Louisa Waugh: Life on the edge of Mongolia

Personal Landscapes

Louisa Waugh lived in a village in the far west of Mongolia in the late 1990s, and wrote a remarkable book about her experience.

Hearing Birds Fly describes a world of drought-stricken spring, lush summer pasture and brutal winters when fetching water meant hacking holes through river ice.

In this harsh and stunningly beautiful landscape, villagers lived on mutton, dairy products and vodka, and met incredible hardships with smiles and laughter as they carved out a life in one of our world’s most remote corners.

We spoke about life at the edge of Mongolia, the nomadic cycle, and how aloneness teaches us about ourselves.