jonathan_m's photostream

Worshipers work their way around the inside of the Migjid Janraisig temple in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, filing past the hundreds of images of Ayush, the Buddha of longevity, which line the walls.

These group of horseman were sat waiting for their horses and riders to appear over the horizon as we came past. Taken in Mongolia, about 200km outside of Ulaanbaatar, they were training their horses for a final time ahead of the main races in the Nadaam Festival 2 days later.

Racing distances of up to 40km with the riders just young boys, Nadaam is an incredible test of stamina of both the horse and rider.

Wild horses coming down to drink at the Ogii Nuur lake 300km west of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Wild horses coming down to drink in one of the tributaries of the Orkhon River, Mongolia.

During the day the horses roam the steppe grazing and then in the early evening the horsemen round them up and bring them back in closer to their gers for the night.

Slowly the motorbike is replacing the horse as the means of getting back and forth between the towns and the gers. Light and frequently overloaded, they ply the rough dirt roads of Mongolia with surprising ease.