Chapter 1
On a freezing cold December day in 1979 a daughter was born to an ordinary Mongolian couple. The name given to this child was Solongo, which, in the Mongolian language, means a rainbow. This was not an exceptional birth other than for the fact the child was most probably born a schizoid, with a selfish inability to distinguish between thoughts feeling and actions, so the reader should be aware from the start that the life I am recounting is the tale of two people within one body. It is the story of a battle between good and evil where eventually and very sadly evil and selfishness prevails. The story covers 25 years – a short period within Mongolian history but even so, the birth of this child will have an impact on the fundamental Western understanding of the Mongol people and their psyche.Solongo was born in the small town of Shaamar in northern Mongolia close to the Soviet border. Her mother Bolormaa (meaning Crystal mother) had already had an association with another man, which had produced a son. For some reason unknown, Bolormaa decided to move her affections in the direction perhaps of better life – to a young, kind and good-looking policeman who was shortly to be posted to the Selenge Aimag or district in northern Mongolia. It is possible that with this distant posting Bolormaa was able to escape the stigma of something in her recent past. Where she and the policeman met we do not know but suspect that as with all Mongolian marital unions, the decision to change was determined by status in life, future and money. Perhaps Boloorma’s former partner was a herdsman or a simple product of poverty. Then again perhaps he was a stern disciplinarian who would brook no challenge to his authority or Bolormaa’s mercurial character or it could have been that he had simply deserted her, had been jailed or died but all this conjecture is of little importance to the story. Since the Soviet annexation of Mongolia in the 1920’s the Mongolians were encouraged to use only one name – it was a type of nickname. The reason for this is simple. The Soviets were determined to stamp out the ancient tribal clan system and loyalties, which hindered their absolute control. They did so by introducing a single name system and did away with clan names believing that feudal ties would supersede allegiance to the Communist state. A century ago all Mongols could remember their clan names and it was not unusual for some families to trace their family and clan history as far back as an impressive fifteen or more generations.
Nowadays most Mongolians can only trace their family history back to two or three generations. Many have even forgotten their clan names. Most Mongolian names have beautiful meanings, which have not been distorted by language, distance or time. Recently, since the Soviets departed the new independent Government has re-introduced the two names system where now each child carries the patronymic name of their father. Solongo was given her pretty name because a beautiful and auspicious rainbow had appeared in the blue winter sky at the time she was born.
Her full name under the new system is Solongo Batkhuyag meaning perhaps the rainbow of the strong warrior. She was born close to the mighty Selenge River, which flows, winds and bends (rather like her character) northwards to the Russian border. Her father had been posted to this region and it was here that Solongo spent her early childhood among simple rural people – adopting the “moral” codes little changed in 1000 years. She was able to ride a horse almost at the same time that she could walk.
She rode the Mongolian pony, which is perhaps the best of its size in the world for general work.There had been born before, another child from the union of Bolormaa and the policeman Batkhuyag. This child was a boy. A boy unremarkable in his make up and a quiet and gentle soul, a child who inspired nothing but the usual affections that so often parents give to their offspring. But it was in Solongo that the policeman Batkhuyag found his pleasure because she was a different child when compared to the children of their neighbours and friends.
The baby was precocious and funny and had much more to offer in personality than her older brother and the morose half-brother ahead of them. Little did Batkhuyag know that the child he adored was viperous and would eventually put him into an early and quite undeserved grave.What the policeman was nurturing as a “Papa’s Princess”, was evil and when this eventually became apparent to him, it was too late to change her character. He was as a dead man walking and the crime which his daughter was about to slowly, cruelly and surely commit, was indirect patricide.
