The Last Disco in Outer Mongolia

by Nick Middleton

Why is it that to most people Outer Mongolia seems the most remote spot on earth? When Nick Middleton decided he would visit this Central Asian country he got an immediate it took him five years to get an entry visa. When eventually he arrived he found a country ruled by a president called Batman, where waiting in queues was rivalled as a national pastime only by throwing stones. Three years later, Middleton was in Mongolia again, this time to be whisked around the country by a driver who ate tadpoles. Mongolia provided more than a few from dining on yak's curd with match sticks in the country's last remaining Buddhist monastery to living in the Communist Party's secret valley hideaway, from a brush with North Korean seal clubbing enthusiasts to tracking wild ass in the Gobi Desert, and from traditional yak dung throwing to an overdose of boiled goat and fermented mare's milk. This book is the story of these two trips.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History, Asia

240 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 1993

About the author

Nick Middleton is a British physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.

Nick Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer, he has travelled to more than 50 countries. Going to Extremes is a television programme for Channel 4 about extreme lifestyles, in which Middleton experiences life in the hostile conditions other cultures must endure. He has appeared on BBC 2's Through the Keyhole.

Reviews

[Wayne Jordaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three-and-a-half stars from me. Let us acknowledge that Mongolia under Soviet control (albeit at the end of it) and Mongolia shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was not a tourist haven. In spite of these restrictions Nick Middleton presents an informative account of his two visits during the late 80s and early 90s. I like his use of humour to soften the inevitable cultural shocks and his frustrating run-ins with bureaucracy, which keeps this an enjoyable read rather than a drawn-out rant.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compares and contrasts author's two trips to Mongolia: one in 1987, while Mongolia was still a Soviet satellite and, the second in 1990 after the "fall of the wall".

Fascinating observations and a wealth of Mongolian history and culture.

This book is out of print and unavailable in my library system. Finally found a copy on eBay that was sent from the UK. I was looking forward to reading this book. Read it in one sitting on this stormy Sunday. A great read!

[Floor tussendeboeken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Erg interessant om meer te weten te komen over Mongolië. Helaas vond ik de schrijfstijl een beetje meh, waardoor ik er lang over heb gedaan om het boek uit te lezen. Soms was ook niet helemaal duidelijk of hij het over zijn bezoek in 1987 had of in 1990. Het liep een beetje door elkaar.

[Chintogtokh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting and well written (albeit with interesting transliterations) slice of life style description of the country in 1987 and 1990

[ShellsReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly outdated account but still very relevant about a fascinating time of change pre and post liberalisation from Russian communist grip in the late 1980s in this last outback of outbacks Outer Mongolia. The very name conjures up a sense of utter remoteness and wilderness. Nick Middleton's two visits intertwine through the book giving comparisons of the before and the after. Though the latter is merely a relaxation of the communist grip giving a sliver of hope for the country after the few obliterating decades which all but completely destroyed the self sustaining way of life which had persisted across the steppes and deserts of Mongolia for centuries. The heartbreaking destruction of Mongolian cultural treasures, not least the thousands of Buddhist temples, the wiping out of not only a language but an entire script. The complete re-writing of Mongolian history so it appears in line with communist ideals.

Nick Middleton gives an informative if sometimes rather dull overview of the vast political history of the country and its leaders from Genghis Khan to the Bloody Baron to communist rule. But where he excels is in his own personal observations of the people he meets and the places he visits. His descriptions of the geographical extremes of Mongolia from its vast mountain ranges to saline land locked Lake Baikal or the largest desert on earth the Gobi Desert are both vivid and immersive. His brief encounters with true Mongolians across the language and cultural divides are very engaging. His prose are very straight forward and readable except for a very few denser chunks of politics and there are some excellent laugh out loud moments. Not least his descriptions of the endless meat based dishes, the all pervading smell of meat fat and the horse galloping effects of that delicacy of all Mongolian delicacies fermented curdled Yak milk.
Very readable, very enjoyable but ultimately very sad, the annihilation of the culture of this ultimate of wildernesses.

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Middleton visited Mongolia in 1987 and in 1990, shortly before and shortly after the switch from Communist bureaucracy to a more liberal and democratic society. As a geographer on his first
visit he was working on hydrography, on his second he was planing for ecotourism. He catches a society in transition from one mode to another. Though this is a contemporary account, since it is now 30 years later, it is also history.

[Liz Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous and charming, I truly enjoyed this book. The descriptions are lyrical and truly make you feel emotional towards a country that many of us will never visit. The book is also well-researched and fascinating - historically, religiously, and culturally. I could not have asked for a better book.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great title 👌 some of the anecdotes are interesting others could've done with more fleshing out.

[Ginebra Lavao Lizcano · Rating 3 out of 5]

I go through my life without the most minimal acknowledgement to most of the countries in the world. The news that I read and the cultures that I encounter typically concern the same few locations of the planet, making of the rest a real unexplored territory for me. This book was a wee peek into the shy country of Mongolia through a British geographer. It is probably a bit outdated by now, but I would not know because what do I really know about this mysterious place of the world? The little I've learnt concerns the gers, Ulaanbaatar and the mongol carnivorous diet. As my first encounter with Mongolia, I considered the book engaging and packed with interesting observations. I like to imagine that today it is still similar to what the author described, as it seemed unordinarily beautiful. Lent by Claire.

[Babak Fakhamzadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was something of a cult classic amongst the expat population in Mongolia. More so because when I was there, it had already been so hard to obtain this then 13 years old book, that nearly no-one had read it.
The author visited Mongolia in 1987 and 1990 and in a rather tongue-in-cheek way comments on the obscurities, absurdities and changes to Mongolian society which he experienced on his two visits to this hauntingly beautiful country.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you just want to get away from it all,you really can't get any further than Outer Mongoila. Recommended to anyone with small children or a fondness for travel writing.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written book on the early opening-up of Mongolia, filled with funny anecdotes and offering wonderful insights into the art of exploring untrodden paths in such a deserted country.