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[Mongolia] I chased sheep with cutting-edge nomads who make full use of the latest iPhones and drones

2026年4月3日 20:16

I had imagined a "traditional nomadic life," but I was proven wrong from the very first day.

In the middle of the grasslands, in a place where it seemed like there would be no signal, the nomadic father pulled the latest iPhone out of his pocket. And the case was actually stylish, too.

Wait, you have one?

There is a solar panel next to the ger

As I wrote in my previous article, I arrived at a nomad's home in the Bulgan region. Looking around the ger, this was the first thing that surprised me.

▲ A solar panel next to the ger. Modernity suddenly appears amidst the grasslands and blue sky.

They generate electricity with solar panels and can use power normally inside the ger. They have lights and can charge their smartphones.

I thought "nomads = life without electricity." I was completely wrong.

▲ A full view of the ger. There are motorcycles parked, and a car too. If you look closely, it feels very lived-in.

There are several motorcycles parked in front of the ger, and a car as well. The nomadic father rides his motorcycle around the grasslands and goes to town to shop. They are not "people left behind in the grasslands" at all; they are people living very rationally.

Searching for sheep with a drone

The thing that shocked me the most was the drone.

Sheep and goats are grazed during the day and walk freely around the grasslands, but with hundreds of them, it's natural that sometimes you don't know where they've gone. Apparently, they go quite far.

So, the nomadic father slowly launches his drone.

He checks where the flock of sheep is from the air, and once he has their location, he heads over on his motorcycle to guide them toward the shed. A coordinated play between a drone and a motorcycle. It's just too cool.

It wasn't "traditional nomadism," but "nomadism optimized with the latest technology." My image of riding horses across the vast grasslands to search for sheep was completely overturned. Well, I'm sure they use horses too, but a drone is faster, right? Of course it is.

There are 300 lambs and kids

May in Mongolia is the season when lambs and kids are born.

When I went around the ger, they were just there. They were everywhere. There were tons of little ones.

▲ This is what it looks like when shot with a wide-angle lens. There are animals all over the grasslands. There are about 300 in total.

▲ A close-up of a kid goat. That face. I'm speechless.

Cute. Truly cute.

The scale is on a completely different level than the 'petting zoos' you see in Tokyo. 300 baby animals are waddling, jumping, and snuggling up to their mothers on the grassland.

▲ You can tell the size when you see the whole body. Like a stuffed animal.

▲ Kids in the shed. They're looking at me. It's a traffic jam of cuteness.

A little girl from the nomad family was picking up a kid goat with one hand and running around. She's tough.

▲ A girl playing by lifting up a kid goat. Apparently, this is an everyday scene. Amazing.

I helped with the cashmere harvest

One of the nomads' jobs is harvesting cashmere. They brush the goats' hair and collect the shed fur to sell.

I was actually allowed to try it.

▲ The brush gets covered in hair. This is the raw material for cashmere.

The task itself is simple: just brush the goats. The goats looked a bit annoyed, but they didn't struggle too much. The work itself isn't difficult.

However, there are so many of them. Since you have to brush dozens of goats one by one, it's just really hard to get through the volume. Thinking that they do this every day... I felt that the work of a nomad is harder than it looks.

By the way, the girl from earlier helped me too, and she was much better at it than I was. Her hands were so practiced. I lost to a toddler...

The sheep rush hour

In the evening, the sheep and goats that were out grazing are brought back to the shed. This is to keep them from being eaten by wolves during the night. Wolves. They really exist.

We drive a herd of hundreds from behind while calling out to them. I was allowed to join in.

▲ The goats returned to the pen. An incredible number. Rush hour complete.

This is actually quite fun. When you call out, the sheep move in a rush and flow toward the shed. But sometimes one gets separated, and you have to chase it down. It reminded me of the rush hour at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. It's like the flow of people heading to the ticket gates, with the occasional person going against the crowd.

▲ A kid goat that came up to the camera. Moving at its own pace even during rush hour.

Morning milking

The next morning began with taking care of the livestock. I was allowed to try milking a cow.

This was difficult again. It requires a knack. I didn't know where to grip or how much force to use, so at first, nothing came out at all.

The girl I mentioned earlier was naturally skilled at it. After the cashmere, I was soundly defeated at milking too. I wonder how many consecutive times I'll lose to a toddler on this trip.

Riding a camel across the grasslands

The nomad father also keeps camels, and he let me ride one.

▲ I'm riding this camel. Up close, its face is huge. You can even see its teeth.

▲ A close-up of its profile. It has long eyelashes. Its eyes are gentle.

Camels sway back and forth quite a bit when they stand up. I let out a "Whoa." Once you're on, it's surprisingly stable, but since you're higher up than on a horse, the view is completely different.

▲ The view from the camel's back. The father is walking in front of me. The grasslands stretch on forever.

The father rode the camel in front to lead the way, and I followed behind him. It was just a slow walk through the grasslands, but it felt like such a luxurious time. There was only the sound of the wind and the camel's footsteps. There were no other sounds.

My image of "nomads" has completely changed

To be honest, before I came here, I had an image of "people living an old-fashioned life." No electricity, no smartphones, a life left behind by the times.

It was completely different.

They generate electricity with solar panels, communicate with iPhones, manage livestock with drones, and ride motorcycles across the grasslands. They live rationally in the grasslands while supplementing the inconvenient environment with the latest technology.

But at the same time, they collect cashmere by hand from each animal one by one, return the sheep to the shed in the evening to protect them from wolves, and milk them by hand in the morning. For the parts that cannot rely on technology, they manage with their own hands and bodies.

Both of those things coexist as a matter of course, and somehow, that was incredibly cool.

Next time, I'll talk about making noodles from flour with the nomad grandmother. The Mongolian-style salt-fried noodles were incredibly delicious. Also, I'll write about the "honest talk" at night in the ger. It was 0 degrees Celsius, and there was no shower.

Thank you for reading until the end. If you press the Like button, it will motivate me to write the next article.

For those considering a trip to Mongolia. I have also written a guide note that summarizes everything from honest reviews of tours to flights, money, and what to bring. It's the kind of thing I wanted to read before I left.