This crime to be was also aided and abetted by Bolormaa who out of frustration in finding herself unable to control the fruit of her womb sought the only solace she knew – vodka and more sex. The results were predictable. Gossip of violence, marital strife and passionate make-ups were well known among the police people who were their unfortunate neighbours. The policeman, Batkhuyag, was then and forever after, surrounded by people within his own home he could not control. But somehow he controlled the public outside. He had risen through the ranks to become a police officer of exemplary character and perhaps had he not died so sadly he would be today a senior leader in the Mongolian Police Force.The Batkhuyag and Bolormaa union then led to further children. All were daughters. These were conceived in part no doubt by the then prevailing view of the Soviet Union of which Mongolia was a satellite, that fecundity was a precious asset to the State to be rewarded by financial gain and national recognition with Bolormaa as a mother hero of the Mongolian nation. She was given a handsome stipend for producing so many offspring, documents and medals and the promise of a lifetime pension. All this disappeared when the Soviets left the Mongolians to fend for themselves in 1992. All that Borlormaa and Batkhuyag had left were the citations and medals plus six children and a policeman’s salary upon which to raise them. For Batkhuyag perhaps he had hoped an enlarged family would also add interest to his sad and mundane existence. It did not. The brutality of vodka and the mercurial character of his oldest and dearest daughter Solongo conspired against him. In order to supplement the meagre income of a policeman it was necessary for Bolormaa to continue to work, so in between giving birth she became an ambulance driver. In those days when both parents worked, crèches and kindergardens were provided free by the Soviet controlled communist state. Boloorma spent sometime in the Soviet Union in the Ukraine studying emergency services but this is believed to have been during her first marital union, she took her only son with her and it was probably due to this short period abroad that her first husband and their union went off the rails. She was to drive ambulances for 38 years until her failing eyesight required that she retire early on a pension of $30 a month.Solongo as a baby was not beautiful. Her body was strangely formed with inordinately large feet and an overall tendency towards boniness. Like her mother, whom her infant features resembled, her face was long and punctuated by large and expressive eyes. The eyes were almond shaped, inquisitive and curious and would gaze with interest at everything. Through her eyes she was able to absorb and understand what went on around her – a usual trait in children but in this case she absorbed human weakness and frailty upon which she learned quickly to manipulate to her advantage. Into her brain she would take these images and make of them what she felt was a correct interpretation of the meaning of all she saw. These would often be wrong and when reprimanded for actions she believed were correct the baby would react with violent behaviour, which would continue until her doting father would give in to her and eventually a temporary peace was restored but restored at a dreadful price.
Quickly, baby Solongo learned that she could by obtuse and selfish behaviour combined with willfulness eventually get her own way. The price for peace in the Batkhuyag home was the indulgence of the whims of Solongo who exacted a revenge of quite frightening consequences if anybody dared to contradict her wishes.
Under normal circumstances a mother is the baby’s teacher and it is through a mother’s love that a child develops its character.
Boloorma obviously had little time for this essential requirement for whenever she was not working the long, hard and exacting hours of an ambulance driver she would lie almost comatose through exhaustion from her work and constant pregnancies ably assisted by the un-salutary effects of vodka which she would drink whenever depressed or in need of escape. Her mood swings were often and her rages frequent. The calm, kind and mild nature of her man was in stark contrast to his wife. Batkhuyag was by make-up a peaceable person and he found that the only way to achieve tranquility in his home was to bend like bamboo whenever he was assaulted by the rages of his wife and his selfish infant daughter Solongo. He would give in and try in later years to stay away from his home, hard at work using the pressure of his duties as an excuse to do so.Solongo, as a result of this maternal deficiency in her upbringing was also indulged by her older male siblings and by her father who found that the arrival of this new female addition to the roost provided an interest as they all played with her and treated her as a living doll.
Had Batkhuyag been a stern master of his home the consequences might have been different but he had no control and it took little time for Solongo to realise her father’s weaknesses and from an early age she began to exhibit the terrible schizophrenic nature of her character.The home in which the Batkhuyag family dwelt in this remote outpost of Outer Mongolia close to the Soviet border was in fact a small apartment but inside similar to all the other dwellings of the people around them. There were two styles. One was a crude stockade compound within which was a rough Soviet inspired wood cabin.
The other was the circular ger – the ubiquitous Mongolian felt tent, which had been in traditional use for hundreds of years and had little changed in style or construction. In small towns the ger was permanently sited and like the crude wood cabins was also surrounded by a high wooden stockade fence. The traditions within both styles of dwelling are almost identical. Particular and peculiar customs prevail within these dwellings and nomadic communities. One such tradition concerns fire, which is sacred to the Mongols. It is forbidden to extinguish the wood or dung fired stove within the ger with water or to put any rubbish on a house fire. There are customs on how to enter and leave a ger. It is forbidden to lean against a support beam or linger on the threshold and when visiting it is considered bad form to wear a hat inside and polite to remove one’s coat and gloves for by not doing so it might be deemed by the owners that their home was not warm or welcoming and your visit might be short. The dimensions of a Mongolian ger are usually uniform with a diameter of between 20 and 25 feet. It weighs about 250 kilos. The small low entranceway must always face to the south. The interior is latticed with strips of wood reaching a height of 6 feet and then the steep roof is tapered by further wooden slats up to its peak. The overall is blanketed with thick felt, which is covered on the outside by canvas bound by strong thick ropes. A mobile ger is little different and can be constructed from a pack animal or a truck in about two hours. In the center of every ger is a crude but efficient metal stove with a chimney, which protrudes through the roof.
