Russian Jeep 2

When we said goodbye to the Altan Group, a co-operative of herders who have given up their animals to make a permanent farm, Uranchimeg, the 15-year-old daughter of Tungalag, the women who leads the group, disappeared into the family ger and came out with a bag. She had to go back to school in Bayanhongor, the aimag capital 45km away, would we give her a lift? In the car, Erdenbileg said that Urna was learning English. I asked her what she wanted to be. “I want to lawyer,” she said. “Become a lawyer. I want to live in UB and study America.” What about working on the farm, with her family? “I don’t like countryside. It’s very boring. And I don’t like farm working, it is very hard. I talk to my friends in the café and they want the same thing as me.” Who will stay in the countryside if her and all her friends go to the city? “I don’t know,” said Urna, taken aback by the question. “Maybe some children?”