district area” states D.Batzorig
D.Batzorig, Secretary of the Automobile Division of the Mongolian Automobile Motorcycle Sports Federation, auto sports sub master spoke to the Udriin Sonin Newspaper about his tour “Bi Mongol-2012” (I am Mongolian-2012). For the automobile adventure journey Bi Mongol-2012, he travelled through the borders of Mongolian territory.
-How many provinces and soums (administrative subdivision) did you pass through when you travelled around the borders of Mongolia?
-For the Bi Mongol-2012 automobile adventure journey I went through 14 provinces and 67 soums. The journey started in Altai soum, Govi-Altai province on January 15. From the starting line we travelled along the Mongolian borders in a clockwise direction. It took a total 104 days to travel around the borders of the Mongolian territory. We travelled 14,600 kilometres in total.
-Whom did you travel with?
-Producer of NTV Television L.Otgonchuluun joined me for the adventure journey. At first I was planning to travel by myself but sponsor organisations offered to record the journey and make a documentary about the journey.
-How much fuel was used to travel around the borders? What car did you use?
-We travelled with the vehicle UAZ 469 and used over 3 tonnes of fuel in the journey. We travelled in severe weather conditions; in winter droughts and snow, so we barely stopped the vehicle.
-Do you know any other people except you who have travelled around the borders of the Mongolian territory?
-I don’t know of any people who have made the round trip around the Mongolian borders. The artists and singers who go on tours annually, so I think among them there might be a person who has travelled around Mongolia.
-When and why did you have the idea to tour around the borders of Mongolia?
-I have lived in France for many years and I have travelled to Western European countries. At that time I started to think and dream about travelling around Mongolia. I developed my idea and decided to travel around the Mongolian borders by automobile during severe and cold conditions. The Bi Mongol-2012 extreme tour was organised well by the Mongolian Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Federation, headed by G.Batkhuu. NTV Television, the General Authority for Border Protection of Mongolia co organised the extreme tour as well. Khurd Auto Company was the general sponsor of the tour and Mobicom Corporation, Sunkhlai, Petro Oil, Akuma, Makh Impex, New Design, Auto Hit, Gan Hiits and Erch Autoservice companies also made contributions to the extreme trip to travel around the Mongolian borders.
-Did you prepare for the extreme trip well?
-We carried a small ger and a small stove in our vehicle. The ger we brought is so small that there is only room for me and L.Otgonchluun to fit in. We carried food that weighs almost 1 ton such as dumplings, sausages, ham and flour. We travelled with three spare wheels, oil and auto parts. With the help of our sponsors, we travelled well, and lacked for nothing.
-Did you need any kind of permission to make such a journey?
-The head of the General Authority for Border Protection of Mongolia, General Ts.Sergelen provided us with the permission. I used to be a frontier guard when I served as a soldier in Sukhbaatar province.
Ts.Sergelen told me he wouldn’t have given me the permission to travel around the borders if I hadn’t served as a soldier. The borders are a forbidden area with special protection”.
-What do you think about the lives and living conditions of the border guards?
-The people who are serving on the borders are living with their families without any stress in the fresh air.
Their children are being brought up healthy in this fresh air. I liked that the borders guards have the chance to stay working on the borders to become contract border guards. When I served in the military, we used to become professional border guards after working on the borders for three years. The border guards have become young. I met only a handful people who travelled around the Mongolian border during my trip.
The border guards are the people who are spending their lives in remotes place. There are lighting and electricity problems on the borders. Most of them use solar energy or run motors. Because of the lack of petrol and fuel they turn on the lights only during nighttimes. The border guards of the Govi areas use dried meat in their food.
-Did any critical or painful moments occur during the journey?
-When I served at the border, the border of Mongolia has proper fences and cells. But now the wooden poles of the border cells have burnt down and are disappearing. I have been to the Oyutolgoi mine site.
What nice and special gates and fences they have. But the borders of our Motherland should be protected with proper fences and gates. Independence starts from the frontier. But Mongolia’s border looked like a defenceless ger district area to me.
-What do you think about the working condition of frontier guards?