The sight of a white ger on the side of a hill in the glorious wooded countryside with white smoke drifting upwards into the azure sky is a memorable, lovely and romantic sight which has little changed over thousands of years. The Mongolians subsist on a poor diet of mutton and the few vegetables they can find. The potato and onion are commonplace as are swedes but green fresh vegetables are rare and very expensive. The common meal of the day for a typical family of the herder and middle class is a mutton broth into which is added potatoes and anything else that might be found to be palatable. Often a local handmade delicacy hoorshuur or mince mutton and onion filled pasties fried in dripping are added to a meal or sometimes buuz, ubiquitous mutton and onion dumplings are added to the soup broth or when nothing else is available noodles are prepared by hand and dropped into the boiling liquid. The meal is washed down with tea or airag a fermented mare’s milk, which is mildly alcoholic (3%) and serves to introduce children to alcohol induced euphoria at an early age. Its effect on Solongo was devastating. The average rural Mongolian consumes large quantities of this beverage each day. Ten litres daily consumption is not unusual, the effects from which are often later enhanced with beer or hard spirits such as vodka. A distilled, potent and popular by-product from airag is arki. The result of the malnutritious Mongolian diet is often anaemia and poor bone development. It is very likely that Solongo suffered anaemia from an early age. A deficiency of red blood cells resulted in pallor and bad skin, which gradually worsened over the years. Anaemia results in less oxygen reaching the brain, which is perhaps why so many Mongolians so quickly loose the plot and become violent and irrational.As mentioned earlier, Solongo learned to ride horses at an early age. As with all Mongolian children when small, she was tied to the wooden saddle but quickly learned to master the equestrian art and soon was sitting erect and motionless streaking with her friends across the plains in full gallop. The ubiquitous Mongolian pony is perhaps the best in the world for general use. It is not an elegant animal having a large head, heavy shoulders and an objectionable temperament.
They are harnessed for work and with their good strong legs and loins can also carry great weights and perform incredible feats of work, which appears to exact the minimum of pressure. In the north of Mongolia the stallions are treasured and selected but the mares are treated with indifference and milked for domestic purposes. There appears to be no special attention paid to improving the breed and they are reared on the open Steppe and are used to the extremes of the harsh Mongolian climate and appear to thrive on the coarsest of fodder. As the family lived in a small town it was unnecessary for them to own a horse as they had a small Russian truck but as soon as Solongo attended pre-school she noted that many of her peers from distant ger communities on the nearby steppe rode to school and afterwards gambolled on their way home along the beautiful streams and over the lush summer grass grazing land. Quickly she noted that she was often missed out on these pastimes and requested to be given a horse of her own. Her dream to have a horse was at first ignored by her mother and father.
They sighted various problems involved with owning a horse in a small urban area and the difficulties of finding fodder and storing grass during the long harsh winter months. Solongo was not to be thwarted in her desires. She soon found a docile and willing school friend who lived on the outskirts of the town who together with his family agreed to look after a horse provided it was a mare and they could share in the milk and resulting airag, which such an animal (if foaling) was required to produce during the months between June and September. After a series of tantrums and appalling behaviour her father as always relented and a mare was purchased from the family of one of his fellow officers. Instead of tethering it as agreed at her friend’s ger outside the town, Solongo insisted it be tethered on the side of the tiny playground outside the apartment complex in which they lived. Her powers of persuasion were such that she had soon dragooned her ger dwelling friends into carrying fodder to the horse on a daily basis and then occasionally would she allow the animal to graze freely on the steppes.An unforeseen benefit from the purchase of the horse was that Solongo spent every spare moment when not at school or doing her homework, caring for her treasure. She lavished total affection upon it, and spent so many hours away riding with her friends that when eventually she returned to her home she was all too often so exhausted and tired that she quickly swallowed whatever meal was available and collapsed on her sleeping mat and slept until morning when again she would be off with her friends riding to school alongside them as they walked. Her absence from the apartment for long periods of time was a blessed relief from her otherwise constant chatter and selfish behaviour. Naturally, she absorbed every detail possible concerned with horses.
