Hold the Dog!: 16 Days in Mongolia

In the beginning, Mongolia existed only as an afterthought.

Actually, in the very beginning, Mongolia didn't exist at all. Back then, it was all about China, Russia and the Trans-Siberian railway. Mongolia just happened to get in the way: a necessary stamp in the passport. But from the moment Jack Fisher pitched up in Beijing three weeks ahead of schedule, that's not how it was going to be. And five years later, it wasn't the four months in China or Russia which brought pen to paper, but those sixteen days in Mongolia.

From day one, surrounded by a trainful of Mongolian men in underpants, to day four, surprised by the person he least expected or wanted to see, day six in the desert, struck by illness in pitch darkness in a tent ringed by wild dogs, day ten, left in the lurch without vehicle or driver and in the hands of a shifty stranger, and day fifteen, being led to his doom by two maniacs high on fermented mare's milk, it all came hurtling back. Yet despite – or perhaps because of – everything, he's still telling people what he's been saying since the sixteen days were over: go to Mongolia.

"A highly eventful, vibrant tale of eccentric, extraordinary encounters" - Melrose Books

(100% of all royalties received will be donated to two Mongolia-related charities: CAMDA and the Yamaa Trust)

(Dec 2013 update: £200 now donated to the two charities above)