-Frontier guards work in severe conditions on boiling hot days and in the freezing cold weather. They are faced with cattle thieves and armed bandits and can even die struggling with them. They go after the lost cattle. They combat with illegal Chinese and Mongolian gold miners. The task of the frontier guards is the same as in old times.
I spent one night doing the border night watch. The border guards told me that they spend a night listening after any sounds on the border, as there are some paths that have been created which violate the frontier regulations. I wonder why Mongolia hasn’t put cameras on the frontiers and why they don’t supervise it from a distance instead of shielding the frontier with firearms and horses during the night. The borders are off-road, but the wheels of the vehicles that frontier guards drive are very poor quality. I think the state should provide the frontier guards with appropriate and necessary vehicles and its spare parts.
-Are there any cameras working on the frontier posts?
-The border post of the Uvs province is supervised by a camera. And the camera recorded a frontier violator. I saw the video. The video showed a guy crossing the border to steal horses and was besieged by the frontier guards and caught.
-What is your opinion about the land and the territory of Mongolia?
-I was in the Menen vast steppe and saw a beautiful sun rise. Unfortunately this land has become a disaster.
There were countless holes and pits that were excavated in order to exploit the crude oil. The south frontier of Mongolia has turned into a disaster area. I felt like my heart was bleeding when I went to the damaged south from the north border which has beautiful wild nature still. Only we, the Mongolians will love, protect and preserve our motherland. We have a future generation. I want to ask the next government to save and preserve our nature.
-When was the frontier column last changed? What is written on the frontier column?
-The last time the frontier column was changed was in 2002. The frontier column is a sacred symbol that proves the country’s independence. I pray to the frontier column. The state symbol ,“Mongolia” and the year is carved on the column. The Mongolian and Chinese border has one frontier column. One side of the column is carved in Mongolian and the other in Chinese. But the Russian and Mongolian border has two separate frontier columns.
-What was the most difficult and unforgettable day during the trip?
-We spent a night on the bank of the Uvs river in 47 Celsius below zero. It was freezing cold and I couldn’t sleep at all. Even though I was wearing German boots that keep feet warm even in 70 Celsius below zero, I felt I was about to freeze.
-How were the living conditions of the herders on your trip?
-Every family I met had a vehicle. All households had space plate anthems and wind powered generators. I noticed that the youth who live in the soum centres had nothing to do and they just waste time doing nothing, but the lives of herders seemed well.
-How many provinces and soums (administrative subdivision) did you pass through when you travelled around the borders of Mongolia?
-For the Bi Mongol-2012 automobile adventure journey I went through 14 provinces and 67 soums. The journey started in Altai soum, Govi-Altai province on January 15. From the starting line we travelled along the Mongolian borders in a clockwise direction. It took a total 104 days to travel around the borders of the Mongolian territory. We travelled 14,600 kilometres in total.
-Whom did you travel with?
-Producer of NTV Television L.Otgonchuluun joined me for the adventure journey. At first I was planning to travel by myself but sponsor organisations offered to record the journey and make a documentary about the journey.
-How much fuel was used to travel around the borders? What car did you use?
-We travelled with the vehicle UAZ 469 and used over 3 tonnes of fuel in the journey. We travelled in severe weather conditions; in winter droughts and snow, so we barely stopped the vehicle.
-Do you know any other people except you who have travelled around the borders of the Mongolian territory?
-I don’t know of any people who have made the round trip around the Mongolian borders. The artists and singers who go on tours annually, so I think among them there might be a person who has travelled around Mongolia.
-When and why did you have the idea to tour around the borders of Mongolia?
-I have lived in France for many years and I have travelled to Western European countries. At that time I started to think and dream about travelling around Mongolia. I developed my idea and decided to travel around the Mongolian borders by automobile during severe and cold conditions. The Bi Mongol-2012 extreme tour was organised well by the Mongolian Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Federation, headed by G.Batkhuu. NTV Television, the General Authority for Border Protection of Mongolia co organised the extreme tour as well. Khurd Auto Company was the general sponsor of the tour and Mobicom Corporation, Sunkhlai, Petro Oil, Akuma, Makh Impex, New Design, Auto Hit, Gan Hiits and Erch Autoservice companies also made contributions to the extreme trip to travel around the Mongolian borders.
-Did you prepare for the extreme trip well?