She quickly learned the complicated linguistic details of the animal and was soon able to discuss in correct terminology all the accoutrements and paraphernalia associated with horses as befits their high status within a nomadic community. That she became a “know-all” is without question and whenever she was around the apartment she would skillfully manipulate all conversations towards the one topic, which interested her by telling long and tiresome stories of her activities and her prowess at riding. She was indeed a good rider and her competitive nature was at its best when she was racing her friends and doing all manner of dare-devilish things to impress her peers with her excellent riding skills.On festival days and holidays the rural Mongolians involve themselves in the national pastime of horse racing. Every year in July there is the great Nadaam festival, which is the biggest social event of the year. This festival celebrates the three manly sports of riding, wrestling and archery. Each aimag or province in Mongolia has its own Nadaam festival and it is an event much looked forward to by young and old alike. By the age of eight in 1987, Solongo had been riding seriously for two years and was of an age where she was permitted to race at Naadam. Because of her age (which among the Mongols is calculated from conception not from birth) and that of her horse she was only allowed to compete in the short 15 kilometers race. Older equestrians race over a 30 kilometers stretch. There are no tracks or race-courses just the open steppe which leaves it up to the individual jockey to behave in whatever way he or she wishes within the strict Mongolian equestrian codes of honour. The winner achieves great social prestige within the community so the race is fierce, savage, dangerous and exciting. For many weeks before the Nadaam festival, Solongo had been preparing for the great day by grooming her horse and practicing under the tutelage of her friend’s father who had been a great rider in his youth. But by now age and the ravages of alcoholism had made it impossible for him to take part in Nadaam races, so he expended his energies in training his son and Solongo for the great day. In order that the horses are in prime condition for Nadaam a special diet is prepared and fed to the animals for many weeks so that by the great day they are in peak condition and ready for the hard exigencies of the gruelling race.
Finally, the day arrived and the entire population of the town assembled a short distance from where the race was to start. The people all wore their national costume called the del, which is a long single piece, high collared wool or silk garment buttoned right over left, which hangs to midway between the knees and the ankles. A colourful sash is used to hold it all together. Equally colourful boots with upturned toes decorated with braid and embroidery add to the costume and to complete things, a hat made from wolf or fox skin called a loovuz is also worn although in modern times the colourful boots have been supplanted by heavy Russian style leather military footwear and more useful fur hats again in the Russian style are now popular because they are more effective in protection from the bitter winter winds which sweep across the Steppe with a chill factor often in some places below minus 60 degrees celsius. Men, women and children wear the del and each person owns several for the different seasons of the year. They are made in all colours and look magnificent when seen in groups or even in the cities where elderly people can still be seen wearing the costume everywhere.The crowd which had gathered early, some at dawn, numbered in the hundreds with nomadic peoples having arrived from far distances bringing with them furs and hand embroidered products which they sold in makeshift market stalls. Fast food such as hoorsuur and buuz were readily available. Excellent airag was plentiful and by 10 am most of the people were well on the way to intoxication. The policeman Batkhuyag and all his fellow officers were on duty to keep the peace and break up the many fights which were frequent among drunken men and women arguing over bets they had placed on the horses and riders and the usurious prices being demanded at the food-stalls. The strain on the riders was quite evident as they paraded about, led by their trainers for the inspection of all. Solongo was dressed in a smart new bright red riding del, which her mother had bought for her. She had been given some new boots by her father, which had been broken in over the preceding weeks and were now polished to perfection. Her grandmother who had come to visit for the festival had brought her a smart hat from Ulaan-baator. She was certainly the prettiest rider in the 8 – 13 age group race she had entered and she was quite confident that she would perform with distinction. There were 70 riders in her race with many of them from the nomadic communities nearby. The competition was going to be fierce as the young nomads had virtually been born in the saddle and looked down on the townspeople with an hauteur of confidence which soon annoyed Solongo and made her even more determined to prevail. Sadly, many of the older children were drunk from airag.
