Vagabunden der Wüste Gobi (360° - GEO Reportage)

Sarangerel and Badbold travel through the southwestern Gobi Desert with their 54 camels, 26 cattle, and approximately 230 sheep and goats. The animals' needs determine their daily routine. Their lives include the taste of camel milk and goat blood, the smell of animal sweat and wool grease, the feeling of icy wind and sunburn on their skin. Many camel herders still feel at one with the nature that surrounds them. "360° - The GEO Reportage" depicts the original nomadic life of camel herders in Mongolia – even if they now own a television or a car. A film by Svea Andersson © 2005, Licensed by MedienKontor / ARTE Season 7 - Episode 4 Subscribe to wocomoTRAVEL: https://goo.gl/tIk2Qc Follow us on Facebook:   / wocomo   Press Release: Fine, brown sand swirls through the air, and the shadowy shapes of huge brown bodies slowly move forward. It's a group of two-humped camels moving through the Gobi Desert. Their nostrils are closed, grains of sand hang in their thick eyelashes. The animals belong to Sarangerel and Badbold, a married couple who, as nomads, move on with their livestock whenever the sparse grass in the pastures has been grazed. Spring is a particularly busy time for the nomads. Hundreds of young animals are born during these weeks, threatened by the intense cold at night and hungry wolves. It is the frugal and adaptable Bactrian camels that enable the herders to survive in this hostile environment. Sarangerel and Badbold repeatedly pack their entire household goods, the roof rafters, and the felt blankets of their yurts onto the backs of their camels. Only the 81 young kids fit in the trunk of an old jeep. On their journey to their spring quarters, the nomads cross the southwest Gobi – against the backdrop of the Altai Mountains with their snow-capped peaks and glaciers. Only their son accompanies Sarangerel and Badbold; their daughters live in the district town of Bayantoroi. The youngest daughter attends boarding school there. She wants to become a teacher or doctor – not a camel herder like her parents. Since the introduction of democracy and a market economy in Mongolia, many nomads have sold their animals and moved to the capital, Ulaanbaatar. This is one of the reasons why the Asian Bactrian camel is increasingly threatened with extinction. But only a few former nomads have found happiness in the city; most live below the poverty line in yurt quarters. Sarangerel and Badbold, on the other hand, can't imagine life in the city – they make their living outdoors in nature. During the summer months, they live off dairy products. They earn money by selling animals and wool, occasionally a camel for slaughter – and sometimes they win the prize money in a camel race.