-We carried a small ger and a small stove in our vehicle. The ger we brought is so small that there is only room for me and L.Otgonchluun to fit in. We carried food that weighs almost 1 ton such as dumplings, sausages, ham and flour. We travelled with three spare wheels, oil and auto parts. With the help of our sponsors, we travelled well, and lacked for nothing.
-Did you need any kind of permission to make such a journey?
-The head of the General Authority for Border Protection of Mongolia, General Ts.Sergelen provided us with the permission. I used to be a frontier guard when I served as a soldier in Sukhbaatar province.
Ts.Sergelen told me he wouldn’t have given me the permission to travel around the borders if I hadn’t served as a soldier. The borders are a forbidden area with special protection”.
-What do you think about the lives and living conditions of the border guards?
-The people who are serving on the borders are living with their families without any stress in the fresh air.
Their children are being brought up healthy in this fresh air. I liked that the borders guards have the chance to stay working on the borders to become contract border guards. When I served in the military, we used to become professional border guards after working on the borders for three years. The border guards have become young. I met only a handful people who travelled around the Mongolian border during my trip.
The border guards are the people who are spending their lives in remotes place. There are lighting and electricity problems on the borders. Most of them use solar energy or run motors. Because of the lack of petrol and fuel they turn on the lights only during nighttimes. The border guards of the Govi areas use dried meat in their food.
-Did any critical or painful moments occur during the journey?
-When I served at the border, the border of Mongolia has proper fences and cells. But now the wooden poles of the border cells have burnt down and are disappearing. I have been to the Oyutolgoi mine site.
What nice and special gates and fences they have. But the borders of our Motherland should be protected with proper fences and gates. Independence starts from the frontier. But Mongolia’s border looked like a defenceless ger district area to me.
-What do you think about the working condition of frontier guards?
-Frontier guards work in severe conditions on boiling hot days and in the freezing cold weather. They are faced with cattle thieves and armed bandits and can even die struggling with them. They go after the lost cattle. They combat with illegal Chinese and Mongolian gold miners. The task of the frontier guards is the same as in old times.
I spent one night doing the border night watch. The border guards told me that they spend a night listening after any sounds on the border, as there are some paths that have been created which violate the frontier regulations. I wonder why Mongolia hasn’t put cameras on the frontiers and why they don’t supervise it from a distance instead of shielding the frontier with firearms and horses during the night. The borders are off-road, but the wheels of the vehicles that frontier guards drive are very poor quality. I think the state should provide the frontier guards with appropriate and necessary vehicles and its spare parts.
-Are there any cameras working on the frontier posts?
-The border post of the Uvs province is supervised by a camera. And the camera recorded a frontier violator. I saw the video. The video showed a guy crossing the border to steal horses and was besieged by the frontier guards and caught.
-What is your opinion about the land and the territory of Mongolia?
-I was in the Menen vast steppe and saw a beautiful sun rise. Unfortunately this land has become a disaster.
There were countless holes and pits that were excavated in order to exploit the crude oil. The south frontier of Mongolia has turned into a disaster area. I felt like my heart was bleeding when I went to the damaged south from the north border which has beautiful wild nature still. Only we, the Mongolians will love, protect and preserve our motherland. We have a future generation. I want to ask the next government to save and preserve our nature.
-When was the frontier column last changed? What is written on the frontier column?
-The last time the frontier column was changed was in 2002. The frontier column is a sacred symbol that proves the country’s independence. I pray to the frontier column. The state symbol ,“Mongolia” and the year is carved on the column. The Mongolian and Chinese border has one frontier column. One side of the column is carved in Mongolian and the other in Chinese. But the Russian and Mongolian border has two separate frontier columns.
-What was the most difficult and unforgettable day during the trip?
-We spent a night on the bank of the Uvs river in 47 Celsius below zero. It was freezing cold and I couldn’t sleep at all. Even though I was wearing German boots that keep feet warm even in 70 Celsius below zero, I felt I was about to freeze.
-How were the living conditions of the herders on your trip?
-Every family I met had a vehicle. All households had space plate anthems and wind powered generators. I noticed that the youth who live in the soum centres had nothing to do and they just waste time doing nothing, but the lives of herders seemed well.
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