The race started at 10 am and soon the horses and their young riders were streaking across the steppes to a marker 7.5 kilometers from the starting line, around which they were required to circle and then gallop back to the finish. Each rider carried a short whip, which in Mongolia is seldom used on the horse and if so never brutally but in races they are used as a means to coax the animal to further exertion. These whips are held by a looped thong, which encircles the wrist. Solongo’s position was well back at the start of the race and as soon as she was safely out of view of the large crowd she started to exhibit the savage and cruel side of her personality. At first she used the whip on her horse and then as more young riders passed her, her rage at being overtaken became more apparent. Soon she was aiming her whip at other riders and in particular a young boy who had been keeping neck and neck with her throughout the race. The two passed around the half way marker together but still she couldn’t out-pace her rival. There were about 20 horses in front of them and they gradually gained ground and then swept out onto the Steppe to overtake the leaders by using a small hill with a long downhill slope as an advantage. But the closer she came to the leaders she still couldn’t shake the young boy. Back into the melee of riders they went and were, by the 10 kilometers mark, fast catching up on the leaders. Still the boy rode close to her using Solongo’s horse as a pacer. Real rage had now consumed Solongo who with a sudden and savage swipe of her whip cut the boy across the face and with all the vicious strength she could muster and howling like a mad person she then cruelly hit his horse with her whip. The horse reared up and toppled over on to the grass and in falling pinned the then screaming child underneath it breaking his hip. The harness then became entangled around the boy’s neck and as the horse, also badly hurt from the fall, struggled to stand and move away, it dragged the boy and continued to do so until he was almost lifeless. He was dragged at a strange angle over the rough Steppe rocks towards which the horse had headed. By the time the injured boy was able to disentangle himself from the harness he was even more severely injured and then lost consciousness. The horse collapsed in a white lather of perspiration, fear and exhaustion.Solongo didn’t even look back as she continued on and rode into the small groups of leaders. Now completely frenzied with her adrenaline running high she continued to assault the other riders with her whip savagely aiming at their faces. The race finished with Solongo in third position, but her euphoria was short lived. As the other riders came in they reported on the incident further back down the track. A Russian jeep was dispatched to bring the boy back and other children in the race immediately reported their own horrific experiences with Solongo’s appalling behaviour during the course of the race. The policeman Batkhuyag was devastated. When the jeep returned with the badly injured boy the full story of what had happened began to emerge. The injuries he received from this incident were worse than could be imagined. The ambulance with Bolormaa at the wheel took him to the local hospital, which thankfully because of its proximity to the Soviet border, was staffed by Russian doctors. He lived but his spinal injuries were so severe that he would never be able to walk again. His left eye had been deeply lacerated by Solongo’s horse-whip which left it with only partial sight.The reaction to these outrages was swift. The Mongol is well known for cruelty, violence and irrational behaviour but to desecrate the almost sacred Nadaam horse races is unforgiveable and although the race by its very openness leaves great scope and opportunity for cheating there is a centuries old tradition of respect for the other riders to which each participant is expected to adhere. Every child knows these things, as chivalry on horseback is instilled into them from an early age. Solongo had broken the Mongolian equestrian code, which had been honoured since the time of Chinggis Khaan. She was in the eyes of all an outcaste and a social pariah. A meeting of the town elders was convened late that very afternoon and Solongo accompanied by her parents was ordered before it. The headsman of the town convened the meeting and the badly injured boy’s father was also present. A long series of accounts of the ugly incident were given by the other young riders who had witnessed it and then Solongo was asked to state what she had done in her own words and opinion. In her usual schizophrenic fashion she twisted the facts and lay blame on the injured boy by saying that he had deliberately nudged his horse into hers and had spat at her. These wild assertions, accusations and lies were quickly and very hotly denied by her peers who described in detail what they had seen and what had happened to them as well. Finally, after all the witnesses had been heard, the meeting made its decision. Solongo was to be banned forever from entering a Nadaam horse race. Her horse was confiscated and given to the family of the injured boy and her parents were ordered to pay all costs involved in the rehabilitation of the boy until a greater authority could convene and examine the predicament of the family and the injured child and decide on what future compensation was required. This was a devastating blow to the policeman Batkhuyag and his wife Bolormaa for in the tradition of the ger nomads they were to be shunned. Batkhuyag was no longer made welcome at the police station and Bolormaa protesting her daughter’s innocence often became visibly drunk and was violent towards anyone who challenged her. In essence the family was ruined and soon forced to leave the small town because shop people would not serve them willingly and they were hissed and spat upon wherever they went. Batkhuyag resigned from the police force. Feudal justice prevailed and finally the family loaded up their small truck with their few possessions and fled one night to the capital Ulaan Baator.
